June 13, 2017 This week was very busy as more sheet metal jacketing was fitted to the smoke box area of the locomotive.​ Our painting crew has almost finished the sanding of the tender. They feel it will have a new coat of paint by this coming Saturday. We worked on the last of the […]

June 7, 2017 For the good news the 26L air brake components and piping installation is complete. Crews are testing the system and have begun adjusting the slack adjusters. Our painting contractor has begun sanding the tender for final painting. Workers are sanding each rivet removing orange peel and paint runs from the last paint […]

May 23, 2017 The work, for the most part, mirrored the past several weeks as we continually prepare for the official FRA hydrostatic test. Many of the minor st​aybolt leaks are being closed by Dr. Scott A. We now have one washout plug to address and a few studbolt leaks. The secondary dynamo piping was […]

April 26, 2017 This week we performed another low pressure hydro test on the boiler and found still more pesky stud bolt leaks. The boiler was drained and work began on the stud bolts and one small washout plug which was almost inaccessible and three more small ones on top. A bolt-on jig was fabricated […]

April 19, 2017 With the results of our preliminary hydro test last week we began repairing the minor leaks located around staybolts caps, washout plugs and a few stud bolts. Our air brake crew continues putting the system through it’s paces isolating various components to test others. The automatic train brake valve is operating normally […]

April 12, 2017 This week we again water tested the boiler. We used a portable fire pump to bring the pressure to 120 PSI. We found more staybolt plugs leaking on top. The water was lowered to a level so the plugs could​ be removed. They were replaced and other preparations were made for a […]

April 3, 2017 As a result of our recent water pressure of the boiler we have been addressing the minor leaks which became evident. Workers continue working on various control rods and brackets, painting mechanical parts and electrical components and testing the various air brake components.​ Support brackets were being fabricated for the MU equipment […]

March 28, 2017 Over the past few weeks we have been water testing the boiler at various pressures. Each time we seemed to find more slow leaks which may have been overlooked at the previous test. Many, if not all of these leaks, stem from flexible staybolt caps and rigid staybolts at their mushroomed caulked […]

February 20, 2017 A milestone event occurred this week when the last of the many superheater bundles was bench hydro tested and put away awaiting the boiler hydro that will be scheduled as soon as Rick and Gail can return from their medical leave. Gail is doing well and is now recovering from hip surgery. […]

February 13, 2017 This past week we began installing the throttle valve caps by chasing the stud bolt threads. A few of the bolts are in poor condition and will need to be replaced​. As usual, air brake components were being installed along with solenoid valves. Hydro testing of the superheater bundles is still being […]