February 16, 2015 Wednesday was spent preparing the work area in the firebox and smokebox for the tube and flue rolling contractor. Confined space requirements for rescue were set up in case of an emergency. Saturday a rescue refresher class was held after the member safety refresher class. A new Safety Orientation Class will be […]

February 10, 2015 We have had unusually warm temperatures at the site the past week. Gail and I are still recovering from a case of the crud. The on-going projects continued this week, including superheater piping, airbrake control arm pins and bushings and replacing bolts which support the wrapper sheets. Several of these bolts were […]

January 24, 2015 Our usual TW3 authors, CMO Rick Kirby and Secretary Gail Kirby, were in Reno, Nevado this past week attending a RPCA (Railroad Passenger Car Alliance) convention. Work was performed, but no status was prepared. As always, however, a photographic record was created and can be found in the usual place. Hope to see […]

January 19, 2015 This week’s work was much like the past several weeks in regards to projects being worked on. Some new news for all the brake shoe donors is that all the shoes have now been delivered. Likewise for the tube and flue donors those parts are now being inserted into the boiler. Fifty […]

January 13, 2015 This week was our first full work week since the holidays. Flexible staybolt sleeve welding continued as well as the installation of new copper seals under their plugs. Upon close examination of one sleeve threads it was determined to replace it. The internal threads had corroded to such a degree that the […]

January 07, 2015 January typically is our coldest month here in Albuquerque and our first work session in 2015 was no exception. The air temps were in the low 20’s. As the work force began to arrive a few at a time jobs were handed out. Superheater tube work began again fabricating defective parts. The […]

December 23, 2014 Wednesday work session greeted us with a mixed bag of light rain and snow and about an hour of power outage at the beginning of the day. Workers stayed home due to slippery work surfaces on the engine. A few diehards showed up for work, most of who have shelter to work […]

December 16, 2014 We had two good work sessions last week. A special tool was fabricated to remove the donated dynamo’s governor yoke which came off easily. The turbine blade was then removed and examined, some cleaning will be necessary. This week the disassembly will continue for further examination of the bearings. Painting of the […]

December 9, 2014 After the turkey day week things were back to normal at the 2926. Mother Nature is still being kind to us and work resumes as usual. Superheater fabrication continued with that crew back from having some time off. The firebox door frame had been painted and bolted into place. The superheater storage […]

December 1, 2014 We hope everyone had an enjoyable and safe Thanksgiving. The number of volunteers on site this week was less due to the holiday week, but the diehards soldiered on. We received the heat treated brake lever pins and bushings last week. Their dimensions changed a bit so adjustments will be performed. More […]