November 22, 2014 Most of our work this week was much the same as last week. Superheater bundle welding continued. Approximately half of the units have been fabricated. Flexible staybolt sleeve welding will be continued this coming week. The cab was removed to gain access to those sleeves not yet welded which are adjacent to […]

November 18, 2014 All accessible staybolt sleeves have been repaired. The cab is scheduled to be removed once again to enable our welder to repair those sleeves adjacent to the cab. Electrical conduit will also be installed while the cab is on the ground and more accessible. Lube lines continue being cleared of old oil […]

November 10, 2014 As most of you know by now Trains Magazine has awarded their 2014 Preservation Award to the New Mexico Steam Locomotive & Railroad Historical Society. The $10,000 award will be used to procure air brake components. Those components will be assembled into a state of the art brake stand. We can’t thank […]

November 4, 2014 This week work resumed fabricating superheater bundles. Carlos O. returned to work as well as most of his assistants. As of this writing all of the superheater bundle sponsorships have been sold. Various other sponsorships will be available in the future so monitor this weekly update and for our website for upcoming […]

October 27, 2014 Walschaert gear assembly work continued as adjustments to the various bearing components were necessary. The fit of the pins and bearings proved to be too tight thus requiring small amounts of the bearing’s surfaces to be carefully removed. The various parts were checked for proper bolt alignment and by Saturday afternoon the […]

October 20, 2014 As I reported last week we turned our attention to the timing gear and power reverse assemblies. This work continued this week. Workers mounted the power reverse control valves onto the power reverse cylinder. It’s connecting rod being attached to the bell crank allowed us to test the mechanisms for proper operation. […]

October 14, 2014 As most of you know we begin our Winter hours this Wednesday. Work sessions will begin at 9:00 am until next Spring. With the work completed on the crossheads and side rods our attention has been turned to the timing gear assemblies. Much of our time so far has been relocating the […]

October 6, 2014 Most of Wednesday’s work session was devoted to returning our restoration site to just that. Items we used for the open house were packed away and stored for another year. Some work continued as the final parts were assembled for the steam cylinder honing device. After a minor design modification both cylinders […]

September 29, 2014 Over the last several weeks crews have been preparing the restoration site for our annual open house. Other volunteers finished last minute projects to be displayed such as the steam cylinder honing device. This past Saturday the volunteer’s hard work over the last twelve months was exhibited. The open house was a […]

September 22, 2014 Hello all, Gail and I returned to the restoration site last week after two weeks of R & R. Thanks to Bob D. and Dave V. for filling in during my absence and Frank G. in Gail’s absence for the Minutes. Good progress was achieved on both crosshead assemblies. The engineer’s side […]