April 30, 2018 Repairs to the flue sandbox are underway as cardboard templates were cut to fit the wasted areas of the sandbox bottom and back. These were then transferred to metal sheets. The two pieces were cut, ground clean and slowly trimmed to fit the enclosure. They will be seal-welded over the wasted areas. […]

April 23, 2018 After a tumultuous ten days we are again making progress to a successful full boiler hydro test. Besides fixing leaks in old fittings and components we have what we feel is a successful brass pour for the radial buffer​ plate. Lubrication slots are being machined into the surfaces for the grease to […]

April 11, 2018 This week more jacketing panels were checked for proper fit. We received previous fitted panels back from the painter. Some will be stored until the boiler is steamed up. More electrical decisions were made and conduit installed. Electronic load test equipment was fabricated and checked for proper function. Also this week the […]

April 2, 2018 Hello all, Many of the projects reported last time are still ongoing as we prepare for the boiler steam test. The jacketing gang has plenty of work still ahead as pipes templates are made from rusted and wasted original parts. Our metal fabrication shops stay busy working off the templates. After being […]

March 20, 2018 The past two weeks were in the most part the same as the past several weeks. Cab piping continues as some needed slight alterations due to the new insulation and jacketing. The jacketing crew, sometimes numbering four or more have been turning out templates for the sheet metal fabricators. Both shops are […]

March 5, 2018 Our work soldiers on as volunteers provided more jacketing templates for the fabricators as finished ones were being installed. The backhead jacketing is all but finished. I expect the reinstallation of the cab piping to begin next week (this week). The foundry crew are still hard at work perfecting their craft while […]

February 26, 2018 Work progressed this week on the backhead insulation and jacketing. More refinished jacket pieces are expected this week. They will be checked for proper fit and adjusted as necessary, then off to the paint shop. We’re still waiting for the proper material to arrive for the 26L component shield to be completed. […]

February 20, 2018 Work continues on the backhead as volunteers insulate it then install freshly fabricated and painted metal panels. Other areas of insulation included the underside of the smokebox. All those metal panels have not yet arrived on site. Workers are now providing paper templates for the jacketing fabricators instead of sending the old […]

February 13, 2018 Hello steamers, We are certainly getting down to the small things as we are still installing small bore control piping, blowing out installed piping with compressed air and testing the various gauges for accuracy. More insulation was applied to the smokebox and backhead thus protecting our fire-up personnel from the 400 plus […]

January 29, 2018 The week began early with a round trip to Farmington, NM on Monday with about 2000 lbs. of drawbars to be annealed by Team Industrial. The ​return round trip to retrieve them was on Wednesday. The following is reported by Dr. Mike since I was absent hauling drawbars. Wednesday the backhead sheet […]