Work Session Status Week Ending 03/09/2013

3/11/13

A report from Bob DeGroft my assistant CMO as I’m under the weather. I want to thank Bob for filling in for me and for everyone else carrying on in my absence.

We took two more rods down to the paint shop last Wednesday and picked them up on Friday.

A very large turnout in spite of the chancy weather with positive and negative results for the day.

After the general meeting work began.

Welding continued on the driver counterweight cracks with completion of the welds on the #2 driver crack, engineer’s side. Work started on the patch for the more serious hole and on Wednesday it must be beveled prior to install.

The mag drill/staybolt cap rig was demonstrated to the testosterone gang and it was put to use in the morning.

Rods were re-organized in storage and two more were cleaned so they can be transported to the paint shop next Wednesday AM. Friday at 10:00 we’ll need people to meet at the paint shop to pick the two rods up and bring back to the site to offload. If you helped last week please plan to attend this Friday.

The reducer was tack welded in place on the replacement steam pipes that lead from the steam chest to the hot water heater.

Other cold water pipes were pulled from storage and installed on the engine leading from the cold water feed pump located under the cab.

Work continued on the cab woodwork and it is very near completion. Discussions and decisions need to be made on the type of wood for the deck and whether the interior woodwork should be stained green or left natural.

Hardware rings were installed on the #2 and 3 pins and in the morning an attempt was made to install the inner 2 to 3 rod on the fireman’s side. The #3 bearing had a new sleeve installed by Timken and because of that the brass bushing on the rod was undersized. The heavy rod was set up on the mill and the brass bushing was milled out slightly oversize which we all figured would solve the problem. In the afternoon another attempt was made to mount the rod and even though we got the bushing diameter right, the rod would not go on. By then three o’clock came around and work was halted. On Wednesday we will use the newly fabricated driver wedge to hopefully change the distance between the two crank pins so we can get a fit. Is it possible that the rod warmed up and expanded just enough to keep it from going on in spite of the cold weather?

In other news the pattern for the small staybolt sleeve has been fabricated in Utah and casting could begin as early as next week!

The copper gaskets could ship by the end of this week, and the small staybolt caps have been shipped.

Rick reported by remote that the work on the crossheads and crosshead shoes has begun in Arizona by the Grand Canyon Railroad folks so a lot of stuff is coming together rather nicely.

As a side note for 3/18/13, a Monday. We’d like to call a special workday for this day for our special guests from NMDOT that day. We began cleaning the site this past Saturday. I’d like to begin the work session that day at 12:00 pm. Our guests will arrive at 2:00 pm. The reefer and WHQ needs a good cleaning including the floor in the WHQ. Gail has already swept the floor in the reefer, but it will probably need it again. Please toss all wrappers, used water bottles and any other trash when you’re done with it. We want lots of workers on site and very busy as always. Please be cognizant of our guests if you’re grinding or welding. We want a busy site but a very safe one.

Hope to see you on the site this week and as always…

Keep on Steamin’,
Rick Kirby, CMO &
Bob DeGroft, Assistant CMO
NMSL&RHS