Matthew,
A considerable amount of "quiet background work" has been done on this locomotive and continues up to this point. I have seen a number of posts involving people who do a lot of wishful thinking about new or reconstructed locomotives who don't have a clue as to the amount of work it takes to build a locomotive from scratch. A considerable amount of engineering work and drawings have been made by Jason and others. Wayne and myself have spent many hours just discussing the cylinder castings with Jason and visiting a commercial foundry and another pattern maker who is more capable that myself to do this job.
Recently I saw photos of failed casting projects which were heartbreaking. This is why we are investigating getting this done commercially. Who takes the hit when a $75,000 casting fails to pour properly?
I have built several foundry patterns for this locomotive and have started the drive wheel patterns. Since I am involved in a local locomotive restoration project (CNJ 113), my WW&F stuff takes a back seat to this one and subsequently takes longer to get done.
Matthew, what you should do is start learning about patternmaking (there are many books available on the subject), and make one of the simple patterns for this project to see how much work is involved with each part. We will need more people to do this, especially young guys like yourself who will be carrying on this preservation stuff when we can't do it anymore.
One more thing I would like to mention is costs. The costs and tack ons at a commercial foundry will knock your socks off. I got sticker shock when I got the final vouchers for the bell bracket castings. The castings cost Wayne and myself just under $800. I have since learned the name of a smaller, cheaper foundry, but when getting some of the big castings done, we will have to go commercial because of the amount of metal being poured and just for the sheer experience of those who do this every day. Not all the work can be done by volunteers.
I have much more to say about this but I have to run.
Bernie