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« on: December 05, 2010, 08:04:03 AM »
Another great day for the engine house and for #7. In attendance were Rick Knight, Bob Comeau, Joe Monty, Patrick Fitzgerald, Rich Currie and myself. We split up into teams to work on a number of projects. Joe got out the torch and worked on preparing to take the tender tank off of #7. Rich and Patrick worked on power washing the chassis to get rid of the dirt, rust and everything else. They worked for hours on this using a power washer with degreaser solution. The results were great and the chassis is not rid of grit and dirt and ready for further cleaning.
Bob worked on putting up trim on the land side all. This is all done. The only trim left now is on two corners and the door flanges. Rick and Hans worked on building more shelves. Last week we had build one 12' long shelf. This week we build three more. We were able to get these up much fastering using an air gun and air from the new compressor. The new compresser worked flawlessly and made putting up shelves a quick job. As soon as a shelf was finished, we took things off of the floor and put them up out of the way. Notable things that went up were cab doors for #4, smoke box screens, buckets of parts. The shelves are now full of a who's who of steam engine parts.
By early afternoon, Joe, with Bob's help had cut along to the point where we were ready to try and lift the tank off of the frame. Remember, the tank was closest to the fire and we were able to recover insurance money to pay to have a new one built. After lunch, we got the bucket loader out and put a track cart on the iron. Time was of the essence as we had to tie up the main line and Polar Express would be under way in an hour. We quickly got #7 out on the main line and with loader and chains, we prepared to lift the tank off. Fortunately, the bucket was just high enough that we could get the tank off on put onto the cart. We then quickly got #7 and the cart back into the yard before Polar Express trip 1 got underway.
After the tank was off and #7 was back on the house track, we pressure washed where the tank was. We will have to replace the steel plates that were under the tank as the are partially rusted. This is not a big job as this is thin plate that can be cut out and new plate welded in; all something that we can do.
So another strong step forward for both the engine house and now for #7. Our next work session will be on Saturday, December 11. We are hoping that the boiler people are going to show up to work on #4. This will determine if we have any steam for Polar Express or not. It would be a morale booster if we did. Results will determine where we focus our efforts, short term. Regardless, come on down, look at all that has been done and lend a hand.