The Build 11 Project received a tremendous boost last week, when all six members of the team were on hand at Sheepscot for the week. During the week, we manufactured a number of components for the locomotive’s rear frame. In addition to the actual making of these components, we reorganized and consolidated items stored in the No. 11 Project container, moving recently-delivered items into covered storage. Most of these items arrived by motor freight from Aqua Cut, a water-jet cutting operation in Syracuse, NY.
Over three days, we used propane torches to heat various items prior to bending them in the flanging machine. Most of the parts were in pairs, and in several cases there were right hand and left hand pieces, which required adjusting the position of stops to assure the piece did not move once the actual bending began. Several larger and heavier pieces required angled bends on both ends while others needed to be formed into a U shape. Because the steel was larger — some pieces were an inch thick and seven inches wide — we used two rosebud torches for heating, one one top and the other on the bottom of the workpiece. These were also a challenge to handle, since one end would be bent, then the opposite end of the piece was heated and placed back on the machine for the second bend. We were pretty pleased that these large pieces were formed precisely, with deviations from our measurements on the order of only 1/16 or 1/32 of an inch. We completed another 12 pieces.
By the end of the week, we had formed some 24 pieces. Six pieces we had planned to work were not included in the shipment from New York, so they will be worked at the next work session in June. We hope to hold monthly two or three day work events through the rest of the summer. After coach No. 9 is moved to the woodshop in June or early July, we hope to begin actually assembling the rear frame — the part behind the boiler that is supported by the trailing truck and contains the coal and water spaces — in Bay 2.
Team members include Jason Lamontagne, Harold Downey, Gordon Cook, Rick Sisson, Alan Downey and Wayne Laepple.
