Hey Dwight,
For once- I actually have the "inside scoop", despite my proximity. Jason and I had planned for the bell to be cast horizontally in the mold, and designed a pattern with a balanced core as such. It was cast a few weeks ago, but the metal was cooling too quickly to allow for the casting to form without large voids. So Gordon talked with the foundry, and they wanted to have the pattern modified so that the bell would be cast vertically, along with some changes made to the core box design. Gordon then kindly sent the patterns back to Texas, where I finished making/modifying all of the wooden bits yesterday. And I've go one foot out the door to go cast the plaster core boxes today. We'll try and get the patterns and core boxes back up to the foundry as soon as we can.
Congratulations to everyone involved with #9's restoration and steam testing. It was a wonderful bit of news to compliment Thanksgiving this week.