Submitted by Steve Winicker.
LAST WEEKENDS SHOP ACTIVITY
It has been a very productive weekend with a lot of tasks moving forward. John Jaress and myself spent Friday shrinking bushings and pressing them into the brake levers and pull rods. John had worked during the week making screens for the valve oil lubricator and installed those.
Saturday a good crew with the Kesters and Taylors providing much of the labor. The brake levers and pull rods were painted, the left side valve gear was put in place. Most of the right side is up as well. We removed the tender drawbars for inspection, George worked on a sheet metal project around the 701’s water tank. Joe shot the remaining five gallons of paint into the 765’ tender and we are done painting the inside of things. 765’s tank is around 1/3 repainted. We worked on finishing up the forming of the 765 tank’s interior ladder but failed to get the ladder rungs attached. The drawbars were sandblasted clean late in the evening. Some parts were cut for the auxiliary tank floor Friday afternoon and I believe some shop wiring was worked on. Other projects which I have forgotten about probably happened as well.
Sunday a much smaller crew touched up paint on the brake levers. We inspected the drawbars for defects as well as the drawbar pins. No defects were found and we are getting them ready to reinstall.
UPCOMING ACTIVITIES
Next weekend we will attempt to get the drawbars back in the engine and couple the tender back up. The valve oil lubricator can be finished and put back on the engine. I hope to finish the tank ladder and install it. Oil needs to be changed on driver and engine truck bearings. We could finish up drilling the telltale holes in the firebox stays.
Be sure to report your volunteer efforts on either the shop log or the website. Do not post on both as it is the same list and then requires someone to sort out the duplicates. Also use the correct member number and/or put your name on page with your work activiy. That way we can accurately record it.
