December 17th Worksession

223 Work: The baffles were installed inside the tank, at least temporarily. They will have to be removed to allow the contractors (whomever they may be) to coat the inside. A few more holes were drilled to mount hardware and part three of the water inlet has been started. For those that don't know, the water inlet has been the hardest part of the tender project because of its complicated forming. It is a roughly oval shape bent from a singel piece of sheet steel with a 90 degree flange on the bottom. The previous two attempts turned out okay, but were not perfect and had several flat spots. Hopefully this time it will come out perfect. Below, a team is drilling mounting holes into the flange before the sheet is formed:

In addition, metal screens were made for the windows of the rotary snowplow (OWR&N No. 900061), which were all knocked out by vandals during its tenure at the Business Depot Ogden a few years back. The hope is that this will keep transients out of the plow. Below, Andy (who is in charge of this project) measures a screen in preparation for "framing": a strip of metal wallboard corner that is folded over and tacked in place to allow a mounting surface.

The screens were stacked agains the 223's cab to wait for installation.

A Special Visit

A little late, yes, but better late than never.

The 844 and Heritage Fleet visited the museum on November 26th-28th, arriving Saturday morning and leaving Monday Morning. The following are some shots by Joshua Bernhard of the event on Monday.

Union Station Director Roberta Beverly and former chapter President Mike Burdett inspect the 844. Mike resigned from the chapter presidency to devote all his time to the Golden Spike Heritage Foundation, which is working towards rebuilding a portion of the original Trancontinental Railroad route between Corinne and Promontory.

Electrical Work on the Cargill

Johnson Electric Motor was the contractor hired by Cargill to complete the wiring. The traction motors are all repaired, and work is being done on the cab wiring which was also damaged.

The painting was completed in early November. Hopefully by the end of 2011 the museum will have a completely operational locomotive.

As a side note, the locomotive was moved to make way for Union Paciifc's heritage fleet when the 844 visited last month on the way back to Cheyenne. Below is a picture of the SW1 in its natural habitat. She stayed there only a few days before being moved back to her spot on Track 2 in front of the shop.