March 24th Worksession - Riveting, water inlets and red paint

It's (almost) official - the tender is ready for painting. On March 24th the completed water inlet was riveted in place; the hole in the top of the tender cistern was cut the week before. With the inlet in place the lid was bolted down; once we get the tender air tank tested (hopefully it will pass; otherwise it will be a pain to get a new one) that can be mounted, and the interior coated.

The cylender sheathing was bent into shape, using the old-fashioned method of clamping it to a form (in this case, the actual steam chest castings) and hamering it to shape.

Meanwhile, out at the Rail Center, transient activity prompted one of the volunteers to close one of the side doors on Salt Lake & Utah 851 - and interurban milk trailer - and it was discovered that the portion of the door hidden by the wall still had its original "Chinese Red" paint. Samples have been taken for furture reference. The car is in bad shape, having suffered a fire, but efforts are being made to stabilize it and find a group that is willing to take on the task of restoring it.

223 Update (March 10 Worksession)

Work is progressing on the 223. The water inlet is finally bent (the third time's the charm, they say) and has been decreed usable. This past Saturday the old inlet was dissassembled so the individual parts can be reapplied to the new one.

The old and the new: The one in the rear is the original, the one in front the most recent. The lid is original.

The holes in the top cistern plate have been drilled; now all that needs to be done is to cut the inlet hole in the plate so that the inlet can be riveted in place.

The Sharon coupler has been installed, and the brake piping on the side of the tender has been hung and only needs to be secured.

While all this was happening another crew was working on securing the ALCO rotary. Expanded Metal screens are being applied to the broken-out windows and doors to keep transients out until new windows can be made. In addition, the side door on what would be the fireman's side if this were a steam locomotive was re-hung on its track and locked.

Hostlers Model Railroad Festival

This year's Hostlers Model Railroad Festival wrapped up this past Sunday, and for those that participated was a huge success. The chapter hosted a public open house in the shop (but of course, the shop is always open to visitors), and more than $300 was donated over the weekend.

Mike and Sigi Walker of Colorado Springs, who take care of memberships for the R&LHS, were our guests last year and this year returned with their own display. Unfortunately, Sigi was under the weather during the show and was unable to attend, but Mike went at the job enthusiastically and hopefully picked up a few new members.

Mike Walker discusses the advantages to a membership in the R&LHS.



In addition, we had the Rio Grande Modeling and Historical Society paid us a visit. Their booth, filled with folders of hundreds of D&RGW photographs (not to mention all of those Prospector back issues for sale!) was well attended and drew much attention. They arranged for a special shop tour on Friday morning before the show opened, with a planned article about the 223 in an upcoming issue of the Prospector.

The RGM&HS booth, right in the Grand Lobby...

...and there it is: Volume 4, number 1, the last time the 223 was featured in the Prospector.