Passing the Torch

This post is a week late and for that I apologize. It will also be my last for now. Galen and I have both reached a point where is it best for us to step away from the museum. We leave the shop in John's capable hands and I leave this blog with in the hands of my wonderful crew. I'm sure they'll keep you up to date on goings on in the shop.

With 1326 in the shop for motor repairs, Lou has begun refurbishing the controllers, another needed job.

Lou works on disassembling an arc shoot set from 1326

Scott is helping John out with 3001 by completing final cleaning on the journal boxes.

Scott pauses in his work to say hi

Tad is making great progress on 169. He's gotten much of the front of the clerestory prepped and has started priming work on the sides where accessible.

Clerestory paint work in progress on 169

While it's hard to say goodbye, I know the cars are in very good hands. I can still be reached via the contact gizmo on the sidebar if you need to get a hold of me for whatever reason. All the best. Kelly

Hello, 1326!

1 was released from the shop after Galen completed repairs to the east end tow point. This will allow us to safely tow the car with the diesel if needed. The car returns to Kelly Barn where it remains out of service until further improvements can be made.

We had a week of air system issues with both 16 and 65 being placed out of service. Jeremy came in and assessed 16, tracing its problems to a hole in one of the pipes. Unfortunately, the pipe was inaccessible in Kelly Barn so repairs had to wait a few days until the car could move up to the shop. Galen and Kelly replaced the rotted pipe and returned the car to limited service. 65 has been diagnosed with a rotted out gasket in the main brake cylinder. We've begun soaking bolts in PB Blaster and hope to complete repairs in the next few weeks.

16's old air pipe clearly shows the source of the leak

New air pipe in 16

Mike has added logos to S193 and completed painting the hand rails. Compared to where this car was last year, it has made a complete transformation, all for the better.

1326 was moved back into the shop so we can being repairs to the motors next week. We expect repairs to take about eight weeks if all goes well. 15 was moved in front of the shop to give the Operations Team better access to power so they can continue exterior cosmetic work. 5645 has been moved to storage while it waits its turn for repair.

1326 waits for repairs