This Saturday's workers included Jim Armstrong, Bob DeWachter, Hanna Brooks, Brian Herbert and Matt Hoffer. Robert Moore, from Downeast Scenic RR, performed maintenance on our crawler crane in preparation for the tender lift.

Jim continued to work on the coal pocket doors. They are now all cleaned up and primed. Matt got all the tender brake rigging cotter pins installed. This took a bunch of crawling around under the frame. He also removed a bit of brake piping, so it couldn't be damaged during the cistern install.

Another small access hatch was cut in the deck of the tender. This is for fan ventilation duct. This allows the man hatch to be completely clear. It is fairly small and running a 13” duct really hinders using the ladder. The cutout was transformed into a flanged hatch that will receive a rubber gasket and be bolted into place. Much of the plasma cutting and welding required for this transformation was done by Hanna (as her first lessons in MIG welding) on this under Bob's tutorage. Brian ground the edges smooth on the riveting access openings. This was important as there will be a lot of activity in this area riveting, and you don't want injuries for sharp edges.

Additional work included taking measurements to locate the cistern guides to properly locate the tank when it is set in place. We also finished stripping the old upper front cab wall to allow its use as a pattern for the new wall. A brand-new refrigerator was delivered and stocked with water, making the crew quite delighted! A special thanks to the NESCo members for cold water during these hot work sessions!