MADDOG wrote:From the Oyster Bay RR Museum-
Another update.
We are working through the winter and have 3 projects going on simultaneously.
The Ping Pong Coach/#35's tender and #35's cab.
Last Saturday, our master fabricator/Fred, created a new floor beam for installation. During this week, our other master fabricator/John P, took the previously installed side wall off of the fireman's side of #35's cab in order to clean up the welds on the frame and to weld in this newly fabbed piece.
With the years having taken its toll on the cab, like other steam locomotives that have to sit in the elements, adding back steel parts like this strengthen and stiffen up the entire assembly.
During a visit to the RR Museum of Pa in Strasburg, John found that the cabs on the G5s, L1s. M1s and K4s are identical. Imagine that! This will help us to fabricate components that were previously "cast" and allow us to continue the project.
You can see the progress photos on our Facebook page.
MADDOG
And this past Saturday,
As John was cleaning up his welding from the previous weeks work, Fred was again fabricating another floor beam that will be added onto the engineer's side angle bracket to make it a channel like the fireman's side. And just for good measure, before the day was through, Fred also fabricated the last piece that will be added along the back wall to create the channel there. Due to a wiring issue on our compressor, we weren't able to needle scale the inside of the cab. It seems that it is coated in some sort of thick weatherproofing which needs to be removed so we can weld without setting it on fire. Is it possible this is just residue from the coal??
Meanwhile, George was busy cutting out the rest of the diamond plate on the Ping Pong Coach's East vestibule. By opening up this area of the floor, we can plan on removing the damaged steel and ordering up new steel angles and channels for replacement. Luckily, it isn't as bad as we thought. When the air compressor comes back from repairs, we can complete the job of cleaning out the delaminated steel at the underside.
Photos can be viewed on our Facebook site.
From all of us at the Oyster Bay RR Museum, We wish everyone a very Happy and Healthy New Year.
MADDOG