Photos attached are from Saturday and show the unlikely duo of Hank & Hunter digging out ties at Bluffs, The 534's boiler is very close to being fitted on the frame and artist Jimmy Scott has painted the first of the 4 Shapiro gons.

 

Saturday's crew was Hank, Hunter & myself at Bluffs; Ed Moore, Foster, Hardt & Tabernacki busy on the 534 in the roundhouse and the Scotts with Keeton painting the gondola. Brennan & I got the trailer floor painted while Jim Greathouse with Mike Walsh was getting 171 ready to put on the trailer and take it to the Collinsville train show the 24th & 25th of March. Dale was installing a dwarf signal for the roundhouse lead.

 

Sunday was another nice day and the track crew of Bell, Ernst, Lorance, Owings, Dennis Smith, Dwight Miller & Hank spread 6 cars of ballast and installed 47 ties. The Scotts returned to continue rolling stock repairs and Tabernacki was back at the 534.

 

Today (Wed.) saw another large crew; Lorance, Neubie, Dennis Smith & Hank on ballast (12 carloads), Owens, Foster and Tabernacki on 534 and Scotty numbering cars while Brennan painted handrails on the caboose.

 

Jim Strain