April 07, I don’t know who worked in the car shop since I didn’t arrive until 1:30. Hank finished with the excavator preparing for the foundation of the large propane tank, cleaning up some limbs etc. in the parking lot and doing a test excavation where the new loco shop will be. Lots of refuse was found but no old truck he thought was there. Hank and Mike L. worked on the rebuilt RH turntable. White replaced the line to the steam gauge on 403. ASME now requires condensate loops on all gauge lines. No other steam people were on site. The 403 needs very minor plumbing and new eccentric rods which Mike Walsh will hopefully make before school is out. Steve H has not been able to work on the firebrick on 928 so far this week. Hopefully we can get it started next weekend. I don’t feel comfortable tackling that project for the first time without supervision. TCW-SMP

April 10, White, Strain, George, Mayhew, Eckrich and Cullen worked on various projects. Littlejohn was also on site and helped man the hydro pump. The 400 hydro test was successful. The test on the 535 failed. There is a leak of some sort coming from the area of the throttle valve. The area is obscured by the petticoat. We tried to adjust the throttle position without success. We will probably pull the front end and remove the stack and petticoat for access. If needed we will replace the valve and plumbing. The firebrick is in place on 928. Wayne Peters, the refractory expert, inspected the work today and said it looked good. Even though the grout will dry for a few weeks we were advised to fire very slowly (4 hrs) to cure the grout and drive off bound water at the molecular level. Wayne thinks the brick will hold very well if we cure slowly. Strain and George plan to test fire the 400 next weekend. TCW-SMP