On Saturday, April 27, our volunteer group learned that just when you think Spring is here, good old Winter swings back in, asking if we missed her! Volunteers Dwight Maxey, Colin Mellin, Kendall Crouch, Chris Pollard and Paul Brown answered NO, and jumped right into working. Luckily, our list of projects is so large, that we can make quick changes and accomplish things. While the morning rain persisted, we did some work to install flag/lantern brackets to the cab of Engine 102. This will allow us to easily mount flags on the locomotive during events. 1951-built EMD GP7’s have cab wall steel thick enough that you can tap threads to make a very secure attachment. After mounting the brackets, we did some other minor work to the locomotive before breaking for lunch.

After lunch, we were able to get to work removing the rear tire from our Hi-Rail tool truck. We were finally able to get the outer dual off, and were able to assess what tools we will need to remove the lugs holding the inner tire on. There are many “tricks of the trade” when playing with large truck wheels, and we learned a couple of them today! After a busy, cool, damp day, we wrapped up work around five and headed home.

Next week should be very interesting! If you like washing your car or truck, you should try washing a locomotive!!

Here are a few pictures from today’s activities.

– Paul