Saturday was a fairly productive day at the shop. Rick has started getting the proper air lines for the Plymouth cut and threaded, and also worked on one of our new (used) weedeaters.  Our Miller welder is also now at the shop and being worked on to get it into operating condition.  The big job out there Saturday was putting the dome back on HEPC 46. It took 4 of us, Rick, Ken Sr., Ken Jr. and Aaron to get it set back on top of the water tank, and bolted down.  It?s currently in grey primer, and will receive a coat of flat black in the next week or so.  New end beams and running boards are being looked into, but the are not cheap.  The end beams are 12?x16?x9?4?, and need to be made out of hardwood. Price seems to be in around the $400/piece range.  Even the running boards, 2?x10?x16? are close to $100 each.  We are still pricing these out, but ideally, we would like to try to get the end beams back in place before the end of the year.  When the new running boards are installed, we will be able to reinstall the air tank and other appliances.  The cab will be the last repair, and we are also currently looking into that rebuild as well.  The cab rebuild is not just the deteriorated steel, but also all the wood windows and doors, which we do have patterns of.  We just need to find someone who an do the work for us.  46 is slowly starting to look like her old self again.

Rick lifts the dome in preparation to swing it over 46.

Aaron and Rick look on as Ken tightens the bolts on the dome.

HEPC 46 with the steam dome reinstalled.

Lots going on at the Museum. The shop is open most Saturdays, between 10am-2pm, so if you?re in the area, feel free to stop by and see what we are doing.  Admission is by donation.