WABI covered our October 20th work session on 470 with an excellent video - CLICK HERE TO VIEW!
The Waterville Sentinel also covered the session - CLICK HERE TO READ!
The crew emptied the smokebox completely of cinders, removed the cinder grating to inspect the flue sheet, lubricated the locomotive again (we do this every two weeks to break rust and grit), began gridding the firebox sheet to ultrasonically test the thickness of the steel, and polished the tender journals. While we eventually will convert the tender journals from friction to roller bearings, these require servicing so the tender can be safely relocated. We also made an attempt to insert a fiber-optic camera into the cylinders and boiler, but met resistance from the digital age.
In other news, NESCo Treasurer Bill Alexander has nearly completed restoration of the Maine Central headlight donated to us by Ken White in September. This will adorn 470 when her restoration is complete.
