Sorry for the lack of posts. It has been a busy year.

At this point the tender is in the shop hanging from a frame. The original upper portion of the tank appears to be kind of like wrought iron but it is very difficult to weld. It is also in relatively good shape, whereas the bottom extension was rusted beyond salvation. We have constructed a new bottom out of stainless steel and it is ready for its first test fit when we have the new deck on the tender. The new section will be riveted to the old using hot rivets made from scrap staybolts and sealed with tar paper and epoxy seam sealer inside. The repairs on the top section are nearly complete and it will be sandblasted and coated prior to fitting the new section to it.

The tender frame has been repaired by straightening a couple beams, making a new center plate for the front truck and rigging up an extra pulling plate for the coupler. We managed to re-profile the flanges on the wheels so they are legal and there should still be plenty of wear left in the chilled part of the cast iron wheels. One new axle is being made, wedges re-profiled, boxes repaired, new centerplate on front truck, new pedestal and spring plank end castings are on hand for machining.

The rocker boxes are installed on the locomotive frame and the equalizer pedestals have been repaired and fit to the frame. The equalizers will be built up with weld and machined. These need to be installed at the same time as the pedestals. Prior to that step the tumbling shaft bearings and waist sheet bearer will be attached to the frame. This is the last step prior to tramming the locomotive and making the new shoes and wedges and final machining the boxes.

The main driving wheels still need to be brazed where they are cracked and two new axles need to be made. While there are all sorts of indications on the side and main rods, we may try to save them simply because they are so unique to the locomotive, having come from various donors over the years.

The firebox is riveted in place and about 15% of the staybolts are threaded in place. New throat braces are being fabricated. The smokebox is being installed on the saddle where it will remain until we can stick the boiler on the frame. It is preferable to install the boiler in this manner to maintain alignment. It is virtually impossible to put the smokebox on the boiler first and have it line up exactly with the saddle.

The original main air reservoir is not satisfactory for service so a new reservoir was made as part of our three year ASME review. This new tank will sit inside the old tank shell which has been cut in half longitudinally. A hinge will allow the original shell to be swung clear of the new tank for service and inspections.

That's about it for now. Feel free to donate to the Colorado RR Museum as much as you can for #20's restoration. There probably is not enough to completely finish the project at the moment so anything is appreciated.