Dear Hayden,
Thanks very much for this most detailed and interesting account, and also for the delightful photo. It’s always good to hear firsthand accounts reports about this kind of restoration. What an amazing achievement!
One little point of interest - I wonder if there is any record of the precise colour worn by the US First World War locos? I ask because Felin Hen, the Baldwin 2-6-2T which was restored by Patrick Mourot in France, looks to be painted in a rather bluer shade of grey than your Davenport, as is the Baldwin diesel on the Ffestiniog. Was the colour changed after the end of the war, or was there some latitude allowed to the different loco builders?
Best wishes,
James