Hmmm.....I was under the impression that the bands were necessary to hold the lagging on and that the C&S just painted them black along with everything else. Thanks for the clarification. The rest of it looks great though! Every year that I rode the Loop I would see #9 sitting there and I would just be sick thinking about what was being done (or, more accurately, what WASN'T being done!) to preserve it!
I do have one fear though and that is that the CHS will treat #9 as just another engine to run to death up on the Loop. Railstar and the people that are running it seem to be pretty good people but they have also said that the #9 is the CHS's and that they don't have much say as to what goes on. Two years ago, I posted here that I was afraid the CHS would destroy #9 by running it at max capacity and wearing the old girl out!
Two years later, #9 is rising like a Phoenix from the ashes! I am eager to ride behind her and would pay $$$ to get a cab ride! I sincerely hope that my fears are not realized and that the CHS will treat the #9 as the historical treasure that it is!
So, bravos to everyone that participated in it's restoration! If the bands were never brass then paint them the right color! It's an easy enough fix.