We had a small group accomplish quite a bit inside the shop. Jim Armstrong, Paul Van Steenberghe, Alex Fogg, and Dick Glueck, spread a considerable load of new ballast over the end of track 7, clearing the rail heads and creating flangeways for the locomotive frame. We had hoped to push the locomotive forward today, but the frontend loader was tied up with essential DESR work.

Jim, Alex, and Dick took turns with shovels and rakes and trimmed the ballast pile in a few minutes. Paul opened the ends of the building, as the heat was omnipresent, and we could both ventilate as well cool down a bit. Jim had already started chipping paint before the rest of us arrived, but we decided to work on stripping the firebox today. Alex, Paul, and Jim handled the wrenches, while Dick managed the torch. The work was consistent, and we cleared most of the left side lower firebox, including the mud ring.

We removed the cab braces, the mud ring openings, and wash out plugs, as well as a mounting plate for the booster throttle, and three of four bolts for the left blow-down valve. We were able to remove the nuts using a combination of ATF/Acetone and heat, but a number of the mounting threads were so badly corroded, they twisted off. The studs will have to be individually addressed in turn. Leverett's opinion is the while we don't like this issue, we might have to get used to more of them, since the corrosion is severe around the studs after 70 years.