There were three work sessions during the month of March with Bob and Paul in attendance.

Primarily, work was focused on the rebuild of the cab. One of the big challenges was the actual fitment of the new front wall to the boiler shell. We have the boiler, but the floor the cab sits upon has long since been lost to time. This has made things tough to figure out!

When we made the initial cab wall cutout, we made some assumptions in the shape of the boiler shell, such as perfect radius and plumb vertical side sheets. It has become evident that things were not that perfect as better measurements came to light. To tackle this, Bob and Paul used a sacrificial sheet of plywood to accurately fit the boiler shell at the location of the wall brackets. This took multiple fit and scribe and cut sessions. Eventually, a pattern was developed that resulted in a one-inch clearance around the boiler. This was transferred to the cab wall and steel trimming commenced.

Now that that hurdle has been conquered, the front windows can be located properly and cut out. The original front wall saw many changes over the years with doors and windows. Some areas had only a little metal remaining, and many cracks, so patches were made. We are trying to avoid those issues with this rebuild! Therefore, the front window size and location will be slightly altered to what was present at the end of #470’s service to give the best results. Next, the crew will tackle a bunch of rivets waiting to be installed in the cab!