Our 2014 Work Sessions are fast approaching, and we will provide you with photos of those activities each day so those of you who are not able to attend them in person can keep in touch and see the important work that is accomplished. We also want you to see some of the work that gets done in the “off-season” – loyal volunteers who are working on projects at their homes, or at the Colorado Springs work site which is a year-round operation. So we’ll post photos of those off-season activities that may be of interest to you.
One of our most important projects this year is the construction of passenger trucks for our high-value restoration projects: Railway Post Office Car 54, Tourist Sleeper 470 and Cook Car 053. The trucks, to be constructed in “Flying Bolster” configuration necessary to support wooden car frames, are being built by volunteers from steel; cast steel and cast iron; and white oak. In all, some 150 individual pieces are needed to create these frameworks.
The attachment provides some details about this project, which is led by Russ Hanscom with plenty of help from talented volunteers. The photos below reflect work being done by Russ, who lives in Farmington, NM (metal work); Craig McMullen, Colorado Springs, CO (who is working with white oak pieces); and John Weiss, Houston, TX (pattern fabrication).
The so-called “Trucks and Brakes” project has been, and will continue to be, one of our major fund-raising priorities. Six trucks are required for the three cars now being restored. To date, we have raised $33,000 of the estimated $132,000 required for the project; all of the funds raised to date have been expended for the materials used in the parts shown in the photos as well as related parts.
Look forward to seeing you this summer!
Ed Lowrance
Attachments:
1. Narrative
2. Photos (9)