Dear Pioneer,
I’m so pleased to hear about your special visitors and potential record attendance! It seems as though those circus antics paid off, at least during the summer. Some of our younger volunteers were also excited to hear about this Mick Jagger guy and lamented the fact that our museum was too far away for him to visit us. Famous people are very busy. Not unlike famous engines, in fact! I’m not either of those things, but you wouldn’t know it from what’s been going on the past few months.
I promised you more details and I’m finally able to deliver! As you know, September is the end of our usual operating season which traditionally concludes after Members Day, when all the hard work our staff and volunteers have done over the course of the year is shown off. A couple of the guys here made it their goal to get us operational before then.
I mentioned in my last letter that they ran some tests over the summer to determine what exactly needs work, since you might as well address all the problems at once. There’s the broken valve spring that put an end to our Members Day run two years ago, but one of my engines was inconsistent at best and I’ve been told I have a “mysterious” air brake system. Put simply, sometimes my emergency brake would kick on and no one was sure why! There’s also the various issues that come with being stationary for so long; Leaky seals and such that needed replacing, cleaning, repainting. It wasn’t an insignificant amount of work. I don’t want to say I wasn’t optimistic going in, but the list of to-dos seemed daunting to say the least.
You’re right when you say the people here are very dedicated. Through July and August the guys did everything they set out to do and more! They replaced a bunch of seals, improved the brake system by quite a lot, and got both my engines back in working order. It wasn’t a solo effort, and I’m very grateful to the people from Westinghouse Brake Co. and even EMD who offered their services and documentation to help the process along. It’s not unlike when U-505’s manufacturers helped with his restoration! I understand why Frisco was so optimistic during her overhaul. It’s hard to feel down when you have so many people around you doing their best to get you up and running again.
The Goddesses were as pleased about the time the team spent cleaning as they were about the mechanical work being done. You can imagine the state my interiors were in from being outside for so long. Vesta said there was 35 years worth of accumulation to undo, but I think surely someone must have swept me out at least once or twice while I was in service. That I can’t remember the exact details doesn’t mean it didn’t happen!
Anyway, the last step was steam cleaning and repainting before the big day. It didn’t feel like previous years where we were all holding our breath and crossing our fingers just hoping for the best. Even before they hit the starter, I knew we’d be off and running again. Everyone put in so much effort and time and care that being operational again was a foregone conclusion. It was well worth it just for the looks of excitement on the guests faces as we spent the whole day taking them up and down the line!
Of course, the rest of Members Day was a treat, as usual. Frisco and Tuskegee double-headed their train, so we got double the number of whistles and cheers when we pulled into the station since they were both waiting on the other track. I’m told double-heading for steam engines around here is quite special, since it requires so much coordination and effort for their crews. Needless to say both of them were quite boisterous and the visitors loved every minute.
More exciting now that the event is over is the prospect of being able to do this again, and soon. I’ve been stationary for so long with only one outing a year, the idea that we might be relied upon to take more passengers is a bit nerve-wracking! Mostly I’m happy for my train, who haven’t stopped raving about the delightful time they had during Members Day and how next year it’s going to be their turn for a steam cleaning and new paint job.
I know this has run long again and I apologize to both your reader and my writer. I just didn’t want to leave anything out! Everyone here is anxious to hear more about your operations as ours come to a close. We might be semi-operational again, but our museum won’t see any guests for another season, so we’d love to hear more about yours.
And as always, thank you for the kind words and encouragement.
Your friend,
Pilot