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Build 11: April 2025 Update

Our latest Build 11 work session was held on March 25-27. Rick Sisson assisted by Bob Longo and Quentin Bethune fabricated the “fire ring” that we will use to heat the driving wheel tires during installation planned for our Spring Work Weekend. Our design is scaled up from the fire ring we built to install lead truck tires years ago.

Rick and Bob used the hydraulic press to form the straight pipe into a ring. We also used our flanging machine to correct some bending errors.
Once the ring halves were bent holes were drilled to form makeshift gas ‘nozzles”.
Harold Downey and Quentin fabricated chain hangers and ring supports.
We performed a limited number of tests of the ring and tire assembly and determined the tooling is ready for the tire installation.
After these tests we added turnbuckles to allow us to level the tire and ring assembly.
Gordon Cook drilled and tapped the holes required in the wedge bolt straps and pedestal binders. The wedge bolts will be captured by these straps; the straps will allow us to adjust the vertical travel of the wedges.
Finally, we see the pedestal binder lift in action (that’s actually Gordon lifting the binder in place).
Harold kept busy meticulously machining the faces of the shoes based on exhaustive measurements he had previously made. Quentin brought wedge washers he machined at home; these will be used to secure the shoe bolts.
Our friends at Mountain Machine Works have completed quartering of the driver wheelsets; they achieved 90.000 +/- 0.002 degrees. They bored the crankpin seats and are machining the crankpins. We will retrieve the wheelsets and crankpins in time to install the driver tires during our Spring Work Weekend.
Quentin went to pick up our crossheads from D. S. Greene Co. in Wakefield Massachusetts. They Blanchard ground our crossheads as well as the eccentrics that Quentin is working on at his home shop.

On the fundraising front, we have ALMOST unlocked the $60,000 challenge! Thanks to a very generous (and unexpected) donation we are only $5914 shy of reaching our goal! Can you please help put us “over the top”? Any donations received beyond the 2025 funding goal will be used to build the locomotive faster (by hiring more contractors) or reduce the “ask” for 2026.

Thanks for your continued support and interest in the WW&F!
The Build 11 Team

A "ring of fire" is prepared for use to build locomotive 11 at the WW&F Railway in Alna, Maine.

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