321 Update

There were no classes to teach today due to Columbus Day, but there was still plenty of work to do on preparing the 321. I finished disconnecting the motor leads and brake rigging from the trucks, and cleaned up some parts left over from yesterday's activities. Here's what the 321 looks like minus the steps and pilots. (One ground shunt had welded itself to the truck; that needs to be fixed with a torch. And one kingpin could only be raised an inch or so before it jammed, but I think that will be no problem if we can jack the car up slightly.) And I did lots more work on the roof, and removed some more parts and personal property.

With the steps and pilot out of the way, we can get a better view of how an inside-hung motor mounts on the truck.
Legend:
Red circle: motor leads.
Green arrows: Ground shunt.
Yellow arrows: Axle cap bearings.
The cover plate over the armature is below the motor leads, and the gear pan is behind the ground shunt wire in this view.

And here's the 4001 under its new tarp, nice and secure, and completely hidden.

Stan and I walked through the material yard and looked at spare trucks that we might be able to use to put under the 321. Unfortunately, the ground is pretty soggy.

And for Columbus Day, I discovered that work has started on the new Car Shop extension on the south side of Barn 4. There were two contractors earlier, but they got away before I took this picture. As you can see, materials are being staged for construction to start.