On 12 December we finished a milestone on the 223 project. All riveting on the tank
bottom was finished. After we do a little more drilling of holes for drains, it will be time
to remove the steel bottom from the construction casters and then position the tank on the
wooden frame. Then it will be time to start riveting again. All the side pieces have had
their holes drilled and they have all been assembled at least once on the tank using bolts
to verify fit. The horseshoe forge we purchased seems to be working out after we made a
few modifications to better hold the rivets.
The wishbone steam pipes we removed from
the smoke box are in Salt Lake City at Precision Casting Repair. We are trading off time
for money so it will be a while before we get them back. One had a broken flange at one end
