Although there was no official volunteer session for the #9 in August, Fletcher and I made up for our absence last month with a run to Westfield, WI. 

It was there, at the DW Sawmill that we picked up some beautiful white oak timbers that will eventually be used to rebuild the #9’s pilot, and the running boards that once flanked her boiler.

We thought this was going to be a cakewalk, but we learned otherwise as we ran into many small obstacles. Nothing horrible, just the standard rain, traffic, time, poor directions, unplanned fuel stops, and the shocking reminder that the Amish do not take credit (lol). But Fletch and I rolled with the punches and delivered the timbers to the museum late on Saturday.  Many thanks to Jeff Huttenburg for sticking around at the end of his long day to help us out. After our long day we had to get home, but we took a couple of minutes to run over to Coach Shed #1 and set our eyes for the first time on that tender, with her fresh, new, and beautiful coat of paint.  If you haven’t seen it yet, stop on down to check it out, and keep your eyes out for our next volunteer session.