Another crew worked on making a brand new cut lever for the rear coupler. Somehow somewhere between the 1972 shop fire and the beginning of this project about 2001, the cut lever assembly for the rear of the locomotive got lost. At least we have most of the assembly from the front end to use for a pattern to copy. This crew is busy heating and forging up five or six cut-lever mounting brackets from flat bar stock. Only four are needed for the new one, but at least one bracket is missing from the front assembly. Bob is hammering the hot stock around a piece of one inch round stock, same as the lever is made of. An already bent bracket is resting on the edge of the bench in the foreground. We are not pro blacksmiths, so the rough stock was left too long on purpose, something to hold onto. It can always be shortened. The flame behind the helper's head is the O/A torch flame, not the output from a Saturn V rocket.

Photo by Rick Brigger.