M onday (9/1) Bob Krueger was Dispatcher with Dennis Falter and John Diefenbach as crew and were host to one tour group of about 17 people.

     Friday (9/4) Ed Amrhein and Rick Obbink continued to work on the crane. They have started to paint the exterior of the crane and for safety sake they have painted the handrails yellow so that they are more visible. Dave Crow finished preparing the replacement spans for the next pole at 28th street.

     Saturday (9/5) Started with Dennis Yeager and Rick Obbink going off to pick up ties that were donated to the museum. It seems that the company was having their small yard redone and agreed to donate the used ties. So far we have received two sets of switch ties, one set that are in fair condition and the second if good condition (they are only two years old). This task took Dennis and Rick all Saturday and they expect to get the remaining ties next week.

     Meanwhile I started to find the leak in the Witt. It turned out not to be the gasket we replaced the week before, but some dirt that has gotten on one of the valve seats. With the help of Ed and Dave the valve was cleaned and the air lines blown out. The Witt was placed back in service.

     It was mid morning and Bernie Sachs had arrived for training on the Witt. Ed and Bernie went on the Witt while Dave and I took the line car and 264 out to28th street loop to replace the span wires and insulators attached to the east pole next to the switch.

     Ed was Dispatcher with Dennis Falter, Tom Phillips, Buster Hughes and Bernie as crew. The visitors we given an unusual ride during the early part of the afternoon. Since Dave and I had the loop blocked while we were replacing the spans, the single ended cars had to back out the line. By mid afternoon things had returned to normal and Bernie was qualified on the Witt.

     Dave and I, with help from Paul Ritterhoff replaced the six span wires and insulators at 28th street. We had hoped to get more done, but the ties had to be picked up so the line crew was smaller than we had planned.

     Sunday (9/6) Bob Krueger was Dispatcher for the second time this week with Bob Cohen and Paul Ritterhoff as crew. The number of visitors was less than Saturday, a trend that has been true for the last two months.

John