Brake link rods

Links, originally uploaded by SeabeeCook.

Here are the brake link rods to the Diamond and Caldor No. 4. They are superimposed over the firebox brick.

The brake link rods are key components in the locomotive's brake system. They connect the brake cylinder to the brake beams through a series of operating levers and balancing levers.

The locomotive has its own brake system that operates independent of the train's brake system.

Square, not level

Square, not level
Originally uploaded by SeabeeCook

When Keith Berry mentioned that he'd mounted the builders plate on the smoke box of the Diamond and Caldor No. 4, I said, "It's not level."

"Level? We don't worry about level," Keith shot back. "This is a locomotive. It's square with the smoke box."

Keith grabbed a framing square and checked his work. Sure enough, the square lined up perfectly with the construction number.

The boiler isn't level with the horizon, said Keith. Characteristic of the Shay geared steam engine, the boiler isn't true with locomotive deck. And it lists to the firemen's side.

Cookin' hot dogs in the rain

Cookin' hot dogs in the rain
Originally uploaded by SeabeeCook

Bill Rodgers tends sausages on the grill in the rain at the El Dorado County Historical Museum. Another El Dorado Western Railway volunteer lit charcoal in an old blacksmith's forge to bake old grease off the brake linkage rods to the Diamond and Caldor No. 4 steam locomotive. An inverted wheelbarrow protects the fire from rain.