Hello all,
I'm new to this board, I found it through searching the web for railroad preservation groups.
I'm a member of Project 565 's Website. They are a group of volunteers tring to cosmedtic Restore our home town girl, here in Scranton, PA.

I copy this Progress report off the 565 website.
Thank you all, Good day.

Joe


Progress, progress, and more progress!
Below is the progress report for "Project 565", as of the September 13th, 2009 work day.

Hello All,
On Sunday September 13, 2009 we had our sixth workday since I took over for Steve Boonstra. Everything is starting to take shape very nicely.
We started 30 minutes earlier this time at 8:30 am so we would make up for lost time during Lunch. Before we started working on the parts of 565 we had a short 15 minute meeting with Mark Birtel, and then after that we got started sand blasting. J.T. and Matt used the outside blaster, and worked on the Smoke Box Cover and Lead wheel set, while Jim & Kelsey worked using the two sand blasting booths doing the smaller parts of 565. While they were sand blasting I was over in the Storage room sorting parts onto wooden pallets that I brought up. The first time I took up only five. This time I brought up nine. These were heavy-duty ones. I sorted through the two green bins and found quite a few parts that some people said were missing, like the safety chains for the tender and other small parts for the windows and doors.

Jim and Kelsey got almost a full pallet of parts done, and J.T. and Matt got the Smoke box cover and Wheel set done. I helped to primer paint some of the parts.

Each time we go up we get more done and we are getting closer to getting her lead back on. Some of the parts that Jim was working on were the front driver journal boxes and spring plates. Kelsey was working on the nuts and bolts for the back of the tender where Dan removed the Leg Iron. She was also working on the hand railing fasteners that bolt onto the boiler, and lots of other parts.

I feel our next workday will be Saturday, October 31, 2009, because Steamtown is really busy with train trips the month of October. The only day they aren't is the 31st. I've talked with J.T. and Kelsey they will not be able to make that workday, so I hope Dan and Gordon can. I know Jim will be there as I contacted him already. At our next workday I hope to get more of the smaller parts cleaned and maybe a few of the big parts as well. We are making a lot of progress and I would like to see more done. The more we get done the quicker she can get looking like her old self, Remember she's the hometown girl; a true Lackawanna locomotive and a part of Pennsylvania history.

Thank you all for your good, hard work.

Leonard F. Shaner, Jr.
Co - Volunteer Lead

http://project565.webs.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Scranton-PA/Delaware-Lackawanna-Western-Railroad-Project-565/133629534133?ref=ts

Come on! If a cosmetic restoration of DL&W 565 is a worthy goal does Len have to create more phantom posters to enhance his self promotion antics? I would have ignored "Joe" but when this bogus alias brags about removing stuff from Steamtown's yard it's time to for the rest of us to say STOP!

I just sent an email over to Kip Hagen and Mark Brennan just to give them a heads up about "Joe", and to look out for any more missing artifacts. This way, they'll know who to be wary of, and who to look for when something else disappears.

Any "more" missing artifacts? You have no evidence that there is a "first" artifact missing from the Steamtown collection.

I don't want to stir the pot, but the shot at Len, implying he was responsible for the theft of Steamtown artifacts is as low as it gets. You may like the man, you may not, but until there is some hard evidence and proof, I would suggest a public apology might be in order.

"I sorted through the two green bins and found quite a few parts that some people said were missing"

Irregardless of who the poster is, he seems to say he's FOUND something thought to be lost, not stealing stuff.

Can we lock this thread before it gets even more out of hand? I'm part of the volunteer staff helping with 565 and don't want to see this turn into another RYPN mud slinging fest.

Thanks,
J.T.

OK, EVERYONE BACK OFF!!!!!!! Nothing was stolen from Steamtown. What Len is talking about in his post from our website for 565 are the bins my crew and I located at Steamtown. Remember I don't know steam parts and Len does. So I don't know what we had and now that sandblasting is under way by Len's crew, we are finding out we have many of appliances for the engine. And I don't want this turning into an attack on Len. Remember the goal, Restore 565 to her former glory!

Per this post, it would appear that "the Shaner situation" has been resolved.

Jeff