We are wrapping up our second week of deconcretion in the engine tank. It was a particulary exciting week because we continued to expose more original surfaces of the engine. This may sound silly, but the engine is starting to look more like an engine! In addition to deconcretion, we also began planning for our electrolytic reduction setup and had interesting discussions about how to best disassemble the egnine into its component parts for more effective treatment.

The local media caught a whiff of our exciting work and started flocking to the museum. Mark St. John Erickson ran a great story in the Daily Press (http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-monitor-steam-engine-1210,0,2101784.story). It includes photographs and a video filmed inside the engine tank. A reporter from WAVY TV 10 dropped by and filmed conservators in action this morning. The footage should air later tonight and tomorrow. The Virginian-Pilot is also sending a reporter to the lab on Monday. Keep your eyes and ears peeled for news updates.

Once again Will worked his magic with the camera and took a photo of the engine this afternoon. The image shows progress made on the engine this week compared to the previous two weeks.