557 Mechanical Department Volunteers brought in the New Year with a work party on January 1, 2013. A three man crew suited up with respirators tackled the soot removal project in the smoke box, while another crew of two worked from the firebox end. Good progress was made in moving this dirty job along. The last few times that 557 was steamed up in Moses Lake, she obviously had a lazy oil fire and the result was a thick layer of soot in the superheater flues and fire tubes.

Lynn Willis is outfitted as an inner space cosmonaut ready to enter where many men will not fit, in the 557 capsule known as the fire box.

January 12th saw the crew back in action and the smoke box cleanup was finished and the operation then concentrated on the firebox end. Some custom tools were created to work with a Goodway Soot Vacuum for which we purchased extra brushes, filters and bags to see the job through. With the soot out of the way, much cleaner work can be done with the torch as the old tubes are removed. Ken Elmore used a grinder with wire brush to clean areas on the back head for future ultrasound tests.

Our volunteers have been busy on several fronts. Dick Morris, Secretary/Treasurer of Engine 557 Restoration Company is now devoting more time to the financial management of the group since his retirement from the US Fish and Wildlife Service in December.

Joe Coe took all the roundel bezels and boiler jacket clamps home and drilled out the old rivets so they can be sand blasted and primed.

Roy Foster comes in after hours and plows about three acres of parking lot to keep the snow dumps well away from the building. On January 12th it was 41 degrees and we had NO snow. By the 16th winter was back and about 10 inches blanketed the area.

Ken Elmore, installed a nice heat lamp in the necessity facility provided by our friend, Larry Nelson at ATS Portable Toilets.

Add Small Is Beautiful, a custom cabinetry and remodeling business to our In-kind Donors list. Owner, Corey Brause built two cabinet grade plug storage boxes for the 21 various washout and inspection plugs from the boiler of 557. At the suggestion of Matt Jannsen these were built to provide protection for the threads and keep the plugs organized when not installed in the boiler.

Ron Dudley has joined the Mechanical Department and jumped right into the soot removal routine. Ron is a retired pilot with a fascination for steam and 557 particularly. Thanks to his son, Jim Dudley who is a Wasilla Police Officer, we now know our official street address. You might want to take note this is for freight delivery only.
557 Engine House Door 3
630 Kenai Supply Road
Wasilla, Alaska

Steve Rimple reports that the crate containing the old boiler jacket parts, has arrived in Moses Lake. Steve, is Monte Holmes' grandson and operator of Moses Lake Steel Supply. The community is excited to be part of the 557 restoration process. As jacket parts are completed they will be displayed and local residents will be asked to sign the inside surface of the steel jacket. All those names will be right next to 557's boiler and each time the jacket is removed for inspection they will be revealed as if in a time capsule . Great idea, Steve!

A new bench mark was achieved on Saturday, January 19, 2013 when the Chief Mechanical Officer, Jeff DeBroeck, assisted by Dick Morris, Jerry Connington, Lynn Willis, Ron Dudley and Larry Erickson, began removing the old superheater flues and tubes. Three of the super heater flues are being left in place to stay the flue sheets until replacements are installed. Over the next few weeks this job will be completed and by March we hope to resume ultrasound testing on the boiler shell.

CMO Jeff's comments on the job. "In the following photos is seen the process of flue and tube removal on the 557. The first flue to be removed is cut off just inside the smoke box tube sheet, two sets of holes are cut thru the wall just inside the cut at the sheet, a couple of inches apart. Most people will never get this close to this kind of hot work, so I share the experience here. The rolled portion of the flue that has been cut free of the flue is heated and a small section is collapsed inward with a punch and hammer to get it away from the bore of the tube sheet, it is then cut with a torch longitudinally to remove a small section relieving the bite in the sheet and the ring is removed by hand. The flue is then cut free just inside the firebox sheet at the other end of the boiler where Jerry prepares to sever a flue. A rod is inserted cross wise in the deepest set of holes, a chain attached around the rod and the flue is pulled thru the sheet until the first set of holes is exposed outside of the tube sheet. The chain and rod is moved to the outer set of holes and the pull is continued. Once the torch cut ends are free of the sheet, generally the flue can be removed by hand. With the large flues removed a torch can be operated thru the hole in the sheet to cut the smaller 2” tubes and they are passed thru the flue holes to be removed. Progress was good this day and we expect the next work day to be equally productive."  

We can now see the firebox and stays from the water side looking back from the smoke box end. Here is a view in the opposite direction from the fire box. The light is from the open steam dome. By May we hope to have the final boiler evaluation completed by Robert Franzen of Steam Services of America. Then a course of action for restoration of the boiler can be plotted so 557 can return to service with her designed 225 psi boiler pressure.

The Engine 557 Restoration Company has come a long way since August 2012, while spending very little of our cash reserves, THANKS to our generous in-kind donors. The Palmer Historical Society made a nice donation following a 557 Project presentation for their membership in December.

Before major boiler work can be started we will need a cash infusion. Every dollar donated will be matched by the Rasmuson Foundation up to $350.000 dollars. Now is the time to dig deep and invite your neighbors, business associates and your mother in-law to support 557.

Here is a new address for donations:

Alaska Community Foundation 557 fund
3201 C street, Suite 110
Anchorage, Alaska 99503

557 is something to get steamed up about!

Patrick Durand President, Engine 557 Restoration Company