April 6, 2013 was another cold day in the engine house when we got a surprise visit from the Mayor of Palmer, DeLena Johnson and her brother Bill Goodwin. Madam mayor is working hard to have rail service restored to the Palmer Depot. A private group is raising money for the community to rebuild a mile of track. She wants Palmer to be a destination for 557 on special occasions such as Colony Days, the State Fair and Christmas specials. DeLena expressed her support for Engine 557 Restoration Company and appreciation for all the volunteers on the project.
On April 10th there was 12 inches of new snow outside the 557 engine house when Roy Foster showed up to plow the lot for the next days work call. By 9 am on Thursday the temperature was at 9 degrees on its way to a high of 30 for the day. A crew of eight volunteers warmed the facility up.
Several weeks ago Jeff DeBroeck extended a courtesy invitation to Ahmed Elramsisy, State of Alaska Boiler and Pressure Vessel Inspector 1, to visit 557. He was able to schedule a visit on April 11th. He emailed early in the morning and I quote, "I am looking forward to the visit this afternoon. I have spoken with my manager Mr. Chris Fulton and my colleague Ms. Lori Studinski of Hartford Steam Boiler- Global Standard, they both expressed interest in attending this afternoon's visit to your facility. They both are experts in Boiler and Pressure Vessels and posses a wealth of knowledge that might be beneficial to you and your team."
Our crew had the pleasure of hosting Ahmed, Chris and Lori for a tour of 557 and informal chats with individual volunteer crew members. While 557 in operation on the Alaska Railroad property comes under Federal Railway Administration regulations, it is great to have another set of professionals to turn to for advice. While certification for firing a boiler in Alaska is not required, it is offered through the Alaska State Department of Labor, and some of our future crew members may want to take advantage of the opportunity. When asked if the project met his expectations after reading our progress reports, he stated, "You exceeded our expectations and this is a great project."
The cab of the locomotive is now mounted on cross members with castors rated at 900 lbs each. We can move the entire structure around now to work on it. Ken Elmore and Ron Dudley assisted in blocking it up level and then we started removing and labeling parts and pieces in need of reconditioning. All the wood lining has been removed by Ken and Lynn Willis. Now we need a body man to take care of some lumps and bumps. After that it can be transported off site to be sand blasted primed, and get a good coat of paint. The interior will be hunter green per the Baldwin standards book.
Dick Morris and Jerry Cunnington continued marking the boiler barrel with the grid for the final ultrasound measurements. Kris Waldhaus and Jeff cleaned and ultrasound measured the original air reservoir tank for integrity. These tanks must stand a hydro test of 5 times their designed working pressure and they must be drilled for certification by today's standards. The second larger tank has been subjected to ultrasound testing with good results. We want to use these tanks subject to FRA approval. Tom Stewart and Dick Morris have since transferred all the data points to a log for evaluation.
Saturday, April 13, 2013 we had a light crew augmented by working visitors. "RR Joe" Davis and his Nephew Aaron Morse spent several hours doing a clean up and photo documentation of Gypsy's cab, prior to disassembly of all the electrical gear. Joe is President of ConsultNorth and has some ideas for marketing sections of old boiler tube from 557 accompanied by a certificate of authenticity. This would all happen through e-commerce on line with volunteers.
The Alaska Dispatch slide show and 557 article, just recently posted, brought Joe to the project along with a steady stream of visitors. Donations totaled $20.00 average per visitor. They also bought hats pins and patches. Thanks to the Strange family, Chuck, Roxane, Kaitlynn, Mary and Joseph for their encouragement. Karl Haddow and Gerald Forsyth both model railroaders got the tour as well.
The original mill stamps and Baldwin identification numbers are being uncovered as cleaning of the boiler, the rods and valve motion progresses. An example is shown here on the throat sheet E side. Thanks to digital images it is actually easier to photograph the area and then manipulate the image to make it more legible. The digits they all have in common are 280 19S which we read as Baldwin's designation for a 2-8-0 with 19" bore and superheated.
Dick Morris, 557 Restoration Company Secretary Treasurer, has organized, added drawing nomenclature and separated drawing images into folders by sub assembly. The source material was an uncredited DVD of various Baldwin drawings that first were subjected to crude reduction to fiche and later scanned or photographed digitally and dropped into an unorganized DVD file. Condition ranged from usable to illegible files that are included in a separate folder. An S-160 Cross and Side Elevation drawing assembled by Dick is included. As additional drawings are recovered they will be added to the master file.
Our tool room just received the gift of a large RIGID pipe threading machine. It is cleaning up nicely and will be invaluable as the rebuild continues. Two pipe bending machines with capacity from 3/4" to 4" have also arrived in our tool crib.
Dan Lucus and Gary Feaster at Greatland Welding and Machine responded to a napkin blueprint with not one but two tools to assist in removing the tube studs from the firebox flue sheet. One designed for use with an air tool hammer and the other with an armstrong hammer.
On Saturday, April 20 eight members of the Alaska Railroad B&B Gang paid a brief visit to the 557 Engine House while they were waiting for the north bound passenger train to clear Wasilla so they could get track time. They all expressed a keen interest in seeing the heritage of the Alaska Railroad coming back to life in the form of Locomotive 557.
Your financial support for the Engine 557 Restoration Company will be needed to keep the project moving forward. No better time than now to make out the check and send it to:
The Alaska Community Foundation 557 Fund
3201 C Street Suite 110
Anchorage, Alaska 99503
Patrick J. Durand
President, Engine 557 Restoration Company
