Engine 557 Restoration Company
Progress Report February 2022

Spring is on its way, adding about 6 minutes of sunlight each day and temperatures hovering just above freezing during the ever longer days. A North bound snow fleet picked up more crew members here at our Wasilla crossing about 9:00a.m. then proceeded to Talkeetna. There they added one more diesel and put a Jordan spreader on each end. They are fighting a lot of snow and moose on the tracks. January was coooold and February brought snow and above freezing days to melt most of it each day, leaving skating rinks.

About an hour after the snow fleet departed North bound, the regular Anchorage to Fairbanks passenger train was photographed by Sancho the drone flown by Bill Hess. As the train passed the 557 Engine House it revealed a string of freight cars attached to the rear. This mixed train configuration is not uncommon in the winter.

To all Hilcorp Employees – The Engine 557 Restoration Company is included on the lists of eligible 501(c)(3) charities maintained by Alaska Community Foundation and by Guidestar. Please consider a contribution to return Engine 557 to operation when you make your charitable designations. At this time designated contributions and Hilcorp matches will be matched doubled under our $50,000 matching challenge. Thank you for your consideration.

What others say: Joshua Coran, former Chief Mechanical Engineer for the ARRC, sent a nice donation along with this note; “Please do hang in there, you are all doing a remarkable job.”

From Gloria Corey in Fairbanks; “My Husband, Bill drove that engine 557 in the late 40’s and early 50’s. …. he was raised in Suntrana and always knew he was going to be a railroad engineer. This donation is in his memory - he’s still with us.”

Along with a contribution came this note from Volker Gerisch in Germany, “It's a pleasure to see this bunch of enthusiastic folks doing such fantastic work.” He also sent along this view of a Hungarian S-160 in the Camlik Turkish railway museum.

Another component of the air brake upgrade to the 26L system is installation of air dryers and filters to condition the air coming from the Westinghouse cross compound air pump. A new addition is the Graham White 975-100 twin tower air dryer and filter fitted between the frames. This location is just up stream from the safety valve and dry tank reservoir. The air pump mounted on the pilot deck delivers air through 34ft of radiator pipe to the wet reservoir under the left running board. After passing through another 60 feet of radiator, air will get to the 975-100 dryer/filter. Provisions are made in the plumbing to allow additional dryer and filters to be easily installed if needed.

Recent acquisitions include two Chinese copies of the Nathan DV-2 lubricators some times referred to as “five Pipe” lubricators. We hope to make one operational unit to service the Westinghouse cross compound air pump. Previously the mechanical lubricator was constantly dumping oil into the governor when ever the locomotive was moving. When the locomotive stopped the steam side of the pump got no oil, and when the loco was moving but the pump was idle, it would get over oiled. The DV2 is driven by an air cylinder plumbed into the air side of the pump. Dual reservoirs allow steam cylinder oil to go to the two steam cylinders and the governor while air compressor oil is feeding the two air cylinders. Each pump can be regulated to meet the needs of each location. After a solvent bath by James Keene we started disassembly. Terry Douglas has taken on this rebuild project following his prior success with the DV-8 units.

With retirement of Jerry Peters to his Arkansas hilltop, Ken Elmore is picking up the task of assembly for all the reconditioned parts of the electrical system. There are several more circuits now and more to come with PTC. Just laying out the conduit in a bread boarding exercise engaged both Jerry Cunnington and Ken.

Saturday the 19th of February turned into a 10 hour marathon for a 10 man crew. Jerry Cunnington, Ken Morton, Michael Bridges, Dean Sawyer, Jeff DeBroeck, Tom Walker, James Rasmussen and Terry Douglas made up the crew and the photo was taken by Pat Durand. After weeks, months and years of preparation it came time to put the wheels back under 557. Prior progress reports give the details of the preparation so we will chronicle the install here.

Duff Norton Air Jacks had been overhauled and the four 100 ton 13 inch stroke jacks were set at each corner. Note that at the front blocking was placed under the frame rails at the cylinder block as the jacks went up and down. Similar blocking went in at the waist sheet at the front of the firebox so the locomotive was not left standing static on the Jacks alone. These jacks are heavy and we use our small Cat fork lift to move them into position.

Each driver set was placed on the rail and allowed to roll into balance with the counterweights. Axle one orientation is verified with a mark on the blue tape spotting the contact point at the white mark on the rail. The driver set will be rolled 177 1/2 inches (one revolution) forward and it will line the driving box up properly under its slot in the frame. Soon two axle sets were located. This process continued until we had 3 driver sets located. By end of the day we had the 4th driver set positioned and the locomotive secured on blocking and the jacks.

On Saturday February 26th the Wheeling gang reconvened at 9:00 a.m. for the safety meeting conducted by Jeff DeBroeck. Regular volunteers, Pat Durand, Terry Douglas, Ron Dudley, Jerry Cunnington, Dean Sawyer, Jessie Lehman were joined by Mike Bridges, Mike Gerenday and Art Chase who drove down from North Pole. The challenge was fitting all eight driving boxes to the shoes and wedges while lowering the locomotive and engaging the Bissell post with the front engine truck.

Jacks with 13” stroke required that blocking had to be reset three times going up and then back down. Not just the blocking under the jack but the support blocking under the frame. Coming down at the left rear corner, this is how it stacked up. Level 3, Level 2, Level 1. For further explanation a time lapse of the Saturday action was provided by Terry Douglas. Do read the text describing the safety precautions taken.

Mr. Paul Bates, 557 Board Member, COO and major sponsor, came by the Engine House on February 28th to help us celebrate this major milestone and urge us on toward the next one: getting the tubes and flues installed in the boiler so we can work toward a hydro-test. All the materials are on hand we just need to get organized to bring a contract gang on to do the challenging and specialized hard work. Now in our 10th year with 557, many of the original volunteers are recognizing our physical limitations and while we can all be here in support we do not have any fantasy about wrestling air hammers.

557 Board Member, John Combs and his wife Terry are here for about 10 days to help us celebrate the Anchorage Fur Rendezvous winter carnival. On their list to do; see the Northern Lights and visit their favorite steam loco. John joined Terry Douglas and Pat for an update tour in the shop while Terry took the photo.

Bill Hess came by with Sancho for his first experience flying inside. He captured visitors and a glimpse into the smoke box at the next big job, installing tubes.

Matching Challenge funds are still available to double your contribution to:

 

Patrick J. Durand
President Engine 557 Restoration Company

 

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