Engine 557 Restoration Company
Progress Report August 2022

Be careful what you wish for; May and June were sunny and very warm resulting in calls for rain. Rain arrived in August and termination dust (snow) has frosted the surrounding peaks a few times. Days are getting shorter, harvest, hunting and winter preparations are underway in the community. 557 volunteers take little notice as the dedication to completing restoration tasks is not affected by seasons coming and going.

Our open THANK YOU letter to:
Mr. Paul Duncan
Trophy Club, Texas

Your directed contribution from the Norfolk Southern Charitable Match Trust of $1041.65 has been received here in Wasilla. This amount is being doubled again by a generous matching grant funded by Jim and Vic Jansen, Shane Durand and Dick Morris. Since 2017, we note that quarterly directed donations have come through the Tarrant County United Way in your pledge to 557 via a payroll deduction plan with BNSF. Over several years your total pledge has brought $27,000 to the restoration of 557. Your continuing enthusiastic support means a great deal to the 557 Volunteers of our Mechanical Department who labor on returning 557 to service. THANK YOU! Paul Duncan, and the Norfolk Southern Charitable Match Trust. You can meet Paul Duncan here. 

Jerry Cunnington suggested that the 1/4 inch round over on the edges of the new drawbar could be done much faster with a router. So we obtained a 1/4” Roundover Carbide tipped Z2 from WMTorangetools.com designed for wood working. Necessity is a true mother, and the tool was still going strong when Jerry completed the final touch on the job using the hand held router fitted with the cutter and ball bearing guide.

After a successful trial fit, the new draw bar and pins were prepared for priming with Clova Prime. Mike McKervey followed instructions to make it black with armor shield.

Rebuilding 14 of the superheater elements is well on its way as “Welding” Rod Hansen is assisted by Tom Walker. Glad they still have smiles, as this is tedious work, requiring that each element be air and then hydro tested prior to installation after the boiler hydro test.

Throttle components were inspected by Jeff DeBroeck while orienting Jessie Lehman on the process to be used for honing the valve mating surfaces. Jerry Cunnington uses the mag drill to power a mandrel that is grinding the valve seat in the throttle body. Jeff needed a driver made to fit the throttle so it could be worked to lap the valve into the valve seat. The job went to Laverne Buller and he crafted another special tool for 557.

One of the first modifications made on the back head was to plumb in two independent water sight gauges. Originally the Army had two gauges plumbed together. In the process new support brackets are being made so the stress loads are not carried on the plumbing components. Dean Sawyer is doing most of this work, here machining the brackets for the gauges.

Excess parts for sale:
Odd bits and pieces migrate to 557 and we offer some of them to a new home. Such is the case with a No. 6 brake valve from the turn of the century. We have no history but it laid in the tundra for years and as you can see from the top view the operator handle is broken off. If you can put this item in operation or use it to flesh out a static display, make us an offer we cannot refuse.

Just a few of the people who visited 557 in August
8/10 Alan Barnsley local restorer of tractors and heavy equipment
8/13 Jerry VanThomme and his dad visiting from Anchorage, N scale modelers
8/15 Joel Bachelder retired teacher acquaintance from Nome 30 years ago
8/17 Brian and Brenda Shackleton of Soldotna, AK regular donors
8/11 Rebecca Killian-Smith of San Antonio visiting her brother Ron

Hilcorp is the largest oil exploration and development organization in Alaska. They have a very active charitable giving program which includes matching employee directed contributions to selected not-for-profit groups. Engine 557 Restoration Company was invited to participate and submit a promotional video.

Donnie Rosie of Rosie Media sat down with Pat Durand and did an unscripted interview in August of 2020. Donnie was in Alaska supporting the recovery of Climax A 313 for her return to Correy, PA. and 557 volunteers were helping out.

Dick Morris suggested the edits down to five minutes and Donnie’s crew turned out this promotional piece in about three days.
Dick, our 557 Secretary, followed up with this comment.
"Suggest you send a note to Donnie Rosie thanking him again for the editing on quick notice. I have watched it about ten times in the last few days and every time I see it I appreciate the quality. In my opinion it’s pretty close to perfect for this application."

On behalf of the 557 Board and Volunteers , Rosie Media, THANK YOU!

Last month I mentioned an interview on Big Cabbage Radio conducted by long time friend “Railroad” Joe Davis. Joe has provided an MP3 recording of the interchange and you can listen to it here.

Since Jerry Peters retired, Ken Elmore has stepped up to become our Master Electrician. Pulling all new EMD wire and enlarging conduit where required, he has the Harriman number boards and class lights all wired up and powered through the vintage controls in the cab.

To obtain proper clearance and alignment, four new holes were drilled in the smoke box to mount the rebuilt Harriman Number Boards and conduit added with junction boxes for the Class Lights.

While dry fitting piping and electrical conduit on the smoke box Gene Augustine and Ken located the original two mounting holes for the side mount bell. Bells were only installed on the handful of USATC Consolidations that were built to meet specification for use in the U.S. by the Alaska Railroad and on U.S. Army post railroads. These bells were cast iron during the war and make a very anemic Clank Clank. In this case we are opting for authenticity rather than ascetics for the time being.

The new 26L brake system requires clean dry air and there is little space between the frames for the plumbing needed. Paul Dalleska has designed and installed all these upgrades including the air dryer which hangs just to the left of the waste sheet in the photo of the space saving fitting. Paul machined the fitting from solid stock with the tapped hole in the top for the safety valve, the flanged O ring connection on the bottom and a schedule 160 nipple connecting to the tank. The small fitting is to feed an air pressure gauge. This all feeds into the 2nd air reservoir (dry tank). This tank must be removed for hydro testing on an annual basis so this compact fitting only required removal of one flange connection and a union on the opposite end of the tank to free it from the system.

557 employs the many divergent skills of our volunteers such as David Lucas, who is retired but not tired. His home wood shop is busy making furniture, custom coffins, and occasional storage systems for 557. The frustration of keeping track of the many different insert cutters for the milling machine and lathe i.e. “who used the last one?” or “which one do I use?” has been solved with a furniture grade storage box. Adjustable drawer dividers allow labeling, organization by machine and application. Thank you Dave!

What others say:

Ron and Andrew Cuthbertson of Memphis, Tennessee sent us a nice thank you card and a $300.00 donation with this note:
“We just want to thank you for letting us visit with you folks on Monday, August 15th. We really appreciate the time you spent with us touring the engine and learning all about the phenomenal job you guys are doing. Best of luck on the rest of the restoration!”

On 8/11 Wayland and Elizabeth Adams of Albuquerque, N.M. visited. A U.S.A.F. Veteran family, Wayland flew jets in the 1967 era of Vietnam. The Veterans in our crew enjoyed sharing some experiences. Wayland’s follow up note: “Thank you so much for your time yesterday and the tour of Engine 557.  We thoroughly enjoyed learning about the project and more importantly, making your acquaintance.  As you say our shared experiences really draw us together.  We look forward to your updates on the progress of the project.  We wish you and your team continue success as you bring this historical engine 557 back to life.”  

I have saved the best news to wrap up the August report.
On August 23rd while preparing for our Annual 557 Restoration Company Board Meeting, we got a surprise visit from Milo Voigt and Michael Blackwell of the Federal Railway Administration. Mr. Blackwell was on his way to Fairbanks, taking Milo Voigt on his first orientation trip in Alaska. This was more of a social update visit with 557 so they scheduled to come back on August 26, Friday, for an interior boiler inspection.

Both Michael and Milo are FRA steam certified and the timing was perfectly aligned with our goal of getting the Tubes and Flues installed as soon as possible to keep the project momentum up. Our crew had provided lighting, ladders and easy access to both the boiler through the steam dome and the fire box through the fire pan draft door space. After two hours they were giving me the thumbs up. The final verdict is the inspection report they filed. Michael followed up with this e-mail:

From: "Blackwell, Michael (FRA)"
Subject: FRA inspection report
Date: August 26, 2022 at 6:44:24 PM AKDT
To: Patrick Durand
Please see the attached report and contact me if you have questions. It was good to see you and I am very impressed with all of the hard work and dedication that you all have done. The 557 project is amazing.

Michael W. Blackwell
Federal Railroad Administration
Motive Power &Equipment Safety Inspector District 8

As 557 assembly continues there are always surprises, for example the bronze bushing in the throttle rod packing gland was badly worn and had missed scrutiny in the original assembly. Jeff led the crew in disassembly and Michael Bridges machined the new bushing from 922. When it goes back together the all stainless steel throttle rod will have a smooth action in the packing gland. Supply chain issues have not been a problem other than Fed Ex and UPS shipments in Great Britain seem to take detours, while we are awaiting Armstrong Oilers for the driving box cellars. The Mechanical Department Volunteers do what they can four days a week to keep moving the project to completion.

One final note: If you have been following 557 restoration, but never made a contribution, now would be a good time.

 

Patrick J. Durand
President Engine 557 Restoration Company

 

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