Engine 557 Restoration Company
Progress Report January 2023

After surviving the December Snowzilla events, January brought mild temperatures of single digits up to freezing and only two minor snow falls. It gave the crew time to dig out the fire hydrant from an 8 foot drift on the lee side of the 557 Engine House. The Case 721 loader operated by Ron Dudley came to the rescue again.

557 volunteers are the third leg of support for the Engine 557 Restoration. Jerry Peters has now retired back into retirement but he spent 9 years as our Chief Electrical guy. He completely rebuilt three Pyle National K240 Dynamos and the S6 brake stand. Early on he presented us with the original number plate from the headlight bracket which he had been storing for years. Here is the background story on the number plate.

Dick Morris has produced smaller copies of the Plate measuring 4.25 by 1.75 inches in sand cast aluminum as gift shop items selling for $60.00. Order at sewtrain557@gmail.com.

Congratulations to Mr. Paul Duncan on his promotion to Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Norfolk Southern Railroad as of January 1, 2023. Starting in 2016 Paul made regular quarterly contributions to Engine 557. They add up dramatically.

Closer to home, Mr. Scott Hicks was promoted to President of Lynden Air Cargo. Lynden flies world wide in logistical support of industry and humanitarian efforts. Scott was a founding member of the 557 board of Directors and currently serves as our Vice President. Congratulations Scott!

Terry Stefani and LaMarr Anderson, Palmer residents, have come forward to help 557 engage the community in hopes of developing long term options for operation in addition to the special event runs on the Alaska Railroad.

Keith Nore, a member of the 557 work crew, and Carl Mulvihill, White Pass and Yukon Route historian, recently published a book called “Century of White Pass and Yukon Route Equipment”. The book contains hundreds of photographs and technical data for all of the equipment that ran on the White Pass Railroad since its very beginning in 1898. The work on the book took three years to put together. Unfortunately, Carl Mulvihill passed away on November 4, 2021. The book is available from the Skagway News Depot for $45 plus shipping. You order the book by calling (907-983-3354).

Jeff DeBroeck aided by Terry Douglas, Tom Walker and Ken Morton have been conditioning the tube sheets in preparation for the big push. Ken has also been touching up the boiler interior with Apexior 1.

“Welding” Rod Hansen will fly in from Texas to finish conditioning 14 more of the superheater elements so they will be ready to install after the Hydro test.

This observation from our 557 Secretary, Dick Morris.
“I didn’t realize how well we did by buying our tubes and flues in 2012. This is what I learned about the producer price index for steel mill products when I was writing a caption on the photos of the tubes and flues. Since 2014, steel mill products have increased to as high as 350% (fall 2021) and have now settled to "only" 220% of what they were when we made our purchase.”

In preparation for boiler work, we needed to collect all the Boiler Plate Identification Marks and organize them for the 557 Form 4. A spreadsheet has been prepared with all the information to include identifying where each of the stamps are found on the boiler. Paul Dalleska was inside the boiler to locate the stamp on the interior riveted but strap on the first course. Over the past two weeks just about everyone has been involved in this activity, taking photos, drafting the spread sheet and creating the final report. Keith Nore, Jeff DeBroeck, Terry Douglas, Ken Elmore and Dean Sawyer all got part of the action.

Robert Franzen of Steam Services of America has been engaged to bring a crew to Wasilla March 6th to install fire tubes and flues in 557. Volunteers will be in support each day until the process is complete. This will be another major milestone complete when the Hydrotest is conducted.

Grants from The John H. Emery Rail Heritage Trust, the Atwood Foundation, Alaska Airlines and the Valley Hotel & 24/7 Open Café have underwritten the cost of the Boiler and Tube installation and the future hydro tests. Thanks all around.

After checking with local machine shops who said it could not be done, Jeff DeBroeck and Jerry Cunnington mounted the assembled piston and rod on our Lodge and Shipley lathe, replacing the head stock with the steady rest. If the rod had been one inch shorter it would not have fit. After a light cleanup the work was finished with a burnishing tool. One down, one to go.

Well over 100,000 man hours have be lavished on 557. We have quit counting. Some of these people have been on the job since the first day. Here is a Saturday crew. Terry Douglas, Pat Durand, Jerry Cunnington, CMO Jeff DeBroeck, Tom Walker, Dean Sawyer took the photo.

A typical Thursday crew, may see some of the same faces. Terry Douglas, Jerry Cunnington, Ken Morton, Keith Nore, Jerry Christensen, Ken Elmore, Tom Walker, and consultant/machinist Paul Dalleska and Pat Durand took the photo. Other regulars through the week would be Ron Dudley, James Keene, Michael Bridges, Lynn Willis, Doug Brandon, Rod Hanson, Mike McKervey, Brice Douglas, James Rasmuson and Jane Smith.

The Engine 557 Board of Directors are also volunteers. Patrick Durand President, Scott Hicks Vice President, Dick Morris Secretary, Jane Walker Treasurer, Paul Bates COO, Dale Wade ARR Rep, Sean Mesloh ARR CMO, John Combs Webmaster.

All these folks keep 557 moving closer to steam up, augmented by our generous financial boosters large and small, and supported by our business partners providing in-kind-contributions.

Patrick J. Durand, President  

 

Patrick J. Durand
President Engine 557 Restoration Company

 

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