Engine 557 Restoration Company
Progress Report June 2023

There are about 12 trains a day passing the 557 Engine House in June of 2023. Early morning South bound freights pass at about 7:30 a.m.. Then the North bound rush of passenger movements start with contract tour trains of three or four coaches. On occasion a SDMAC70 diesel with a single high dome constitutes a chartered train. The regularly scheduled Alaska Railroad passenger train runs through to Fairbanks about 10 a.m.. Depending on Cruise ship landings this may continue until after 1 PM when the parade reverses and trains are moving South bound until well into the evening. Not a bad spot for watching trains. They also manage to thread scheduled 80 car aggregate trains and MOW crews into the mix.

Norm Krentel and Bill Wulfert are regular volunteers at the Illinois Railroad Museum in Union Illinois. Trains Magazine, July 2023 issue just ran an extensive article on this major heritage organization. In the 1970’s I visited at Union when ever given the opportunity while traveling for business in the Chicago Area with Bell & Howell and Dukane Corporation. They spent several hours with us on June 3. Norm and Bill had an extensive bucket list for exploration in Alaska and I think we helped them fill it out.

Tim Record is an on board staff member for Princess Tours passing by the 557 Engine house on a regular basis. On June 5th he joined us for a tour to update their on-line narration which includes 557 tidbits. Tim has a long history in the rail hospitality business, at one time operating a steam tourist line in the New York lake district.

A steady stream of visitors, railroaders and families have found 557 staff ready to engage and share the project and progress of the day. We do ask that a call in advance to 907 350 4340 alerts us to your pending arrival. Your contributions are welcomed and put to good use.

Colony Days in Palmer, Alaska celebrates the arrival of the first contingent of Colonist from Wisconsin and Minnesota in 1935. The four day event provides an opportunity to show case Engine 557. Thanks to Terry Stefani for organizing our exhibit staff of Shay Sullivan, Jerry Christiansen, James Keene, Gene Augustine and Pat Durand. Starting on June 8th we greeted several thousand people at our display, while competing with strong Matanuska and Knik winds.

What others say:

Nicholas J. Rosen on Facebook “I’m definitely going to fly to see it run.”

Transcontinental Railroad Productions on Facebook 
“This will be a huge tourist draw for Alaska! 557 will be an economic driver for Alaska!”

Having completed the tube and flue installation, the next big milestone is the Hydro test. In preparation we have removed all items that might interfere with a close inspection and access to the many penetrations of the boiler. Every staybolt, rivet, stud, appliance and seam is subjected a spray of soapy water while the boiler is under 50 pounds of air pressure. Every weep, seep or squirt is being dealt with and retested. This is all tedious work. Once the pressure vessel is air tight, we will proceed to the Hydro test with water pressure.

After the Hydro exercise is signed off by the FRA ad Robert Franzen, we can once again reinstall all the bits and pieces that have already been reconditioned and dry fit in the rebuild process. While the cab and the firing deck are on the floor Ken Elmore assists with dressing up the new 26L brake stand with stainless round socket head cap screws.

While we have access to the plumbing for the air brake system under the cab floor, we are adding letter stamped labeling. Paul Dalleska created the tooling to do this job as shown in the drawing and following photos. The die holder is shown with the movable spacers for alignment. Lettering on the stainless tube is neat and very legible.

Lynn Willis and Gene Augustine salvaged brake hardware donated by Central Environmental after they scrapped two locomotive cranes in their Anchorage Yard, These may end up as trading stock.

Central Environmental Services also donated and delivered another surplus 20 foot Conex to be used in place of our sand blast tent that was destroyed last winter in the wind. The container is a little rough but will do a fine job for us. It has had a hard life probably setting in the salt spray somewhere on the Aleutian Chain in service of Peter Pan Seafoods.

We want to have room temperature water for our hydro test. Our tender will hold 6500 gallons so the grand plan is to gravity fill the tender 275 gallons at a time with a plastic tote hoisted by our forklift. Water here is about 38° F when it comes out of the main. It will have several days to warm up in the tender. We can forego the expense of installing a meter and back flow preventer until we are actually ready for service.

There were smiles all around as we made the first fill on the tender. After adding 800 gallons, we of course found two leaky rivets on the tank anchors at the rear near the bottom, right behind the water hook up. This required we drain the tank and add some more Apexior 3 paint inside. We will give this a few days to cure and continue with the fill up.

Each of our many volunteers brings unique skills to 557 restoration. We have set up a work station for “Welding” Rod Hansen right next to the boiler where he is building and rebuilding the super heater elements. We just purchased a new Miller Multimatic welder specifically for this work. Mike Bridges had loaned us his unit and Rod gave it the highest recommendation. Only three more units to go.

Terry Douglas and Jerry Cunnington continue work on restoring sections of the valve motion. The valve crosshead guides have new brass liners installed. Now they are resurfacing the valve crossheads themselves and milling the final dimensions to complete the assembly.

We have recently added two new volunteers at the 557 engine house. Welcome Jeff Loffert, machinist and Tim Brown an experienced railroader in the world of tourist railways.

A recent Saturday crew consisted of Terry Douglas, Jeff Loffert (new guy) Dean Sawyer, Tom Walker, James Farnham (from Fairbanks) CMO Jeff DeBroeck and Pat Durand.

A typical Wednesday crew turned out Pat Durand, Tim Brown (new guy) Paul Dalleska, Rod Hansen, Terry Douglas, Gene Augustine and Jessie Lehman.

Regular volunteers on Mondays and Thursdays are Ken Elmore, Lynn Willis, James Keene, Michael Bridges, Jerry Cunnington, Gerry Christiansen, Laverne Buller, David Lucas, Jane Smith and Terry Stefani. Everyone doing what they can to move the project forward both up front and behind the scenes.

Please, when you have the opportunity, personally thank the Engine 557 Restoration Company Board of Directors Members. They work behind the scenes largely unrecognized to keep the organization focused and grounded in realty. Patrick Durand President, Scott Hicks Vice President, Dick Morris Secretary, Jane Walker Treasurer, Paul Bates Chief Operating Officer, John Combs Webmaster, Dale Wade Alaska Railroad sales, Sean Mesloh Alaska Railroad Chief Mechanical Officer.

All funding for Engine 557 Restoration Company comes from private individuals and foundations. In addition to our Volunteers, and our business partners providing In-Kind contributions, you are the third leg of support that keeps 557 on track to steaming again. Take a bow and encourage your friends and neighbors to jump on board so we can bring 557 to the station on time in the spring of 2025.

On September 16, 2023 we will be hosting the TRAINS Explore Alaska tour group here at 557 for a Shop Visit and lunch. There are still some slots available in this specialty tour on the Alaska Railroad. Here is the promotion.

 

Patrick J. Durand
President Engine 557 Restoration Company

 

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