Engine 557 Restoration Company
Progress Report December 2024

December has been the busiest time of year. On December 21 the winter solstice sunrise framed the Aurora on the weekly trip North to Fairbanks. Sunbelt Rentals kept the lot plowed. After a week of warm weather and valley wind, sublimation had removed the snow and the days are getting longer by December 28, 2024. So far a very mild winter in Wasilla.

Our 557 Mechanical Department closed out the year with the largest crews of the year. Saturday Dec 28 drew 10 to the task. (Top row Dell Horner, Jessie Lehman, Ken Morton. Second row Tom Walker, Dean Sawyer, Jerry Cunnington, CMO Jeff DeBroeck, Jeff Loffert, Terry Douglas. Patrick Durand was the photographer.) On Monday Dec 30th once again over the course of the day we had 10 volunteers. (Top row: Dell Horner, Jesse Lehman, Gene Augustine, Lower: Terry Douglas, Ken Elmore, Jerry Christiansen, Paul Dalleska, Terry Stefani was in earlier and Pat Durand took the photo.) 557 would be nowhere without these dedicated people.

Our 557 Volunteers not only give their time to 557 but also contribute to the financial success of 557. Some shining examples:

- Secretary Dick Morris posted a $5000 matching challenge.

- Chief Operating Officer, Paul Bates, posted a $15,000 Matching challenge

- John Combs, 557 Board Member and our Webmaster and his wife Terry sent in $557.00 to be matched.

- Shane Durand, long time supporter added a $5,000 challenge when the first two retired.

- Sean Mesloh, ARR CMO and Engine 557 Board Member made a nice donation which has been doubled with a match.

- Frankie Buonanno, volunteer, donated $1000 that captured a match.

- Brice Douglas, volunteer manager of the AuRoRa charter made a gift of $125 with a match.

- Ken Morton, regular in the Saturday crew made a $500 gift with match. Jerry Christiansen, Thursday regular, deposited $1000 to get the match.

- The Military Society of Model Engineers at Elmendorf Air Force Base, has for the last 13 years conducted very successful year end fund raisers for 557. This year it included major donations from Ed Kovich and Ken Elmore among others.

- Laverne Buller, volunteer machinist gifted $1000 and was matched.

Back in the 557 Engine house:

Issac Peter from the Alaska Railroad communications department brought out a crew of Jane Keller and Mr. Romanzi. They surveyed the need for ARR approved radios and installation. Meeting with Terry Douglas and Paul Dalleska, they came up with a quote for around $3000. Upon hearing the news, 557 COO and Board Member, Paul Bates, pledged to cover that cost after the first of the year. The 557 cab will be a tight fit for the Fireman, Engineer and Pilot when fully equipped.

The fire pan is being readied for fire brick. CMO, Jeff DeBroeck is not playing with paper dolls but rather installing LyTherm a Refractory Ceramic Paper pieced into those areas where fire brick will need to be removed during future inspections. It is temporarily held in place with magnets while the one inch layer of castable medium is troweled onto the surface. The first batch is seen on the front shelf and starting on the floor. Applying the castable medium one inch thick in the pan secures a foundation bed for the fire brick. By the way, always safety aware, Jeff was standing in the removable fire pan draft door (one exit) and the photo is taken through the fire box door (a second exit from a closed space).

The blast pipe has all new hardware and will be painted with Thermolox. New gaskets were in order. The originals were asbestos. This is two layers of 1/6” Garlock 4122 Therma-Pur Gasket material. Sit down and don’t faint. A 40 INCH by 40 INCH piece of this material cost $609.00 and of the 12 shipping options the cheapest to Alaska was FedEx ground at over $900.00. We changed the zip code to our volunteer freight forwarder in Kent, Washington and it dropped to $258.00. Our Lynden Transport friends brought it North to Anchorage as a donation.

The task of sealing the space around the branch pipes started when Seth Stewart reconditioned and fabricated the joints in the closure pieces. Ken Morton did the layout. Al Steinbach and others drilled and tapped all the holes for the 1/4 20 stainless bolts to make the raw closure complete. Then Tom Walker started making the gasket pattern for the final installation where more of that 4122 Therms-pure will be cut over size to create a sandwich against the branch pipe and smoke box inner wall.

Reconditioning of rods for both the valve and piston has been underway. The original packing no longer fits properly so we contracted with Cook Compression to manufacture two complete sets of rod packing. The packing details are quite interesting as there are two layers, each with three segments that interlock and are held in place with the surrounding spring. Once installed these should provide years of service.

We put out a call for step light housing for our expanded lighting plan with 3 watt LED lamps. We got lots of response but one was really special. Scott Kwaitowski stepped forward with a box of new “old” stock lamp housings. When we offered to pay, Scott said he would just send them to us because “lots of people have helped me over the years with my S1s.” 557 will proudly wear these when Ken Elmore gets them ready to mount. Thank you! Scott

We are down to just 3 of the old Amsco 250 watt 32 volt incandescent bulbs used in our Pyle headlight housings. We have been “field” testing a new bulb to see if it could meet the pent up demand for bulbs to fit the Pyle, Sunbeam and other housings with parabolic mirror reflectors. We will let you know how this develops.

There were far too many visitors in December to name them all but trust we always have time to talk trains with kids of all ages. Victoria Hudson, Palmer City Council Member, came on business to discuss possible 557 use of the Palmer Airport Spur for shake down and training. Her family came along for the tour.

Many comments came with contributions and some are priceless.

For example, Dennis and Diane Allen with a $1000 check. “It was good to hear of all the progress on 557." D&D are long time supporters from Eagle River.

GrizzledGary from Wickliffe, Ohio commented, “The excellent and timely updates along with what appears to be very effective use of all available resources keeps me interested. Best to you all and thanks for the fantastic effort. You and all the crew are most welcome! I appreciate the invitation to ride and I am in fact timing my first visit to Alaska to be after #557 returns to service. Thanks for taking the time to acknowledge my small contribution. May you all be well in 2025 and beyond” ….Gary Lewis

Skid Roeh, of Yakima, Washington is a long time builder in the live steam fraternity and said everything with a gift of $250.00.

Dick Morris’ triplet sisters, Margie, Patty, and Betsy Morris sent a combined check for $300 from Southern California. They visited 557 last August while on a trip to Alaska. They are repeat donors and have been watching their big brother play trains for all of their lives. When Paul Bates makes the match doubling the gift, does that make them sextuplets?

Richard Judd, $100, “…Great progress in 2024. Hopefully more of the same in 2025.”

Jim Adams, a volunteer at the National Museum of Transportation in St Louis, comments, “Enjoy reading of your projects progression, an exciting endeavor. Keep up the good work.” Punctuated with a nice donation that has been matched.

Volker Lange of GroBposna, Germany is a long time 557 fan and has donated more than $1,000 to her rebirth over the years. He caught a match.

Bruce and Carole Jaffa from Moose Pass sent a check for $1,000. Jaffa Construction is the premier stationary boiler contractor in Alaska.

Ralph Ingham at the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway passed holiday greetings to us. “Best wishes for you steaming this coming year. We are cheering you on from here.” Great Britain sports four S-160’s in steam and another on the way.

A little trivia: Dick Morris, who hosts our Engine 557 Facebook site, advises we have hit 9,000 followers. Not bad for an old locomotive under rebuild, yet to blow her whistle.

So how is the year end fund raiser going? My unofficial count as of this evening, January 3, 2025, sixty eight very generous people have given right at $64,000 to support Engine 557. Our goal is $85,000.

Thank you to all who have given this season. If you have not pitched in, please consider a donation now by Pay Pal using the QR code or by check to the address below.

Thought for the year: In the restoration business, always learn from the mistakes other people make while following your advice.

Patrick Durand
President Engine 557 Restoration Company

 

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