All tubes and flues have been installed, rolled, and beaded. The March 2023 Report is at https://alaskarails.org/pix/former-loco ... index.html

Wow.

Would someone knowledgeable please explain the "rolling" of tubes? Specifically, are the tubes now sealed at both tube sheets, and thus welding there will not be required?

I'm not an expert, but this is my understanding.

Rolling expands the tube slightly so it is water/steam tight in the tube sheet. We have rolled both ends and will seal weld them at the firebox end. The purpose of the welding is to allow better heat transfer between the tube sheet and tube and decrease the potential of the exposed end of the tube from burning off.

We have posted a video of it being done at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iafBCY4 ... ionCompany

The most recent monthly status report has been posted at https://www.alaskarails.org/pix/former- ... index.html

We now have 41 videos about 557 on our Yourtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@engine557. Included is a play list of nine videos showing the process of installing the tubes and flues.

Thanks to the group for these, neat stuff!

The Engine 557 Restoration Company wants to publicly thank several financial and in-kind contributors who supported the installation of new tubes and flues in Alaska Railroad #557 earlier this month. The John H. Emery Rail Heritage Trust and Anchorage's Attwood Foundation both made substantial financial contributions. Alaska Airlines and the Valley Hotel in Palmer, AK contributed air fare for the contractors from the lower 48 and 17 days of lodging. And, as always, we owe a huge vote of thanks to the group of volunteers who contributed approximately 1300 hours during the 2-1/2 weeks the contractors were on site as well as many hundreds of hours preparing the locomotive before their arrival and finishing the final details after they left.

There are now over 140 monthly status reports which include over 3,000 photos posted on 557's web page. The are viewable https://www.alaskarails.org/pix/former- ... index.html. The June report has now been posted at https://www.alaskarails.org/pix/former- ... index.html.

For our first fill of the tender with up to 6500 gallons of water is being added 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 to room temperature for the hydro testing. For now we are foregoing the expense of installing a meter and back flow preventer by hauling water in the tote until we are actually ready for service.

I'm a little behind in announcing the release of new monthly status reports. There are links to the August and September reports at
https://www.alaskarails.org/pix/former- ... index.html

Special Interest Tours and Trains Magazine led a 9-day tour of Alaska in September. Among the stops was a visit to the 557 Engine House.

Today brought a welcome piece of mail. We have been awarded a $7,000 grant from Palmer, Alaska's MEA Charitable Foundation. That represents the final part of an initiative to pull together funding for the necessary components and installation to make 557 PTC compliant for main line operation on the Alaska Railroad. This check, combined with an $18,000 competitive grant from Alaska's Rasmuson Foundation and a major contribution from a member of our board of directors allows us to purchase the required parts to equip the locomotive with the LeapTC equipment.

We have been preparing the locomotive to make it PTC compliant for well over a year. One of the major changes was an upgrade of the locomotive to a 26L style brake valve. We have also mocked up the space in the cab for the PTC components as shown in the photo. A paper replica serves as the screen view on the Cab Display Unit.

For ten years we have believed that that 557 would become PTC compliant through a combination of technology, operating rules, and/or waivers. We are finally getting near to that goal.

Is there a major cost difference to get the LeapTC installation/hardware/software vs. the PTC installation with Santa Fe 2926 and others, that don't use/need LeapTC?

I'm far from the expert on this. The LeapTC system has hardware in the steam locomotive which communicates with the PTC equipment in the trailing diesel. It's not a stand alone system. This system is being used on several steam locomotives and it may be what's used in 2926. There have been a couple of recent threads here on PTC that give further information.

I got my locomotives wrong - it’s CP 2816 that has the PTC system without a diesel:

https://railfan.com/new-positive-train- ... y0UNaUIwcQ

The stand alone system includes additional high tech components in the steam locomotive with an associated higher cost. How much higher? I have no idea.

The monthly status report for October has now been posted at https://www.alaskarails.org/pix/former- ... index.html

The various plates were removed from 557 before she went to Washington state and Monte Holm's care. The builder's plate is lost and we created a replica in the original cast iron, but we are fortunate in having several original plates, including the owner's plate, Superheater patent plate, and boiler pressure plate from the backhead (not shown). They all made their way to the Museum of Alaska Transportation and Industry close to 50 years ago years ago. MATI donated them for 557's restoration. Another of the plates used in service was a road number plate that was applied by the Alaska Railroad around 1950 and mounted at the top of the smokebox on all of the 550 class locomotives. This plate was donated by volunteer Jerry Peters, whose dad had created it in the railroad shops so many years ago.