Do you have detailed blueprints for this engine? Be handy for restoration. Do you plan a new body structure for the tender replacing the existing tank/coal bunker?

765 simply had new piping applied for sand/steam/water lines, period where applicable or needed or just your best bet idea to do.
But in taking apart, note all parts, location, and store safely.
Removing the abestos may have involved cutting torches and the people may have not cared not about extending their cutting into an appliance, their focus may have been remove the abestos. Why you need the right skillled people doing it.
Is this a stokered engine? (I presume so)

We do have some blueprints. We are onto a good lead for the balance. Anyone will access and is willing to share blueprints should contact us.


Yes, there is a stoker and booster engine.

Richard,
I wish your organization the best of luck. As far as blueprints go, they are nice, but not necessary. Unless you obtain a complete set of prints with all the revisions that apply or do not apply to your particular locomotive, they can add confusion to a project. Also in the last days of steam, many locomotives received non standard practice repairs to make the next inspection, and you need to verify all dimensional information before using said prints or you may find that the starting point for a tallied dimension may have been machined off for some other purpose and the total width of your part does not match the print. Sometimes a clearance dimension has been opened up a wee bit because that is what worked in the field, but it was never recorded on a print, the old heads just knew it or had it in some hand scribbled note in their toolbox. Just maybe it made it into the Standard Practice book and you are lucky enough to have a complete copy from your railroad. All of this knowledge comes with years of experience, something I believe your assembled team has and if they don't they know who to ask.

Mike Tillger

Thank you all who have given us your kudos and belief that this will be accomplished. Like most locomotive restorations, it will no doubt take years. We will not start "ripping her apart" to prove a point, but instead slowly bring her back to the way she deserves to be seen. I want to add a special thanks to those of you who have visited the website and made a donation and joined the ranks. That's real praise.
Lastly, I want to say, the team working to accomplish this is not just me. There are smarter men, better skilled men, in our group. They really deserve the praise. Let us also recognize the people in Waterville who recognize they can no longer take care of 470, and care enough to hand her over to people who can do good things with the locomotive. In my mind, those are the true visionaries. "Their" locomotive will come home and they will have the right to be proud of their wisdom.

Richard - for every 50 amateurs who want to turn a wrench and get hands dirty there's about a half of a guy who is willing to handle the management and fund raising parts of the job, and maybe 2 pros who really know how to get the work done properly the first time. You can hire the pros, and get help with the funding, but the project management is the key......meanwhile, volunteers will either find out about reality and go away, or stick around and learn.......part of which is the management function of knowing what parts of the job to contract out and why.

So, don't sell yourself short. You are starting with a good concept and strategic partners in place, which is a damn sight more than a lot of projects start with.

dave

470's sale to NESCo is #1 on the agenda for Tuesday's City Council meeting. If any of you are in the area please come down and support us. It starts at 7 and is located at 93 Main Street, third floor, Waterville.

I have also just finished uploading the video of our CMO Leverett Fernald opening 470's smokebox for the first time since '54. Heres the link

I read that the Council meeting went well and a positive vote was made. More details to work out and another final vote to go. This is great news concerning the saving of a historic locomotive. I hope a solid flow of support comes forth.

Bob D.

The Council's second vote was for New England Steam Corporation. A third vote will be taken in two weeks, with a re-writing of some language in the sales agreement. Essentially, NESCo has two years to raise the funds for purchase, and then a specified time to relocate the locomotive.
There is a story on the Waterville Morning Sentinal website.
Official information can be read on our website. We are also of Facebook and have an Indiegogo link.

Please link our website http://www.newenglandsteam.org to your museum, clubs, or restoration pages.

We will be at the Brewer (Maine) Train Show this weekend, at Jeff's Catering, Brewer, Maine.

Okay, time to pull out the stops. The third, and hopefully final vote to go forward with a sales agreement for locomotive 470 will be held on Tuesday evening, December 03, at 7PM in City Council Chambers.

I am personally requesting you, our colleagues, to write or email the Council members and Mayor, at the url addresses below, to advocate for New England Steam to get a shot at saving this Pacific.

http://www.waterville-me.gov/department ... /index.php

http://www.waterville-me.gov/department ... /index.php

Better still, if you can find a way to personally appear and stand at the microphone in our behalf, so much the better. The Council heard from two different people who, unfortunately, made some uninformed statements regarding what the disposition of 470 should be. On our Facebook site, somebody posted pictures of his three daughters in the cab and was probably unaware of the potential hazards. These people do not understand the urgency of what 470 needs in order for it to be preserved, or what it's potential as an educational tool it could be.

You people know better. Please help us win this opportunity.

Thank you for all your support up to now. Please check out our website, regularly updated, and full of good information.

Dick

Also, we have just uploaded our business plan to our website. It is located under "business." If you have any questions please ask! A projected operational budget is attached at the end.

Thank you.....there's a lot to be learned from your publishing your business and operating plan. I'd encourage you to add private foundations as sources for grants, as the public sector programs are on a pretty restricted diet right now......the amount of thought and detail is far more concrete than I'd have expected at this early stage, which demonstrates the amount of planning and reality checking that has gone into it so far.

Hopefully the town council are realistic business people who will understand the quality of your development work, especially when compared to the trespassing, "ceramic burner" and other emotional, unlawful and technically incorrect objections.

dave

This may have been suggested elsewhere, but if you could use what FWRHS has managed to do with 765 for the past 40 years, and their relationship with the city and community of Ft. Wayne as a real-life case study, that might go a long way towards showing that your group can have a successful long-term operating partnership with Waterville.

I have sent an e-mail of support to the Mayor of Waterville.

Ira Schreiber
Aurora, CO
Life member
WW&F Railway
Alna, ME

Thanks! Any sort of letter helps.

It is a very dedicated group of people that bring a lot to the table. There is everything from professional railroaders to educators. This group is growing and succeeding in all of their endeavors due to the people associated with it. A few years ago when Terry, Dick and I first started the group, I never would have thought that it would have gone this far this quick.

I can't wait to get off the road in a few years and move back closer to the engine. This is going to be the realization of a lot of our dreams to have a Main Line steam program back in New England.

Please help us by writing to the City, and contributing what ever you can.


Brett Goertemoeller
Founder, 1st President, and Life member