Boilersmith built the boiler for the Climax at Clark's Trading Post in New Hampshire back in 2005. AFAIK, they haven't had any issues with it and that locomotive is in steam quite a bit during the season.

Roger

I should have suggested checking their website: www.boilersmith.com Look under the "Custom Boilers" heading. They show their traction engine boilers, with a list of specs, and another list of examples. These are similar to locomotive boilers, which are not shown on their web page. I know of a half dozen locomotives using Boilersmith replacement boilers, and the owners are all happy campers.

Audrey's boiler has arrived at Boilersmith's facility in Seaforth, Ontario and the process moves along another step.

I'm told the young lady in the photo above volunteers on steam locomotive crew at a local heritage railway in addition to working on the engineering staff at Boilersmith.

Meanwhile, back at the McHugh Locomotive shop in Pennsylvania, one of the piston rods in being polished in the lathe and a driving box is getting some attention in the milling machine.

Was a new boiler always part of the plan? If not, was there one thing in particular which tipped things in that direction?

I received my March issue of Railfan & Railroad this morning and what should be mentioned in it but............Audrey and McHugh. Look on page 16.

The cost of repairing the old boiler was about the same as the cost of a welded replacement boiler. Among the many miracles that contributed to Audrey's preservation is that SOMEHOW she didn't blow up years ago. It's a very good thing that nobody had tried to put her back in service, because (I swear on my Grandmother's grave), that the firebrick was the only thing holding the inner side sheets in place... and the list goes on and on.

I was also influenced by my time working for the Texas State RR. We had four engines in regular service in those days, three of which had the original boilers. We were using Betz Entec water treatment and all of our boilers were repaired and operated in compliance with all applicable codes. Every month we did a washout on every locomotive, and these three engines usually coughed up a 5 gallon bucket full of scale and rust each time.

The fourth engine had a welded boiler made by Dixon, which used the same water and got the same chemical treatments that the other three did. Every month when we washed it out, we got less than a handful of soap suds out of it.

Here is a little glimpse of what has been happening with Audrey. I've been really busy and not been online very much or i would have posted something sooner.

Here is a new spring hanger pin compared to one of the old ones. All of the pins have been machined and are ready for installation.

The valve packing is finished and ready to go. The wick holders on this engine have been banged up, repaired, and have been repaired again by us. I like the these things, they add character.

Brake rigging is often neglected on heritage equipment. The brake hanger pins are in terrible shape, they have been removed from the frame, and new ones will be made in the near future. Fortunately, because Audrey is so small, we only have 4 of these pins to worry about.

The project is moving along nicely and we're all excited to see Audrey start to come back together. She is a cute little engine with tons of character, a kind owner, and a growing number of friends who are pulling for her. We've all heard the stories about other engines, XYZ railroad overhauled the engine and ran it for 3 months before the diesels came. Not Audrey, she was rode hard, banged up, worn out, and then neglected. I commend Sammy for the dedication has for his little engine. She is a sweetheart.

Tom Gears