I too, am happy to read this press release. I don't know how many of you remember back in the 1970s when this all started out with a couple of college engineering students thought it would be fun to "fix up" the campus displayed steam engine. What an incredible journey it has been since then--back then I don't think anyone would have thought it possible to take the drivers out to rebuild them!
Keep up the great work!!

I seriously can't believe there's now a page of posts about the appropriateness of the posting of a press release about a preservation project.

This is why people make fun of RYPN.

It's an initial news release. I guess if every future update includes the same boiler plate advertising, it might get a little distracting but even then I wouldn't complain. So much of our so called "news" is nothing more than rumors and big egos trying to assert who knows more than who. Here we have a story right from the horse's mouth in a well thought out statement presumably approved by both parties. This is actually one of the most relevant posts I've seen on this forum in a while.

Hello,

Getting into the weeds a bit, a question for Kelly and FMW, does the scope of this work on the 1225 involve inspecting the pedestal opening wear in the frame…..ie. the forward faces? Assuming adjustable wedges are on the rear face so they can make up for rear face wear. Even if the axles boxes have renewal wear shoes, the frame will eventually wear to the point of needing refaced?

Is this ever done or do you let the axles creep forward with wear? Perhaps locomotives which load up on road miles eventually face this issue.

If refacing is required, how is it done? Building up with weld to renew the surface…then use portable machine tools to reset axle centers or is the whole thing not that precise?

I guess many questions on one subject!

Thank you in advance.

Randy Musselman

I know I am not the right Kelly, but yes, the pedestal faces of the frames commonly wear hollow in service. They are refaced flat (by hand, or by machine). The outside faces of the frame also wear down from side thrust, and are welded up and finished flat as needed to restore them. The corresponding faces of the driving boxes also wear down, and are trued up and sometimes built up during an overhaul.

The compensation for all of this wear and refacing is taken care of by the shoes and wedges, which are the sacrificial parts fitted between the frame and the boxes. Often, the shoes and wedges would be replaced during an overhaul. If the frame has been worn or cut back 1/16", and the driving box has been cut back 1/8", then the new shoe is made 3/16" thicker to compensate. Each shoe and wedge is custom made, both in thickness and in lateral location in order to locate each box exactly where it needs to be.

Preliminary measurements indicate that the shoes and wedges are used up and will be replaced. Hopefully the underlying pedestal openings are in good shape.

As we removed years of paint to measure from actual surfaces, we found "Wyo., Oct., 1947" stamped in the axle ends, suggesting that the 1225 got its last running-gear overhaul at that time at Wyoming (Grand Rapids). That would be at age 6, having been built in Nov., 1941. It ran for 4 more years for the C&O.

I don't know what's meant by "oval wheels," but I've never hear that applied to this engine. It isn't smooth. PM engineman and famed fast runner Sam Chidester told us when the engine was still at MSU in 1972, "This was a rough-riding son of a bitch." When I related this story to Dave Conrad, he asked, "Are you losing lead?" At the time I didn't know such a thing was possible, but it is one of the things that will be checked.

The Ovaltine story I know about. My MSU roommate Bob Wasko, now of the NYCSHS, introduced me to Shephard's stories, and another of our student founders was an assistant on Shephard's NYC radio show. Everything is connected on the Great Circle Route.

Aarne Frobom
Cleveland Street,
Hohman, Indiana

Well, one of the reasons.....

I don't see anything wrong with the original post, and I'm very happy to see 1225 having some major work done by capable hands.

At the risk of belaboring the obvious/preaching to the choir, has anybody noticed how often those being criticized have accomplished more than their critics ??

There's a long thread on facebook about SRI, at the following URL
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100011364025770

I know nothing of the situation, but point it out so that others, better informed than I, might research and/or comment

Yes, I should have deleted the first comment in the thread as soon as I saw it to avoid two pages of nonsense regarding the appropriateness of press releases on RYPN. If y'all cared as much about discussing RAILWAY PRESERVATION as you do about policing this forum, we might actually get somewhere.

That does sound very concerning. It matches up with a few things I’ve personally encountered from SRI many years ago. I was hoping things had improved.

I didnt see a thread of any sort. Just personal profile that looked well curated. Must have been made private if its still there. Could you give a summary of what it was about?

You have to scroll down about 5 years to get to it.

No you don't - it's the first post there, starting with "My day started off slow..."

You have to have a Facebook account to use that link. Non-users can't scroll down.