I'm just curious about what standard ex-ATSF PA #16 will be restored to given that Doyle McCormack is doing the work. I'm not necessarily questioning his ability to restore the engine, but it seems that the Smithsonian sets some pretty high standards for restoration of its artifacts and employs many of its own specialists to do so. The Garber aircraft restoration facility comes to mind, specifically. Will the Smithsonian will work closely with McCormack, or has he just been given carte blanche to do whatever he sees fit. I realize there will probably be more new construction on this project than preserving what's left, but it would be nice if historically accurate materials and construction methods will be used rather than it just being a plyood-and-bondo type job. Also, was it McCormack or Gary Bensman that was involved in the first unsuccessful restoration of PRR #1361? We don't want to see something like that happen again.<br>



dave833@ix.netcom.com

The comment about the Smithsonian standard of restoration is an interesting one, especially given the aircraft examples restored at the Garver facility. While the machines turned out by this facility are indeed very well finished <br>and accurate as to the parts, paint colors, and stencils applied, they are much more like the polished antique show automobiles we see from time to time. In a sense, they are like extremely well detailed model kits. They represent the as built condition or in the case of many "restored" antique automobiles, possibly better than built. From the work I observed on a tour of the Garver facility and from the information given by the tour guide, little reuse/preservation of historical fabric appears to be done here. When it is done, it seems to be done in order to make replica components. In most cases the complete skin of the aircraft is replaced and often many components are replicated from scratch. Dings, dents, etc. are removed along with any signs of use and age. I don't know if the skin from the Enola Gay B-29 was replaced, but isn't this aircraft more than just an example of a B-29 and is the skin important? To be sure, many of the aircraft are in very deteriorated condition by the time they are restored and very little original fabric may exist anyway. Given the popularity of the Air & Space Museum I do believe that there exists somewhere the feeling that the public prefers shiny perfect looking aircraft. <p>If we applied these standards to the PA's, however, I don't think any harm would really be done. This method would do little damage as so little of the original fabric remains. Nearly everything would have to be replicated / replaced anyway. Whether the Smithsonian's locomotive will actually get a non-operating prime mover installed will be interesting to see. In rail preservation terms reuse of most original fabric is really a given, due the budget constraints, but the concept of over restoration is still one to think about. With the exception of a few, very well documented interurban restorations, most of us cannot tackle the real basket cases the way the Garver facility does with aircraft.<p>



[url=http:\www.whitewatervalleyrr.org]WVRR[/url]
rfarlow@bcaconsultants.com

One small correction: it's the Paul E. Garber Facility, not Garver. The location is Suitland, MD.<p>About the conservation philosophy: I have some interest in this since I spent five very happy years as a docent at Air & Space, working mostly at the exhibit building downtown. The Air and Space Museum's own web site explains it this way:<p>"An aircraft restoration is intended to enable the aircraft to survive for another 300 to 400 years, with the expectation that the aircraft may one day be--if it is not already--the sole surviving example of its type. Because the primary intent of the Museum is to preserve these aircraft for posterity, once they are obtained for the collection they are never flown again. <br>The restoration staff work on several projects at one time. The Garber Facility's staff has completed restoration on approximately 70 artifacts since 1959. It takes anywhere from 2,000 to 30,000 work hours to return an aircraft or spacecraft to its original condition (2,000 for the Wright Flyer, and 18,000 for the Arado 234), and it requires highly specialized skills. The Garber staff carefully documents each restoration project with photography and data corresponding to each step of the process. Procedures like this have been described, along with historical background material, in a series of Museum publications, Famous Aircraft of the National Air and Space Museum. <p>The restoration process involves cleaning the artifact, chemically treating its surfaces to remove and neutralize corrosion, and coating these surfaces for long-term protection. Parts that must be replaced or repaired are marked so future researchers will know they are not original. New paint schemes duplicate as closely as possible the configuration of the aircraft at a specific period during its life. Every effort is made to restore the aircraft to a condition as close to original as possible. Restoration of a pre-World War I, fabric-covered aircraft takes an average of 2,500 hours. Restoration of a metal aircraft takes much longer, typically as many as 9,000 hours." <br><br>



eledbetter@rypn.org

The Smithsonian aircraft policy is exactly what I would hope someone does with a steam locomotive currently in it's "last ran" condition (like the Baldwin #6000). Before we go reboiler every Rio Grande Mike, for example, are they important enough to keep one mint (if there is one)?<p>Steamtown has put the DL&W 2-6-0 in the "restore, don't run" category, but she is very incomplete. Maybe they could do it with Reading #2124? Or the Big Boy?<p>The point is to preserve at least some of these fine machines for 400 years, not to the next flue experiation.<p>Patch<br>



MrPatchTown@aol.com

The only steam locomotives I've seen that might qualify as still in the state as when last used by the railroads are the ones preserved indoors shortly after being withdrawn from service: the C&O 2-6-6-6 in the Henry Ford Museum and possibly the CN locomotives in the National Museum at Ottawa or some of the CN or CP locomotives in the Canadian Railway Museum at Delson. The Canadian engines might have been cleaned and painted up some. The Allegheny has a layer of black and white paint hosed onto it, but still has its last ashes in its ash pan and lubricants oozing out; I personally hope this engine is never run again. These engines evidence the often-extreme state of wear that steam power was usually in when abandoned; this is something that would be inevitably lost if any of these engines were run. Indoor shelter is the only way to accomplish this; no engine left outdoors long can survive without maintenance that will alter its condition.<p>Aarne H. Frobom<br>Michigan State Trust for Railway Preservation, Inc.<br>



froboma@mdot.state.mi.us

The ashes, soot, and coal left in the loco sooner or later will rot it out. I m not sure how to handle this for the 400 year storage.<p>Tom<br>