<P>In Pennsy Power II, Stauffer asserts, quite correctly, that a steam locomotive could survive all but the most disasterous wreck. As far as steam restoration is concerned,is there a worst case example of a retired or abandoned locomotive being put back into active service? Our MEC 4-6-2 in Waterville is a true basket case, and will eventually have to be removed as a danger if somebody doesn't adopt her soon. Where have people actively FIXED and RUN dead steam?<br>




glueck@saturn.caps.maine.edu

<P>Two examples come to mind. First of all, N&W #1218. When they went to get her out of the museum, they the piping to her cylinders had been removed during her time as a stationery boiler at Union Carbide(the only thing which saved her life in the first place). There were a variety of other things wrong, and only the fact that Robert Claytor wanted her to run again, and had the deep corporate pockets to make it happen brought her back to life. Hopefully another Claytor type can rescue her again.<p>A bit further afield, down in New Zealand, an 1887 vintage 4-4-0 had been dropped as a breakwater in a lake some sixty years earlier and was pulled out and rebuilt to operating condition about ten to twelve years ago.<br>




kevingillespie@usa.net

<P>Richard, Yikes!! Why is the Maine Central #470 a basket case! It certainly doesn't appear so on the attached web site. In fact, the jacket and asbestos have been removed. She also appeared to be regularly painted. I have seen on the web that the 470 Railroad Club was formed orginally to preserve the 470. Is the problem that the town of Waterville is not willing to let her go? If that were the case, it would certainly be disappointing....but a basket case??




Maine Park Engines
hubbard5004@msn.com

<P>Okay, the term "basket case" is my own and that of other preservationists here in the state. To bring you up to speed on the 470, she was steamed into her original display perch under her own power and left to cool down. When the Waterville station was demolished, she was towed back into the MEC yard where the engine languished out in the weather for several years. The big Pacific was then stuffed and mounted on a piece of track in a "park" at the mouth of the Waterville yards. For this point forward, her condition has languished. The cab has been totally stripped, the wood liner is rotten, rust hole permeate the cab sides and floor. The City had her asbestos removed, and the 470 club painted her to look really good. BUT...the tender is collapsing into itself, the journals are stuffed with ballast stone, the headlights smashed, the cables cut, and the coup de gras is our harsh winter climate, which assures the locomotive of long exposure to ice and seeping water. Even the park she sits in is devastated by vandals. This locomotive would be a gorgeous example of a medium weight Pacific, especially one with Southern valve gear, but some group better get on the stick and darn soon. The 470 has been cold since 1954, and I doubt she'll see many more years as anything more than a hulk, and then, the inevitable.<br>Now, if somebody has had the opportunity to send a boiler inspector over to the locomotive to evaluate her potential for restoration, it's the best kept secret in Maine. I'd like to hear more from people who have seen her in the past six months and are knowledgeable in these matters. <br>




glueck@saturn.caps.maine.edu

<P>O.K. Richard, in light of this information, it sounds as though the 470 is quickly becoming a basket case. I guess paint can cover a lot of ills!! Waterville must be unwilling to give her up - at least until the scrapper comes.<br>




hubbard5004@msn.com

<P>There are a few simple things that will extend the life of any park locomotive:<p>Running gear (crankpins, axle journals, etc.): Paint/slather/pour on "LPS-3". Its a floor-waxy compound, sold in liquid form by the gallon, that displaces moisture and forms a good weather seal in protected places. My local hardware store carries it in spray cans, and can order it in gallons. Use liberally. Military-grade cosmoline or the tougher asphalt-based(?) rust preventative goop is even better, but harder to find. (A local railroad wheel shop might well spare a few gallons if asked nicely.) Try jamming cotton clothesline rope, saturated with LPS-3, into areas that need a water seal, such as between the driving boxes and the wheel hubs, and between the side rods and the driving wheels. <p>Smokestack: Get a cap welded on if possible. Even a heavy-gauge sheetmetal cap is better than nothing, but can be removed by vandals. Otherwise rainwater pours into the smokebox and rusts out the lower rows of boiler tubes and firebox throat sheet. Even worse, if enough water accumulates in the smokebox, it can get into the cylinders and cause freeze cracking.<p>Any other boiler openings (exvcept drain plugs at the bottom): Plug 'em. Wood plugs are a lot better than zilch. Keep the water out.<p>All of the above can be done in a day or two by one or two guys. <p>This info is based on my inspections of water/corrosion damage to the three S.P. heavy 4-6-2s in the San Francisco Bay Area (2467, 2472, & 2479) 20 years ago before their restoration efforts gotten very far.<p>Paint: A internally-rusting derelict with a glossy black external paint job is a civic asset. Unpainted or sorely in need of paint, the same engine is a candidate for vandalism and eventually scrapping. The spray-everything-including-the-weeds paint job may well save it for years until something better can be done. <p>Drainage: If the tender or whatever is rusting out, a few drain holes in the right places might well help a lot. Make them large enough so they can't easily plug up with leaves, rust, etc. The same applies to areas such as where the cab floor touches the boiler. Playground sand, leavers, etc. accumulating in these areas hold moisture and accelerates corrosion something awful.<p>Smashed headlights etc.: This is a cosmetic problem. Just make it look OK from 50 feet away for now. A dummy sheetmetal or plastic "lens" may well make the headlight look much better. If the headlight is completely missing, a glossy black metal 5-gallon bucket if a lot better than nothing. Make it look as if somebody cares, and you'll have a lot less vandalism! If the engine is ever restored, the doodads such as headlights are still available from somebody's collection, and will tend to appear when you really need them.<br>




doug.w.debs@lmco.com

<P>If you guys would like an example of a steam engine basket cases. A couple of examples exist up in Skagwayn north of the engine house. These are the engines that were used as riprap next to the track as the track heads up next to the river heading north out of town. One of the WP&YR webb sites have pictures of them, they are not a pretty site and one heck of a challenge for some loco restorer.<p>Jim Wickham<br>Sumpter Valley Conductor<br>




James.Wickham2@pss.boeing.com