We're approaching a big milestone for 4501 so I thought this might be a good time for an update. We've completed fabrication and installation of all the piping that goes under the jacket plus all the external steam and water piping. All that is lacking for the steam test is completing the installation of the new throttle, closure of the steam dome, and connecting the branch lines to the tender.

After the steam test, the team will apply the lagging and jacket. We still have to the install the air brake system, brake rigging, rods, and valve gear. We are just now starting on the valve gear and we intend to fix a long standing problem through the execution of "Operation Valve Square.". The crossheads, guides, pistons, and piston rods are currently at one of the local machine shops being reworked.

I know there's a lot of anticipation about when she'll be ready. As before, I am still not going to offer a date. Anyone who's ever been involved in a restoration project knows that picking a completion date is a kiss of death. I do feel confident that she will run sometime in 2014 and maybe in time for the upcoming 50th Anniversary of the Stearns trip.

One more thing, nothing has been freshly painted. Any green or black you see is leftover from previous paint jobs.

Enjoy the photos.

One additional photograph for your viewing pleasure.

Something to ponder. Southern Ps-4 #1401 has it's headlight located on the boiler centerline instead of 3 inches below center. The drawing for the drilling of the smokebox door places the headlight bracket so that the headlight requires a 1 inch spacer under the headlight feet to place the centerline of the headlight 3 inches below the centerline of the boiler. #1401 has 4 inch high spacers to put the headlight on the centerline. The interesting thing about this is that the locomotive was delivered to the Smithsonian this way. By 1961, had the Southern Railway forgotten where to mount the headlight? Perhaps the Spencer engines had a different standard? Perhaps someone can shed some light on this.

Very nice, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel (pun intended). Any particular reason for going with a dual beam headlight?

More light output, might be FRA mandated.

611 and 1218 had them in excursion service, and 765 has a twin sealed beam light. 630 does not as far as I can tell. That is about all I know about it. Also what shade will the smokebox be painted?

I heard Pink....

My guess is that a dual beam bulb can be found in the stores department (do railroads still have such things?) or just about every locomotive terminal and servicing point on the NS system. Makes things easier.

As always, the work undertaken is impressive.

It is good to see 4501 coming along. Didn't she get a completely new smoke box? The reason I ask is that one of the photos clearly shows a welded plate that the builders plate is mounted to on the engineer's side. Could someone explain?

JD Johnson, Morehead and North Fork Railroad Historian

Builders plate is mounted onto a patch. You might be thinking about 630's almost completely replaced smokebox. The front course of 4501's is new. This is the section that houses the heater bathtub and side piping channels.

Oh yeah, and the bright side (pun intended) of having twin beams? Drum roll please....it IS brighter.

To an extent, headlight placement was one of those things that was part of the semi-autonomous Southern shop practices. Each shop tended to do things a little bit differently, so a Spencer engine would have certain practices that would differentiate it from Asheville, Chattanooga, Knoxville, etc. After 30 years of this, if you knew what to look for, you could tell where certain repairs had been done. This is also why finding two engines of the same class that were perfectly identical was just about impossible.

The SRHA archives have articles by Dale Roberts that go through a lot of the classes, and touch upon the shop differences.
Kevin

Jeff,

SR 1401 was painted by a local auto body shop. Doug Logan did some contract paint work for us at National Capital Trolley Museum. He was on the crew that painted SR 1401 and has a group photo of the paint crew with the engine. Doug retired from his day job about 10 years ago and I've lost track of him and the photo.

Wesley

Steve, Pick one: http://soundjax.com/drum+roll-6.html

So now we go from the green mikado to the pink mikado.

..yup, with polka dots and a disco ball too!

.... it's all to conform with new grade crossing safety initiatives.

Don't forget the hot rod flames...