The first photo below shows "Audrey" (as she now is affectionately known) at the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum in Indiana in 2012. Purchased by Sammy King and moved out west to Colorado, the second photo shows her recent appearance. Although my digital copy of Sammy's recent photo leaves a lot to be desired, I think the improvement in her appearance speaks volumes for what one person, with just a little bit of help, can accomplish!


Les

Brother Beckman not only flatters me unduly, but he is too modest to mention that he personally gave up two months of his life to make this adoption happen. That alone was more than "a little bit of help", and there are many more good folks that have pitched in at one time or another to help me get this project off the ground. Without any one of those single contributions we wouldn't have made it this far by now, but the young gentleman sitting in Audrey's cab deserves special mention:

STEVEN WITT, He's the only guy I've got that comes back for more and more abuse, and he's also one of so very few young folks more interested in learning steam than playing with their phone. He should get the credit for Audrey's paint job, and he's going to make a fine fireman someday, too.

Everybody who has been promised a #6 hat should have gotten one by now. If anybody hasn't recieved theirs, or if anybody else would like one, please let me know by PM.

Making the world a better place, one saddletanker at a time (WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS),

Have a Happy & SAFE 2017 !!!

Amen, brother Les and brother Sammy pursued this venture for some time until it came to fruition. Glad to hear that local help has come on board.

Sammy, I wish you continued good fortune with Audrey.

Wow! Just wow!

Such an improvement already! I'm sorry Colorado is just a bit far for me to come and help out on Audrey, Sammy, but I'm glad to hear there is at least one other young guy out there learning steam besides me!

I wish you continued luck and success with Audrey.

So what are the "innards like". Is the boiler sound? What do have to work with mechanically? I ask because I presume you plan on having a corn roast and will need a way to steam that corn. And blow the whistle? Agree Colorado is just a little far to come and offer some help. Then again maybe a weeks vacation out west might be what the Dr orders. Good luck to you and your project. By the way I enjoy your posts. Regards, John.

Gentlemen,

Thank you so very kindly for your comments and encouragement with restoring the "saddletanker of my dreams" !!!

John, She's really just "30 tons of trouble", a case of jacking up the whistle and building a new engine underneath, and providing the whistle myself... but we still love little Audrey:

The boiler looks to be original, some parts like the outer side sheets and bottom quarter of the front tube sheet, have extensive rust damage and will require replacement. A lot of other signs are much more encouraging, but right now it could go either way. When the weather got cold, I was digging the pieces of the two most inaccessible (as in, never ever removed) washout plugs out of their openings. I won't really have the answer until the brick and tubes come out, all the scale is removed, and I do a complete UT survey. Should happen next summer.

The running gear has about half a ton of welding rod in it, Audrey was wrecked, rolled, rear ended, rerailed, and repaired countless times in her life, and those repairs look to have been done between swing shift and day shift without dropping the fire. The springs don't have any spring to them anymore, and the spring rigging and brake rigging are completely eaten up and need the whole enchilada. She was not a store bought Porter back truck, the frame was extended in 1947 and a kit was obtained from Southern Iron & Equipment. The flame cut pieces look like they were chewed by a shark. The frame extensions are bent into a dog leg on one side, and busted clean in two on the other.

On the good side, the bearings seem OK, the tires have enough meat for another turn, with a bit of wear remaining first, and the wear on all wheels is even and concentric. When I bought the engine, the steam chests, valve gear, and reverser were froze solid, I thawed them out, and I am optimistic that the pistons won't be stuck too bad.

The saddletank and sand domes have many defects, but I can grind off dinkleberries good enough to patch those myself.

Woodwork is completely rotten, I have some of the cab left for a pattern. I replaced the floorboards on the engineer's and fireman's side, and patched the gangway, just so we could work. Big appliances are missing, but the little steam fittings are all still there.

The trick now is to live long enough to actually drive her before I croak, and it could go either way. Even if we end up doing a cosmetic restoration only, we are still doing whatever we can to make Audrey attractive as a future candidate for a running restoration, especially if the work just requires slave labor.

One thing about this restoration is unique in my rail preservation experience, --- for the first time in my life, NOBODY is working against me or trying to screw up my project somehow. I think this is better than having money... and I think that Audrey still has a bit of fight left in her.

You can't keep a good lokie down,
Sammy

Sounds like a project for Rypn user SouPac. ;)

Thanks for the update on what your finding. Sounds like just about every other steam locomotive out there with the exception of late Nickle Plate Berks. Everything you mention sounds familiar. If it wasn't one part being sour it would be another part that was. You start digging and what repairs you find one would think someone made this up. Then there is what the mfg forgot to do or got away with. A while back one of the knowledgeable folks made the comment that "owning a steam locomotive is a way of life". You really must want to "hate" yourself. Sincere best wishes on this endeavor and would be happy to donate time if it ever worked out. Cheers, John.

"Audrey" before Mr. King started cleaning her up. Photo from my visit to North Judson, for the 765 trips in 2011. Always wondered if anyone had saved her or what her fate was. Glad she's in good hands.

Once more, my sincere thanks to everybody who has wished little Audrey and me well. (I suppose I should even thank those who don't, for leaving us alone.)

Please excuse the oversight in my last post, OF COURSE I want to extend an invitation to visit us to everybody out there in RyPN land !!! Many of you will be visiting this area to see the larger, more famous, and (to everybody except Team Porter #6) more interesting and important railroad attractions. Not only could I use a bit of extra labor, and the wisdom you fellas have accumulated, but I would very much enjoy a bit of company out here in the boonies. Work is completely optional, we have several good eating places nearby, as well as a liquor store and a bar. I have no personal internet connection, but I do RyPN from the local library, so you can reach me by PM, or phone (303) 822-8802. It's just a regular phone, too....

Also, I should again credit Les Beckman for actually starting to clean up Miss Audrey. If you look at the picture from 2011, you can see that he painted the smokebox and front of the saddletank, as well as a tasteful treatment of her number plate. If his picture of her hadn't floated to the surface on RyPN one day when I was bored (Feb 3, 2015, to be exact), she could have ended up in that big roundhouse in the sky, with me never knowing the difference. VIVA LA DIFFERENCE.

Thanks Once More, and Happy New Year from Audreyland !!!

As we all know, moving historic railroad equipment isn't easy these days. Much of it has to go by truck. I ran across this photo from back in August of 2015 while number 6 was still at North Judson. One thing that had to be done was to remove oil that was still in the Porter's fuel bunker after all these years! Oil weighs! In the photo, HVRM's David Cook is doing the deed!


Les

You're right, the stuff weighs a bunch... I've been there and done that. And I'd hate to roll the full drums out on that dolly!

My house must have been a steam locomotive in a previous life. Every time I start a project on it (like open up a wall) I can't believe it's still standing, nor what the person who did the work (work??) was thinking. I'm basically propping up the roof and building a new building under it--and I'll probably have to re-do the roof in a few years!
NOW I understand--It's a house meant for a steam nut! :)
Keep up the good work!

Dylan -

Well, we have a Payloader and a Backhoe at Hoosier Valley, both with nice buckets. My guess is that David brought the empty drums out to #6 with the dolly, but the loaded ones were not so removed.

Les

She was a rolling superfund site, looking for a railroad museum, a trucker, and a sucker (private steam locomotive owner) to happen to. There would have been plenty of liability to go around, no doubt.

I had been working for two days lubricating Miss Audrey for her move, securing loose parts, and removing other loose parts. It was close to quitting time, when I noticed a loose cap on top of the fuel tank. When I picked it up, there was a little scummy water floating on top of a full tank of steamship fuel (wish I could have kept it). Fortunately Mark Knebel was working nearby, and offered to make the problem go away for us.

It could have been gruesome. At least once since #6 left Bone Valley, she was rear ended with a cut of cars "switched in error", crumpling one side of her cobbled on frame extension, and busting the dinkleberries holding the other side together. Eight barrels of water weighs at least 3,00 pounds by my guesstimation, and that stuff weighed more. I noticed just the other day that I can wiggle her fuel tank with one hand, wonder if she would have stayed in one piece for an 1100 mile highway move if the HVRM hadn't covered me...

Fellas, if you're ever in this situation, CHECK EVERYTHING DAMN CLOSE. Do not assume anything. Also try to find out the story of your acquisition as best you can.

One of the mitigating circumstances about buying an unrestored and pretty much wrecked engine like Miss Audrey, is that I still have the original record of her service life. The oldtimers can still get a message through to me, if I can be sharp enough to understand WHY they did everything the way they did.

Take Care & WORK SAFE