Sounds legit, although it's not the PA anthracite lines, it's good enough. At least it's east of the Mississippi where it belongs. I do have one question though. Where will it run?

Filed under FAQ:

http://www.fireup2100.org/about/

Earlier you said that the 2100 was good until 2021 but under the FAQ it's listed as needing pretty much all the work required for a complete re-certification. Is this being done as a precaution due to the botched oil conversion? I'm not trying to start a flame war here (unless the flames are in the firebox of course), just asking out of curiosity.

Just wondering about the guy(and his company Next Generation Steam Service) they put in charge of the 2100. Not a name as familiar or perhaps mentioned as often as Rimmasch, or Rowland or Camp, yet Sobczynski has been attached to several notable projects such as 4501 and WP&Y 60, and others that have yet to get off the ground. Not trying to say anything bad here, just wanting to know what he brings to the table, what he has done, and maybe why other groups would seek NGSS out going forward.
I'll throw out the estimate for restoring 2100 at 700k for starters.

I'm curious who you would recommend? We have many folks including Zach and Jason both working on the project. There are many folks in steam who's names are not house hold like Ross and Wes Camp that do excellent work.

[quote="ns2110"]Earlier you said that the 2100 was good until 2021 but under the FAQ it's listed as needing pretty much all the work required for a complete re-certification. Is this being done as a precaution due to the botched oil conversion? I'm not trying to start a flame war here (unless the flames are in the firebox of course), just asking out of curiosity.[/quote

The list is comprehensive to make sure 2100 gets a clean bill of health. While she has some good items going for her there are others that need to be fixed before sending her out on the road again. You only have one time to do it right and that is the first time.

"That which is seen is temporary, that which is unseen is eternal, therefore, focus on the unseen things."

Glad I'm not a "household" name ;-)

Well Jason, modesty has it place, and you seem to have done plenty of good work quietly, but as a member of the next generation of preservation, you will have to be known sooner or later. There isn't a lot on Google, I thought that maybe by creating a few threads and filling them with positive information they will show up in Google results in the future when other people have questions. I want to create some positive exposure.

Wasn't trying to be critical, nor am I saying it should have been someone else. I'm just asking for references and I got some.
I believe ASR is going to have plenty of success, they have armed themselves with plenty of resourceful and knowledgeable people. I'm glad that so many of the 765 crew can help out. Thank-you and I wish you and the others the best of luck. I will be donating to the cause.
I threw out the 700k because I didn't believe an in-service mainline steamer (4449/765/1225/261) could do a 1475 inspection for under a million, much less an out of service one. However, Kelly corrected me and said 765 only cost 750k in 2005, and others have stated that 2100 isn’t due for 1475 till 21, so it could be possible.

Not to be a Smart@#$, but it'll cost what it will cost and not a penny less! And when will it be done, you are thinking? "When it's done and not a day sooner!" How's that, LOL. What we need more than anything now is continued contributions (www.fireup2100.org!) and countless volunteer labor hours as many hands will make much light work and develop a great sense of teamwork, accomplishment and family along the way. The momentum is steadily building and there is a lot of anticipation in the air.

One of our key goals is to really develop a synergy that will go beyond the restoration of The Reading 2100 to the restoration of additional historic equipment and rolling stock. Midwest has a real gem of a facility with great potential that could really become a centerpiece for significant steam restoration work for decades to come. If there's one thing the Brits have shown, and beat us at, is just that - working together and crossing organizational lines along the way to get more done with shared resources. We hope to take their example and expand on it here in the Buckeye State.

Sincerely,

Rob Gardner
ASR

Thank you. Finally......... I look forward to your success. I had family on the Reading.

FWIW Jason worked with me getting a lot of work done with almost nothing to do it with before going to work with many other people in situations where they got a lot of work done with a lot to work with, got stuck in a few situations where not much got done despite a lot to work with........ which makes him a well rounded and very experienced steam project guy from my perspective. he also has a good network to draw from....even though like most kids, he never calls, he never writes, etc.

Get off my lawn.

dave

Fair enough.
I won't name names, but I talked with someone in the steam field and the subject of 611's rapid restoration came up. He snickered and said, "Hey, I'm happy as anyone that 611 is going to run soon, but they screwed it up for the 'normal' steam teams in that the public's gonna think this quick a turnaround with tightly-defined timelines is going to be the norm and not the crazy exception it really is!"

Awe...... Sorry, Dad! And thank you ;-)

That's the thing about the J, it's not a restoration or even a rebuild. The context of what is being done is a return to service with some "running repair" maintenance. It ran, it was garage kept, it will run again.

So yes, it is "unfair" for actual restoration or rebuild projects as the J is about the equivalent of pulling a decently maintained (in service) locomotive out of a shed and doing some basic things to it above and beyond a tube job/boiler inspection.

Cheers

I think what we're seeing happen in Spencer is a positive demonstration of what's possible, and confirmation that given funding in place and professional quality craftsmanship and management our projects can be undertaken as successfully as those in any other industry. I hope we decide to start to expect better from ourselves as a result, and commit to producing it. The "public" is pretty much ignorant of process, much more interested in their perception of the result, so it's really only navel-gazing after all. We should be harder on ourselves..... and ask ourselves for more. When the smaller victories require heroic effort, something's wrong in the was we conceive and manage our vision from the beginning.

dave

Just curious. Not really important. Are the folks from Cleveland going to do a lot of updates to the locomotive? Example: convert main driving axles from grease cake lubrication to what TVRM did to 630 and 4501? By the way, congrats on bringing an eastern classic back east. Can't wait to see the end product.