I have been working on my NRHS club newsletter and I wanted to put a status update on the #630 at TVRM. Can someone tell me what major milestones have been reached to date and those milestones that will be in the future. It seems to me that this may have been addressed a couple of months ago but I can't remember for sure.

Thanks
Matt Helton

Right now work seems to be focused on the flue sheet and firebox patches needed. The replacement smokebox has been installed.

The frame is being trued up with welding and grinding.

So quite a bit of work left to do - staybolts in the firebox patches, flues, shoes and wedges, etc.

Hopefully Mark Ray will see this and offer something more substantial.

JAC

when I was there in the summer, also the same time I was hoping to see the 509, I was told that it wasn't to be done for another 2 years, roughly. Whatever those boys at T.V.R.R.M do with it, it'll be a great job!
sg

I just completed a write up of 630's current status for the Southern Railway Historical Society's newsletter. Here is the text of my submittal-

Boiler repairs have included replacement of a portion of the 1st boiler course which included the smokebox, the front tube sheet and the forward 13" inches of 1st course shell. A welded repair was done and inspected via radiography. The top knuckle of the rear tube sheet has been cut out, a new knuckle formed in our McCabe Flanger and welded out. Currently, several areas of the wrapper sheets have been prepared for pad welding. The right rear corner (inside and outside) has been cut out due to severe wastage and is now being reworked. No other major boiler work is needed.

All new driving wheel springs have been purchased (two of the eight springs did not belong in the locomotive), new spring rigging parts have been manufactured (no old ones will be reused), new castings are presently being made for the driving boxes as 5 of the 8 original ones were condemned for cracks and excessive repairs. Vast worn areas of the frame have been pad welded and are being machined back to their original dimensions. Tram wires have been installed and located. Shoe and wedge castings are not far away. New crown brasses and hub liners will be installed. Wheel work has not started yet and a decision on new tires has not been made. A new roller bearing lead truck wheelset has also been purchased from ORX Railway. The lead truck frame will require extensive repair.

The cab will also receive a new skin as the old one was rotted through in many places. The 6-ET brake will be replaced with a 26-L system. Welded air reservoirs will replace the original riveted ones. The headlight, bell, sandbox and steam dome will remain unchanged. Handrails and ladders should also remain the same.

The tender tank will be replaced. A welded replacement will be built. We are currently looking at options to expand coal and water capacity. A review of photographs of Southern Ks's and Ks-1's reveals numerous tender styles. The tender truck wheelsets will be changed to roller bearing sets but we hope to do it within the current truck frames.

There is no anticipated return to service date. It'll be done when it's done and it'll be done right. We aren't gonna put up with smoking hot wheel bearings anymore!

630 will be painted in the traditional black SR freight scheme like she wore in her days on God's Railroad.

Thanks for the inquiry,

G. Mark - TVRM

that sounds great and i hope all works out for yall! i can't wait to see the ole girl runnin' again! i remember when i was a child and seeing the 722 running over in north carolina, on the murphy branch.
sg

Isn't 722 currently on (or near) the Murphy Branch on the GSMR?

It seems appropriate with these two engines that one is in Eastern Tennessee and the other in Western North Carolina?

She is indeed on the GSMR but unless my observation is outdated, her progress was nowhere near that which Mark and company at TVRM have made with the 630.

i agree with what mr. walker has to say abou the 630!the 722 doesn't even come close to the work that the 630 has in her right now!

I don't it is fair to flame the Great Smoky Mountain Railway over the 722. The folks over there spent some big bucks last year to change the 1702 from roller bearing to solid bearing. I know they want to rebuild the 722 but as a for-profit operation, I am sure the priorities they have dictate otherwise. Give them some time.

what is the time frame for the 722?

Last I heard (pretty recently), there isn't one that's firm.

GSMR has a new General Manager (congratulations to Robert Franzen), and he and Al Harper are trying to make a decision about what to do with 722 and when.

Robert's a Southern steam fan from way back, so I suspect he'll be motivated to work on 722 if the resources can be turned in that direction. But it's a business decision.

And any rumors that you've heard about Robert converting 722 to a Ps4 are completely unfounded.

I think.

well thats good to hear and i hope that all goes well for the GSMR and the 722!
sg