I was pleasently surprised yesterday when I arrived at the roundhouse in North Conway to pick up my pay when I saw Maine Boiler Inc. working on our 0-6-0 #7470. After they are done we still have to re-assemble and test her, but things look good for a steam up this summer at the Conway Scenic RR.

Brian[/img]

Great news for CN and GT fans, Brian. Can we expect to see the ex-MEC Consolidation get needed attention? Appraently the 470 effort is mired, but I have been given no first-hand information despite promises from the city government..

Dear Richard,

Please keep the pressure on. While Government projects are oft-maligned on this board and elsewhere - they do offer individuals opporunities to provide constructive criticism that can have a positive impact on the final output. While they may not want to hear what you have to say, or claim that the decisions have already been made - remember they work for you.

Tom Cornillie

Maybe if somebody in the city government reads this months article and sees how it was done pretty well and inexpensively in Gainesville, GA, they will get motivated to do the job properly. I haven't laid hands on 470, but it strikes me it couldn't be much more of a project than 209.

dave

Brian,

Several of the larger CNR 0-6-0s (and presumably 7470 as well) have a couple of small valves atop their boiler that don't appear to be connected to anything. What are they used for?

Thanks.

Brian-
Nice to know our ex-Sarnia, Ontario, girl will be up-and-at-'em again soon. Was sad to hear the Reader Engine go (yeah, I know, I was probably the last to know about that move) --- she was one of my early steam experiences, while visiting my great-uncle's Cottage just North of there when I was bout six or so. The fact that the the "47" was found in the Sarnia roundhouse somehow stuck with me --- for some 24 extra years now! The polariod instants may be showing their age; time to take my little guy up to the Notch!

TJ Gaffney

Not having a CN 0-6-0 handy to refer to, I'd guess that it's the valve that all locomotives have at the highest point on the boiler to vent the boiler of air as it's filled when cold. As the engine is fired up, a wisp of steam from this valve tells the crew it's about to start making steam, and the valve is then closed to raise pressure.

Most steam locomotives have a valve on top of the boiler to hook up a special pressure gauge to do the hydrostatic test with.

This test uses water pumped in to the boiler to 1 1/2 times the working pressure in order to see if there are any leaks in the flues and or staybolts.

I have not seen this particular locomotive in person so I am not 100 percent certain but most engines have a valve used for this purpose.

Morehead and North Fork # 12 has such valve.

Hope this helps.

JD Johnson, Morehead and North Fork Railroad Historian