Finderskeepers wrote: Les, when did the restoration become "Cosmetic", I thought you folks were rebuilding her to steam again?
Well, the HVRM "official policy" toward the 2789 is to restore her to active service. But there has been no move toward actually doing that for a good number of years. We actually have a complete set of new flues sitting in a couple of our storage box cars. And just this past month, we finally got the 2789's dynamo back from one of our members in Ohio where it has been for over 10 years (he was supposed to rebuild it, but was never able to do it.) A number of years ago, we actually did an ultra sound on the boiler. So why the change in attitude? Well, for one reason, our current Board is not committed to a restoration of the Kanawha (without THAT, you can't even begin the process). And truthfully, there are reasons for their current attitude. First, we are located in northwest Indiana and there are two Van Sweringen 2-8-4's (Pere Marquette 1225 and NKP 765) in the rough appoximate area that have been restored, and frankly, just don't operate very much, or not at all. Secondly, even with a set of new flues, there is a large amount of money that would be needed to get the `89 running. There are other reasons, but these two factors in themselves, are probably decent reasons for our Board to not make the committment to begin work on the 2-8-4.
Personally, I think that a change of attitude toward the locomotive can only come IF the museum was able to acquire a smaller steam locomotive and start the effort to get her running. A Mogul, Ten-Wheeler, 0-6-0, Consolidation (or similar) that the membership could work on with the idea of using her on our caboose train, could have the snowball effect of having those members look at the 2789 with a different eye. The steam people who have looked at the Kanawha have all said that she is a very good candidate for restoration. She has a welded boiler and overall, is in good condition. Unfortunately, there is probably no chance that the museum will ever acquire a smaller steamer. And so, the best we can hope for, is to slowly continue the 2789's cosmetic restoration.
Hope that answers your question.
Les
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