I've seen some locomotives insulated with Cerawool blankets and others with Calcium Silicate blocks and mud. Both are effective, I think the blocks stand up better to people walking on the jacketing. I remember seeing old an MSDS for asbestos saying it was best cleaned up simply by wetting it down, removing, and throwing it in the trash. Boy how times have changed. At the plant where I worked we removed over 100 tons of asbestos.

Cal sil is a nightmare to work with most of the time I've seen it secured with wire which is time consuming and a mess at best.At the "Loop" Phil Reeder had the greatest idea I had ever seen in securing the cal sill blocks to the barrel of the boiler on 12. He used a banding machine which was a snap. Took hours and hours less time to compleate the job and very little breakage of the block material.His secret also was securing the blocks to the barrel first with bungy cords which work great!!

That's a neat idea. Keep in mind, stainless steel banding should be available (people don't use it on pallets, but it is used to secure street signs to poles, etc.) so the banding should have a decent chance to survive fifteen years at least.

How many is "a few years"? I haven't been active for close to thirty years now, but I did get to cut the magnesia block for the first lagging job on 1630. J David got a deal on 12" x 24" block; I got the job of making 6" x 24" block on the band saw. I don't know what they've used since.

Thinking back to those days, the Com. Ed. No. 5, the 0-6-0, was originally lagged with fiberglass residential insulation. As others have noted, it wasn't too long before it all slid to the bottom of the jacket, and the engine looked pregnant thereafter.

FBX 1900 BLOCK AND FBX 1900-K BLOCK is composed of semi-refractory fibers, which are bonded together with a combination organic/inorganic binder system. FBX 1900 Block is widely used in applications up to 1900 degrees F where long-life, residual strength and low moisture absorption are important. FBX 1900-K Block is produced at a lower density with lower organic content, and is recommended for use where extensive shaping is necessary during installation or where out-gassing during start-up must be carefully controlled.