Morning Folks!

A new week a new update! Engine 16 is tht topic today.

NEWS UPDATE:
http://rmlinews.blogspot.com/2010/11/en ... -work.html




Anthony DeBellis
Presidents' Aide de Camp
Railroad Museum of Long Island

Working on journal brasses for a cosmetic restoration? Any chance this will eventually become a restoration to running condition?

Steve

Hi Steve,

Sadly, the last steam locomotive to run on Long Island - BEDT 16, 1963 - will not be a candidate for operating restoration at the RMLI now or in the future.

First and foremost is the lack of funds and a place to run it. LIRR G5s steam locomotive #39 is our restoration girl and we are still working toward $2,000,000.00 in funding to complete that project. Not an easy task during this economic climate.

Second, the BEDT 16 is missing many parts. She had been attacked by scrappers in Brooklyn while she was awaiting a new home. Parts of her have been cut off with a torch and disappeared. Then there is the urban legend that states that several organizations in the tri-state area who were competing to make BEDT 16 their own began removing parts and put them in storage for the day they took her home.

Whatever the truth, she will never be complete enough to be operational. She is a worthy artifact of Long Island railroad history, (albeit there are those who claim Brooklyn is not a part of Long Island, chuckle, chuckle), and therefore resides at the Railroad Museum of Long Island and is the first piece of rolling stock to welcome visitors to the Museum. Her prominence makes her in need of the cosmetic make-over.

When BEDT 16 was delivered to Riverhead, the all volunteer crew had just spent more than 24 hours taking her apart and transiting the loco from Brooklyn. They were dog tired and placed the drivers up against the Museum fence, placed her drive train and brake linkage parts in storage and called it a very long day. They always planned to come back one day after a good night's sleep and put her back together again.

That's what we are doing now. To place the old girl on her drivers and make her worthy for visitors to enter her cab and look about, we are reassembling her journal boxes, wedges, cellars, side rods and drivers. Eventually the brake linkage will come out of storage and be reapplied. As for missing side rods and such, we are considering making replacement parts out of lumber, reassembling the fake parts and painting them to match.

That part of the project, finish paint and restoration of her cab's wood frame work, windows and doors, will commence in Spring 2011. We plan to get the wheels under her this winter.

Thanks for the interest in the Railroad Museum of Long Island and our continuing projects. Stay tuned for more updates as they become available.

de Don n2qhvRMLI

Don Fisher, President
Railroad Museum of Long Island

You say that there is no place to run 16. Where do you plan on running 39, when it's done? Just wondering. Thanks.

Regarding making replacement parts for BEDT 16 out of wood: here in Southern California, we sometimes call these "imitation" components "Hollywood parts", because the movie industry does a lot of "prop" work that looks real on the screen (and often in person) but it's for appearance only. If it shows your visitors what the engine looked like in its active days, that's one of the purposes of a museum. One might compare it to a natural history museum making replacement dinosaur bones out of modern materials to complete the skeleton of a long-extinct critter. Just don't let anybody get too close with a magnet!

A certain California switch engine from a major road (no longer operating) was pulled from the park and ran its entire second career with oak wedges—never say never! ;)

Randy,

The RMLI Board of Trustees decided in 2008 that if there were no suitable rails on Long Island to run #39 that we would contract her out to an operational tourist railroad with qualified personnel to run and maintain her. Parameters of that option are that #39 be within a days ride of New York City/Long Island so that residents could get to her easily and experience LIRR history as such.

Howard and I exchanged e-mails very soon after the Board's decision was made public. At this time, still eight years and $2,000,000.00 out from completion, it's too soon to start requesting RFPs from qualified contractors.

Their were also three developments on Long Island during the first half of 2010 that encouraged the Board to believe #39 might just be able to stay on the Island and operate. Those developments, just like our securing additional funds for the restoration, have been hampered by the current economic/political climate. All three opportunities would have been contractor operations, at this time the Railroad Museum of Long Island has no plans to operate a tourist railroad.

The important element to the #39 saga is the Museum does have a plan, albeit we are still lacking funds to implement that plan. There has been an extensive evaluation of the engine and a reasonable scope of work and schedule made. Great strides in the restoration have taken place over the past two and a half years, but we are now at a financial hump in the road, I look forward to getting over that hump and rolling through the yard.

Bob,

I very much like your explanation and analogy of what we are doing. You've hit the nail on the head!! We will scan our patrons and rivet counters for magnets before we let them near the loco! :-)

Thanks for the interest guys,
de Don n2qhvRMLI

Don Fisher, President
Railroad Museum of Long Island

Don,

Thanks for the info. I wish you and your organization the very best in your efforts to restore 39 as well as maintaining Long Island's railroad history. I'll have to make a visit next time I'm down there. Keep us posted!