Volunteers at Golden Gate Railroad Museum - now co-located on the Niles Canyon Railway [www.ncry.org] - are working hard to install boiler insulation, boiler jacket, etc. on 4-6-2 S.P. 2472, prior to final reassembly and test.

We would like to install a (replica) brass badge plate on the Worthington BL-2 (size #3) Feedwater Heater. We have fuzzy blown-up photos of the plate, but the detail is insufficient to make a good copy. If you have an original plate we could copy, please contact us.

Thanks!
- Doug Debs
Asst. to CMO, GGRM

tel: 408-433-2672 office daytimes
tel: 650-856-3469 home eves
tel: 650-704-1487 cell
e-mail: doug.debs@fcimg.com

Doug, you might want to try getting in touch with Tim Sposato at the Ohio Central. I believe their ex-LS&I #33 has a Worthington BL-2 feedwater heater. Don't recall if it still as the badge plate your looking for.

Why don't you find the Worthington drawing archives, ask for a copy of that drawing and make a new plate that way?

I think I know who has the Worthington archives, but it would take time and effort to make sure. While you are at it, you could try to get the owner to donate the archive to a museum, and I can help you with that also.

Sounds good - but where are the Worthington drawing archives? Are you suggesting I contact Dresser-Rand (http://www.dresser-rand.com/steam/heritage.asp), or Worthington Parts (http://www.worthingtonparts.com/index.html), or a museum archive?

- Doug Debs

P.S.: I just discovered some interesting Worthington badge plates ("signs") for sale on ebay right now. I bought a couple that might be suitable for modification into Worthington BL-2 Feedwater Heater badge plates.

I talked to the Dresser Rand folks years ago, they didn’t have anything then.

I think the Worthington archive stayed at Bombardier after the MLW closure, but I'm not sure about that. Try BDD and see if you make any progress, if that doesn’t work, let me know and I'll try some of the other leads I have. I would do this for you, but I've got too much going on right now. You can handle it, be postive and friendly and find someone there to talk to and do a lot of listening & take notes, after you figure out if they have the archive, talk about what they want to talk about, let your Worthington drawing be your last request, or even send that request in a email after you find someone to listen to. I would start in “Engineering” and ask to talk to one of the guys that has been there for about 20-30 years, the young guys never know anything about the old stuff. Then ask if they have anyone working in Engineering that plays with livesteamers or that does preservation or tourist RR volunteering, find that guy and he'll get you what you need. That's how I get drawings anyway.

Loco112