I am sure this has been discussed before, but please refresh my memory. Now that 1218 is safe in a museum, how much of her innards are still intact? Are the parts that were removed for the boiler servicing still stored? Have those parts been handed over to the museum? In short, given time and money, is she restorable at this time without too much refabrication?

glueck@saturn.caps.maine.edu

>As you may know when the order came to close the steam shop 1218 was in the middle of an extensive rebuild. With funding cut off and limited time to assemble the loco, the 1218 was hastily prepared for it's next resting place.

All of the spare parts, and new parts made during the rebuild, were sent with the loco. Many new parts were not applied, and most of the firebox sections that were made new, were simply tack welded in place.

The boiler tubes and flues were sold at the auction, the superheater units were scraped, (except for the down-comer sections), which are stored in the boiler barrel.

All the required parts are there, in kit form, as well as the drawings.

histmachry@aol.com

Thank heaven.Thats good news!
Brian

> All of the spare parts, and new parts made
> during the rebuild, were sent with the loco.
> Many new parts were not applied, and most of
> the firebox sections that were made new,
> were simply tack welded in place.

> The boiler tubes and flues were sold at the
> auction, the superheater units were scraped,
> (except for the down-comer sections), which
> are stored in the boiler barrel.

> All the required parts are there, in kit
> form, as well as the drawings.


RyPN Timetable
bhebert@rypn.org

> The boiler tubes and flues were sold at the
> auction, the superheater units were scraped,
> (except for the down-comer sections), which
> are stored in the boiler barrel.

I had heard the tubes were brand new for the loco and cost over $100,000, but were never installed and sold as you said. Anyone know who bought them, and what they were used for....I would think only one engine would be a close fit for them....3985?

> All the required parts are there, in kit
> form, as well as the drawings.

Maybe they should install a coleman stove to produce fire for the next Mercedes Commercial in Roanoke, eh! :)

Greg Scholl

PS..Image below on the tape box shows 1218 in action exiting Montgomery Tunnel on the grade to Christiansburg,VA, in the spring of 1987 on the first run to Bluefield.


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Greg,
No matter how big the engine/boiler the tubes are probably not much more than 22 feet. Reason being is that the efficiency drops when they get too long. So these tubes were probably in the size range like most of the larger engines, 4449, 844, 3985 and 3751. Even still they could be cut down to fit almost any engine. Also these flues, and I am not sure, were probably 3 1/2" and 2 1/4" so that would leave out a few engines with type A superheaters which take 5 1/2" flues. Not knowing though if the 1218 had A or E superheaters though. Also a mill run of new flues for an engine of this size whould probably be in the 30K or less price range. From what I heard the parts sold at auction were "very" reasonable.

robert@trainorders.com

According to one of the most comprehensive reference books on N&W steam (the Jeffries "Giant of Steam" volume), the A class had tubes 24' in length and the N&W spec sheet lists the Type E superheaters that were more or less standard on most modern steam. Never got to saw this one completely disassembled, only partially with one engine removed. Only firebox memories are with a fire on the grates....

Those who silenced the machines of the gods will suffer the same firey fate as Stewart Saunders.....Yes, Stewy, I'm talkin' about you down there....

> Greg,
> No matter how big the engine/boiler the
> tubes are probably not much more than 22
> feet. Reason being is that the efficiency
> drops when they get too long. So these tubes
> were probably in the size range like most of
> the larger engines, 4449, 844, 3985 and
> 3751. Even still they could be cut down to
> fit almost any engine. Also these flues, and
> I am not sure, were probably 3 1/2" and
> 2 1/4" so that would leave out a few
> engines with type A superheaters which take
> 5 1/2" flues. Not knowing though if the
> 1218 had A or E superheaters though. Also a
> mill run of new flues for an engine of this
> size whould probably be in the 30K or less
> price range. From what I heard the parts
> sold at auction were "very"
> reasonable.


Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum
newriver400@cs.com

> Those who silenced the machines of the gods
> will suffer the same firey fate as Stewart
> Saunders.....Yes, Stewy, I'm talkin' about
> you down there....

I gotta believe Al Perlman of the NYC and Downing Jenks of MOPAC's "lets run the passenger train into the ground for the hell of it" are down there with him. I think anyone who is a Central of Georgia fan would throw Brosnan of the Southern down there as well.

Ann Arbor Wreck Crane

tjgaffney@phmuseum.org

They weren't taking kick-backs from EMD....
But Jenks is probably in the same class....

Brosnan did know the value of public relations and righted any wrongs with the steam gods by letting a certain "dyed-in-the-wool railfan" run a certain green engine to a certain convention in the former capital of the Confederacy in 1966... The rest is history. Besides, without him, there would not have been a financially secure Southern to sponsor outings with steam.

Mike

> I gotta believe Al Perlman of the NYC and
> Downing Jenks of MOPAC's "lets run the
> passenger train into the ground for the hell
> of it" are down there with him. I think
> anyone who is a Central of Georgia fan would
> throw Brosnan of the Southern down there as
> well.


Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum
newriver400@cs.com

While Brosnan was certainly not blameless in the scrapping of nearly all of Southern's steam power, the President during the time of SR's dieselization was Harry DeButts. Brosnan did not become CEO until about 1958, long after steam's demise on SR.

It would be ironic if Perlman and Saunders ended up spending eternity together, since they couldn't stand to be in each other's company in this lifetime.

kevingillespie@usa.net

Greg Scholl wrote:

> I had heard the tubes were brand new for the
> loco and cost over $100,000, but were never
> installed and sold as you said. Anyone know
> who bought them, and what they were used
> for....I would think only one engine would
> be a close fit for them....3985?

I attended the auction. There were well over 100 ACTUAL steam operators and a similar number of "wanna-bees" there. The 1218's flues and superheater unit tubing weren't bid on by anybody but the scrappers. The reason was (is) that N&W used an odd size diameter flue and an odd size diameter superheater tubing in those engines that is not interchangeable with any locomotive running at the time, under restoration at the time, or under any realistic consideration of running.

IOW, why would any operator buy them if he could not use them? So the scrappers got them, as they did some other items that no one else bid on.

Items (parts, tools, and supplies) that were useable were the subject of very spirited bidding and found good homes, where they are in use today or on the shelf awaiting the need.

> Greg Scholl wrote:

> I attended the auction. There were well over
> 100 ACTUAL steam operators and a similar
> number of "wanna-bees" there. The
> 1218's flues and superheater unit tubing
> weren't bid on by anybody but the scrappers.
> The reason was (is) that N&W used an odd
> size diameter flue and an odd size diameter
> superheater tubing in those engines that is
> not interchangeable with any locomotive
> running at the time, under restoration at
> the time, or under any realistic
> consideration of running.

> IOW, why would any operator buy them if he
> could not use them? So the scrappers got
> them, as they did some other items that no
> one else bid on.

> Items (parts, tools, and supplies) that were
> useable were the subject of very spirited
> bidding and found good homes, where they are
> in use today or on the shelf awaiting the
> need.

Thanks for enlightening us. I do remember someone telling me the scrapper got them. A real shame they were not installed in the engine before all this took place. Oh well, all ifs and buts at this point.
Greg


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