For those of you who really like this kind of thing (see 6325 thread below), the link below was recently posted to the steam_tech mailing list regarding the rebuild of an Australian 4-8-0 on the Pichi-Richi Railway.

The site documents every step of the on-going restoration, including fabrication of all-new main frames and cylinders (!). After all this, they found that the firebox on the old boiler wouldn't fit inside the new frames. It turns out that both the original boiler and frames had become distorted after years of hard service. When the new frames were made "per plan", the firebox, which had bowed outwards at the mudring, wouldn't fit. They actually built a big hydraulic "C" clamp and carefully squeezed the firebox (40 tons worth) until it was perfectly straightened and would fit into the new frames. Pretty amazing.

Good Steaming,
Hugh Odom
The Ultimate Steam Page
http://www.trainweb.org/tusp
ACL R-1 4-8-4's
http://www.awod.com/gallery/rwav/whodom/back.html


Pichi Richi Railway NM25 Restoration
whodom@awod.com

This looks like a very involved project, not too far from building a full-size replica. And it makes us look pretty pathetic when we can't even get a group together to stabilize and cosmetically restore a steamer rusting away in the city park. Thanks for the link.

For those of you who really like this kind
> of thing (see 6325 thread below), the link
> below was recently posted to the steam_tech
> mailing list regarding the rebuild of an
> Australian 4-8-0 on the Pichi-Richi Railway.

> The site documents every step of the
> on-going restoration, including fabrication
> of all-new main frames and cylinders (!).
> After all this, they found that the firebox
> on the old boiler wouldn't fit inside the
> new frames. It turns out that both the
> original boiler and frames had become
> distorted after years of hard service. When
> the new frames were made "per
> plan", the firebox, which had bowed
> outwards at the mudring, wouldn't fit. They
> actually built a big hydraulic "C"
> clamp and carefully squeezed the firebox (40
> tons worth) until it was perfectly
> straightened and would fit into the new
> frames. Pretty amazing.

> Good Steaming,
> Hugh Odom
> The Ultimate Steam Page
> http://www.trainweb.org/tusp
> ACL R-1 4-8-4's
>
> http://www.awod.com/gallery/rwav/whodom/back.html


bobyar2001@yahoo.com

All I can say is WOW. A run thru this site will answer just about all the canwe & howto questions you can up with. I guess that money, knowhow, volunteers, dedication and desire can do the job. I also enjoyed the use of modern technology for problem solving and the learning experienced by the different facilities and folks involved. Now imagine this blown up to the NYC Hudson, dream on!


lamontdc@adelphia.net

This is just one of the many successful steam programs down under which put many of ours to shame. Puffing Billy regularly replaces boilers and considers them 10 year commodities. What we consider heroically difficult is commonplace in some other civilized parts of the world. Ironically, the Australians in WW II preferred the Yank locomotives to the British designs - of course, Oz is topographically much more like the US than England so our designs were probably more appropriate for their lines. We have a lot we can learn.

Dave

Dave

irondave@bellsouth.net