Boston and Maine 3713-any updates?

SLSFfan · **Joined:** Mon Nov 16, 2009 9:22 pm **Posts:** 16

I haven't seen anything regarding 3713 lately, one question i have is back in august i went on a trip to steamtown, took the shop tour, and what it looked like was the top half of the firebox was removed, all the guy talked about was the #26, nothing on 3713, anything about this, no they haven't updated the website since April.

Dave Crosby · **Posted:** Thu Nov 19, 2009 8:45 am

Hello

After walking through the shop last week and attending monthly meetings at the NRHS, I can tell you work is progressing. New side sheets and the mud ring have been amongst the projects as of late. The top half of the outer wrapper has been lifted off and the replacement is in the works. The tender tank/cistern is also getting attention and may be moved off site for work depending on how the bids come in. That was what I garnered from the last meeting.

They are planning another newsletter for the end of the year, updating all fronts of the project, but I agree, the society could do a better job of providing online updates.

Dave Crosby

Stephen Hussar · **Posted:** Thu Nov 19, 2009 9:42 am

Dave, is the Lackawanna & Wyoming Chapter still involved in the fundraising? I used to receive updates from them but have not seen one for a LONG time...

Stephen

tim o'm · **Posted:** Fri Nov 27, 2009 12:30 am

Perhaps, Mike Tillger will chime in on this, but here is the reason why no. 3713's lid is blown, so to speak. Upon inspection of the sleeves for the flexible staybolts, it seems they were removed by the B&M and replaced with the next diameter size up. This might not be all of them, but enough to weaken the integrity of the steel to less than acceptable standards. The steam locomotives are meant to be 4x the durability of what they need to be to function. This was agreed upon by the railroads about 80 or so years ago. Having the loco 3x the functional durability isn't enough for her to pass inspection.

The way I understand it, the new steel is on order. The new sleeves will not bore through this sheet to the point of defeating the purpose of purchasing the new steel sheet. The door sheet was delivered to the shop in April, and is prepared for installation to the mudring. She won't be attached until the other firebox sheets are ready.

Like most other projects, the little bits of progress seem to take forever in getting each part stable before installation. The assembly of all the parts will take very little time in comparison.