Loco shop/Operation Update


BLW 26
· Firebox crown stay seal welds in progress
· Turret valve is in place
· Driving boxes are being built up with weld and new bearings are
being turned.
· Cross head alignment with guides in progress
· Tender buffer sill is being installed. Cistern shall be mounted
to frame soon.
· Cistern is primed and ready for paint. We are installing safety
appliances and bunker doors. It will be painted after truck units are
under it.

CN 3254
· FRA visit to witness hydrostatic pressure test is March 19th.
· All repairs are complete and compliance work complete up to the
point of putting a squeeze on it.
· We are waiting for tender wheels to come in to replace.
· Stoker motor reverser rebuilt
· Boiler check valves rebuilt and lapped
· Water pump and air pump thoroughly cleaned and serviced

Car Dept
· Steam Heat installation in 4 passenger cars near completion
· Rebuild of 2 DL&W truck units near completion
· DL&W 589 will have work done to it and will be painted using
outside vendor
· 3 other passenger cars will be repaired and exteriors painted
using outside vendors
· Over the next 2 years DL&W 346 will have clerestory window work,
repairs and paint in house.

B&M 3713
· Developing AutoCAD drawings for the Thermic Syphons
· Completed fabricating a reinforcement plate for the throat
sheet.
· Finalized material list to complete boiler repairs

DL&W 565

Volunteers continue to work on engine focusing on the lead truck right
now.
· Crew was issued hand tools and tool box for use on this project
· Len Shaner Co Volunteer Lead and crew developed a new web site
for the project at http://projectdlw565.webs.com

Locomotive Shop
Asbestos Abatement on 27 pieces of equipment will begin in March. Expect
the restoration shop area to be secured most of the time. They will be
using the Hill track through track 3 to perform the work on the equipment.
This project has been in the makings since the Mid 1990s and it is great
to see it finally happen!

Replace 3 cranes project is still in administrative phase and should go
out for bids any day now. The old back shop crane will be kept at the
south end of the back shop and used as an interpretive tool. I believe it
is the oldest crane in the park.

The King machine and wheel press located in the back shop will be
operational soon.

Our upgraded weld shop is complete and up and running. Included in the
upgrade are 2 downdraft weld tables, A Babbitt furnace, A TIG machine, A
MIG machine, A plasma cutter, overhead draw fans, overhead crane, wall
mounted 18 ft adjustable smoke eaters, new entrance and overhead doors,
new air, water, and electric service, the windows were stabilized and or
restored, and a complete paint job including encapsulation of lead based
paint on ceiling.

Wow, that sounds great! I knew 3254 was to have work and now I know what.

I wrote a little article on 3254. It is to appear in "Trains" magazine's special issue "Historic Trains Today" to be published in late May.

Dennis Livesey

"Coal Smoke Is Good For You!"

Forgive me, as I'm not up to par with the work being done.

On BLW #26, are the crown sheet stay seal welds on new, or existing stays? Why are the stays being seal welded?

Thanks in advance,
Mark

Was down at Brookville Mining and saw an all-stainless tender body on the floor - is that yours? What project gets that?

Mark, I believe #26 got a new firebox, I hope Mike sees this and jumps in, so she has all new stays installed. Not sure on the welding.

Randy, that is the new tender for 3254. There is a small problem with the build so it may not get built up on 3377's tender frame until next year.

It's good to see Steamtown maintaining viable locomotives, and particularly good to see Baldwin 26 coming out after heavy overhaul. Question: Are any other locomotives in the "stored" collection earmarked for return to operational status? I know the story about B&M #3713. The review of the collection offers histories and objective proposals for various locos. Any thoughts towards acting on those proposals? Which locomotives are in line for consideration?

I am impressed to see Steamtown maintaining steam heat. This is a good historic preservation and interpretation activity. Where else is steam heat still visible?

IIRC the Valley Railroad in Connecticut still uses steam heat on at least some of their coaches. They do use it for Thanksgiving weekend and Santa trips.

Rich, When they get all the engines they are either working on or currently operational they will have 4 solid engines. Though we all would love to see more operational the bottom line is that those will keep them busy all the time. I would love to see one of the tank engines as a second yard shuttle, with the good size yard they do have, have the tank engine put on a show on the weekends just moving around cars. But as you all can see alot of funds are going into getting the shop better and better. Plus I need the overhead to remove the boiler off 565 so we can align it on the chassis! :)

Steve,

Thanks for sharing the good news coming out of Scranton. Great to hear it!

The asbestos project is quite significant, as it will be the first time in decades that anything significant has been done with to most of the display engines. Combined with the painting project, this is a MAJOR step forward.

Rob

Thanks for the good news from Steamtown. Hopefully, Baldwin 26 & CN 3254 will be out of the shop and return to the rails soon. This should open the repair bay next for CP 2317 & DL&W 565.

Yes, the asbestos project is big. Really that is what has slowed down the painting and restoration of the collection. Being a Federal Government agency they have to make sure they meet all HAZ-MAT laws while removing all of it. Even 565 has asbestos on the cylinders that we have to have removed. It's not much but we don't play with it. Talking with shop foremans we are going to continue as much work as we can in the stall then we have to figure out what bay 565 will get moved into in the shop.

Before the 565 can be moved, we have to install the front truck and no. 1 driver journals. Right now the axle is sitting on some wood that's piled up in the frame.

How did the front driving boxes vanish? Seems like an unusual part to remove, especially if the drivers are still in place. And no pedestal binder, either. Did this happen in the "New Hope days", when 565 was stored/worked on there?

Howard P.
Hub Liner, CT

I know of at least 3 in Eastern PA/DE region that use steam heat ...

Wilmington & Western (Lackawanna Boontons and MU Coach)
New Hope & Ivyland (Reading Cars and a CN coach)
Wanamaker, Kempton & Southern (Reading Cars and a Lackawanna Boonton)

All the above cars built with steam heat with exception of W&W Parlor car that was a MU Commuter Coach built with electric heat (under seats) and coverted to steam heat after recent coversion to Parlor Car.

Strasburg uses coal stoves to heat their wooden coaches (except the Diners, and RDG Observation that are I believe, electrical baseboard heat).

Black River & Western used coal stoves in their Lackawanna Boonton Coaches.