We still have the journal boxes. They were removed at New Hope for repairs and were never reinstalled because they need some machine work before they are reinstalled. At current time we only have one pedestal binder. A second one will need to be fabricated.

If Len and his gang can get the front pilot in, we have talked about removing the blocks of wood from the front drivers and then lifting and chain it up the driver up to clear the tracks. Then we can move 565 over to the shop or the wheel pit in the roundhouse and drop out the front driver to re-install the journals.

I believe some of Jerry Jacobson's ex-Ohio Central coaches still use steam heat, at least some of the open window cars. I also suspect that the two heavyweight Nickel Plate coaches owned by the Midwest Railway Preservation group in Cleveland are still steam-heat only, although I don't think that they've operated in cold weather for a long time. The organization's GTW Mike #4070 was equipped for steam heat from it's commuter service days, and did heat the Cuyahoga Valley train in the Fall when it was running.

Nothing like a traditionally steam-heated train to complete the atmosphere of steam era railroading. You can still ride on very well-maintained, steam-heated coaches in Europe. The Harz Mountain Ry. in Germany uses steam heat, and the cars are quite toasty inside.

All,

While I do not know this to be the reason for the bolt seal welding I will say it is a good idea. In the later 40's (48 perhaps) a rather detailed article was was published in the "railroad mechanical engineer" magazine. The article explained how it was determined that staybolts WILL leak and that leaks cause most all of the star cracking around staybolt holes as well as deterioration of threads.
That said, it only makes sense to seal weld ALL bolts as was standard practice for some railroad in the later days.

From the April 29th, 2010 shop report:
Baldwin Locomotive Works #26 Progress:
-Tender cistern is complete except exterior paint job and mount on frame. This is a big step forward. The truck unit tower castings will be done by May 14th..until then we are held up waiting on them. Once we get those we can re-assemble the truck units, attach the frame to the trucks, attach the cistern to the frame, and put it in the paint booth for exterior painting.
-The firebox crown stay bolt job is complete. That was the toughest part of the stay bolt job. Currently, we are finishing up the flexi-stays inside the firebox. We will be applying a pexior coating to the barrel of the boiler in a few weeks.
-This summer we anticipate installing the front tube sheet, the dry pipe, and all the 2” tubes. We also anticipate completing work on the crosshead guides and crossheads, shoes and wedges, journal boxes, and brasses.

-Delaware, Lackawanna, & Western #565 Progress:
-Crew is removing the oil tank from the tender.
-They will be here on Saturday May first to do some sandblasting.
-The asbestos contractors removed all the asbestos from the steam chest.
-The fireman’s side was stabilized with rust converter. The engineer’s side needs to be needle scaled and rust converter and paint need to be applied.
-The crew is still focused on the lead truck and typical preservation work (remove rust and paint) using the sandblaster.

CN 3254
-All 200 of the 2” tubes are in place, rolled, beaded, and hydro tested.
-We are ready to begin seal welding the fire box side tubes.
-FRA should be here around the week of May 17th to witness the final hydro test.
-We are in the middle of putting new axle sets on the tender trucks. The old tires will be re-profiled and returned to stock for later use.
-CN 3254 should be back in service no later than Memorial Day weekend.

Was surprised to read Steamtown retubed #3254 as there hadn't been any previous mention of major boiler work in progress. Was this part of a 1472 day inspection or were there other circumstances that led to the retubing?

Looks like it'll be another year before #26 is out of the shop; it'll be a while before Steamtown personnel can provide any assistance on #3713's restoration!

Frederick G. Bailey

Fred, She failed the hydro test, not sure what inspection they were doing, annual or what. When they went to see what was what, they found tubes leaking so it was decided to replace all the tubes.

I'm glad to see work being done on 3254. As for 26, I understand it's a job and a half doing a major overhaul, but i'm sure many people thought they would see her on rails by Summer fest.

Sounds like #26 will be restored about the time of the 30th anniversary of it's first steam-up after the initial restoration at Jackson, OH by Jerry Jacobson and crew, led by Gary Bensman (with very minor participation by me). That would have been around the end of March 1981. It was a great and memorable weekend.

The asbestos removal project at Steamtown is coming along very quickly.


GTW 6039 and Reading 2124 getting moved!

GTW 6039 parked for now. T-1 2124 was moved out back for clean up!


Tender work continues on Baldwin #26

Steve, why are you stealing my photographs?

Sorry just posted them over here. Didn't mean to upset you. Just let everyone know what things are happening at Steamtown.

Friend and I visited Steamtown this past Monday. We saw the 4-8-2 and 2124 pulled out one by one over the turntable, through the roundhouse, through the backshop, and parked out back for asbestos work. They have not moved in close to 15 years from what we understood. Neat!

Joshua

I have a GTW 6039 question, how did it get that number plate bracket? The photos I have of it in service show it with a regular GTW number plate (just a narow plate with the numbers), whereas here it would seem to have a Number Plate bracket for a CNR style number plate (one with the railway name spelled out).

I just remeber that I saw a photo of CNR / TVRM 5288 here recently and it had and it has a number plate bracket that seems suitable for a GTW style number plate.

I checked to see what that engine had in service, but could only find an older photo of it on display, and it clearly has the proper number plate bracket.