261 has been lifted, quite undramatically and is suspended above its pilot and trailing trucks and its drivers. Coincidentally, the crane operators reported that the crane lifting the front of 261 lifted 108,000 pounds and the crane lifting the rear lifted 119,000 pounds.

Looking underneath the 261 from the front. The black thing at the top of the image is the pilot. You don't get this view very often.

And the driver gets rolled into Harrison Street.

And the dreaded 4-0-4 makes its appearance...

What work will de done to the drivers? I notice it has a lateral motion device on the front axle. while we were working on 6167, which also has the ALCo lateral motion device, we were wondering how they would assemble and dissemble the springs.

That makes for nervous times! When 1522 was lifted, everyone walked on eggs. We sat her down on cribbing. Kinda makes me nervous looking at all that weight sitting on the pilot and trailing truck and no binders on the frame. I think the RRs used to do that tho.

The binders have been re-installed and everything has been rolled back into the shop. We're all done for the day.

You know, I really wanted to see the locomotive looking like that, and I drove all over trying to find your site.

No luck.

404 Not found.

That was a groaner! I loved it though. Nice job!

Fascinating photos - thanks for posting!

Nice to see things moving along.
I'd be curious to - what work is being done?

/Mitch

I realize the boiler is empty, the tubes, flues and superheaters are out, and the lagging and jacket are off....but still seems like a lot of weight on just 4 axles. Simply amazing.

Steve

How did you get everything so clean? Do you have anymore pictures of the frame close up? The lateral motion device is interesting, I've never worked with one. Thanks for posting the pictures.

Why is lifting with a crane preferred to jacking with modern hydraulic jacks?

Two cranes were used, not one, and they would be much more stable than jacks. Jacks also get in the way on the ground, while the slings from the cranes stop at the frame.
Mark D.

Um. I dunno. Steve and crew did the cleaning. I have a bunch more pictures of the frame, though not terribly closeup. I don't think I'd recognize a "lateral motion device" if it were chewing on my kneecap.