I assume Sartola is still owned by the restaurant occupying the Simsbury depot. It's changed hands several times and currently goes by the obnoxiously bizarre name of "b Simsbury": http://www.burgersbeerbourbon.com/simsbury/

-Philip Marshall

Thanks Phillip. The staff was swamped when I stopped by and didn't feel like talking.

C.

This is the most extremely sore subject that could possibly be mentioned to me, but RyPN readers have legitimate reason to want answers:

The two Westfield Porters, Bertha and Rosa, are NOT in Texas, and have not been for some time. I was once their owner, my project was described in January 1997 Modeltec.

I was forced to sell by extremely hostile locals, and will have no further comment on the matter. I do not know the exact location of my equipment now, it went to California. I am not willing to act as a go between for anybody wishing to contact the present owner. So far as I am aware, the comprehensive sugar plantation railroad collection I assembled has been destroyed with no regard for it's historical importance. SOMEBODY PLEASE PROVE ME WRONG.

Sartola was owned by the One Way Fare Restaurant in Simsbury, Ct. Good luck with her.

Mr. Wirth, you are exactly right about having the pops and whistle right next to your head. This is one thing I don't miss about running Rosa.

Well I'd certainly like to know more about this.

C.

Gents, I came across this picture earlier today of one of the Dugas 0-6-2s and thought it would be worth a share;
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Lm16xSfvqU4/R ... TATION.jpg

BERTHA, in fact.

This photo shows the cowling that Dr. Gautreaux mentioned.

My objection to having my head next to the whistle on engines set up this way was because I saw the pipe nipple working around in the dome lid as I was parking the engine one day... A person COULD brace things better, and probably be fine unless they hit something solid at a good clip.

Also, an opinion was offered in this thread that engines with this style of boiler should not be modernized or rebuilt with the dome over the boiler barrel, because there are so few of them left. Not only do I agree, but I submit that these boilers are perfectly sturdy and safe, and that if you take the dome lid off and look in there, you will see that the crown sheet is quite solidly supported by stays driven through the base of the steam dome.

Only reason we don't have an operating example is the cruelty of fate.

So after leaving Springfield today I took a ride down to look at Sartola. She's not terrible, but she's not museum quality. Most of the important parts are there, even most of the piping is still intact. The only really concerning rot I saw was on the dome over the boiler. I'm assuming that it was at one point a sand dome (Mr. King would definitely know more), but the outside metal work looked a bit like swiss cheese. The boiler itself is definitely solid and in one piece, but without an ultrasound there's no telling how thick the material is. What concerned me though was the addition of two black iron nips in positions likely inhabited by washout plugs at one point. Its not so much as the nips themselves but the rather new covers on both ends. Someone may have done something to that boiler at one point, but I can't be sure. Someone filled the firebox with chunks of bricks and ballast, so who knows what the inside of the firebox looks like. As for missing bits, the whistle, bell, headlight (assuming that Sartola carried one, but it at least has a mount for one on the smokebox), and part of the main rods are missing. As for parts of the main rod, it looks like it's constructed of three pieces; two adapters of some sort on either end and then the actual rod between them. They're still connected to the piston rods, but have been disconnected from the drivers... And those end pieces were no where to be seen. I should also note that someone disconnected the valve gear. I don't know if that is because the cylinders were seized up and the engine was moved, or if they were disconnected for some other reason. The smokebox wasn't open so I couldn't tell if the exhaust ports were covered up but where that chimney isn't visibly capped, who knows what the inside of that end looks like. But the underside of the smokebox at the saddle didn't look all that promising. I should also address that cow catcher that is now mounted on the pilot... It's honestly a decent piece of work. Sure it isn't authentic, but someone who knew how to weld put that together and mounted it to the pilot beam. If I didn't know any better I'd say it looks like it's supposed to be there. Assuming that everyone read through those notes, I'll say this; Sartola is not perfect. However she's far from some of the disaster stories we hear about some park engines. With a bit of time, effort, funding and a group behind her she'd be a perfect static display piece. Who knows, maybe you could truck her around to help promote a museum?

To add to my points, I'll leave the link to some pictures I took;
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing

Dylan, thank you for the pictures. I had been meaning to visit her and take pictures of my own this past fall while I was in CT for work, but never got around to it.

-Philip Marshall

I'm just glad to be of service. Like I said, that engine would make a great static display... It's just a matter of acquiring Sartola from the resturant and having a group behind her.

OK,

I'll try for you fellas.

The headlight and bell are not missing, Sartola did not have them in latter years working Westfield.

The injectors (Penberthy 3/4") are missing, Manzell mechanical lubricator, steam gauge, and safety valves, all gone. The check valves were flapper style, and the washout plugs were 1 1/4" NPT pipe plugs (bronze), both standard items at any plumbing place.

The dome over the boiler barrel is for sand. I can't tell you how many times I've cussed whoever left the domes on my engine half full of sand with no lids on for the last 50 years, looks like Sartola got the same treatment.

It's been a few years since I saw a videotaped overview of Sartola, but I remember the boiler as looking like a lunar landscape. Remember, the shell is 5/16"... In my infinite wisdom, I do believe that you could get a welded replacement boiler made with the steam dome over the firebox, staying true to tradition, IF you could find somebody willing to follow the original (updated version) design.

The junk in the firebox most likely was put there to make the engine weigh more, get more $$$ from the junk man. Old trick, like putting new tires on a worn out engine, so that nitwits like me would think it was fresh rebuilt.

The mainrods were robbed of their brasses.

Hate to say this, but the uncovered stack is bad news, especially when one looks at the rot under the front tube sheet. I'd guess everything is probably seized, too.

The cowcatcher looks funny to me because I'm used to Sartola's later appearance. However, it looks a lot like a Porter factory installed cowcatcher, usually applied to engines of her size and vintage.

The woodwork has been rebuilt once, it now is gone, and there are just a few sticks remaining. Fortunately there are many pictures of BERTHA, and Grandt Line made an O scale kit of her, these should give somebody ambitious a pretty good idea what she needs.

This engine only weighs 9 or 10 tons, and she will fit in a single car garage. You can mover her around (once everything is unstuck) with a compact, two wheel drive pickup and a tow chain. Most jobs you can do with a car engine hoist or big bottle jack by yourself. This project could be done by an individual, not necessarily a group.

They outfitted BERTHA with a 3" line from the dome to the cylinders, with a globe valve for a throttle, which the old heads liked for weighing cars. If Sartola is missing the original spool type throttle valve, like BERTHA was, it is a formidable obstacle to restoring her.

My idea 25 years ago was to have a locomotive this size with a four wheel passenger car (looking like a horse car), and some sectional track, then go set up my trainset at county fairs, etc. You know "Have trainset, will travel". Like many good ideas, it was just pissing in the wind.

So that's what the black iron piping is on the driver's side? That's the feed to the cylinders? Because if that's the case the steam pipe between the dome and cylinders was broken, but the valve on the dome is still there... Just didn't take a good picture of it. At first I thought it could be a blower but dismissed the idea.

Well, you COULD just replace the dry pipe and globe valve, and drive her like Little Bit (Louis Alleman, old time Westfield engineer and master mechanic) did. You would have a unique engine, and it would save a lot of hassle when you need to hydro her.

The blower and steam lines for both injectors were plumbed directly into angle valves screwed into the back of the steam dome. I think the blower line is 1", missing from Sartola, it was on the fireman's side.

I should also wish anybody willing to take on this project GOOD LUCK, and offer to help however I can !!!

Somebody STEP UP....

In this day of 3D Printing and automated machining, recreating a spool throttle isn't a difficult project, especially since we have drawings of similar ones to work from. I think a far more difficult problem is prying it loose if one is interested, and convincing the good people in Maine to rivet you a new replica boiler.......

So this just crossed my mind today, but how did these plantation engines get painted anyway? I'm assuming your standard drab black, but some of the black and white pictures I've seen of Bertha have some different colored panels on the cab.