Does anyone know if the rebuilding of this ex Florida East Coast Pacific is still being performed? Their Facebook page hasn't been updated since April 1. Of course, it could be that nobody has had time to update, but it seems strange considering their previous frequent posts.

Yes, the project continues forward under the capable leadership of Scott Lindsay and is well along towards returning her to service. No, I do not have a guesstimate of when it will be done but I'd say its months away not years. That's just my WAG, your mileage may vary.

Ross Rowland

.

Poor 148 can't catch a break

I'd be extremely surprised if Scott Lindsay was responsible for anything but high quality work. I'm sure there must be a lot more to this story...….

.

Locomotive restorations within budget AND on schedule are an exception, not the rule. Time and money are inversely proportioned in these efforts. An owner's expectation of keeping both set is simply unrealistic.

Anyone at all knowledgeable about restoring railroad steam locomotives to service knows full well that these projects ALWAYS take longer and cost much more than originally " guesstimated".

At best the most that can be determined prior to the start is a range of expected funds needed and time to accomplish. Even under the best case scenarios these ranges allow for substantial unknowns.

In the case of an engine like the 148 that sat for decades outside in terrible conditions and was " rode hard and put away wet" way back when its active life ended the " guesstimates" are really no more than semi-educated WAG's.

Scott Lindsay is a total professional whose work speaks for itself. Scott has done extensive work for me over the years ( 614,2101,2100, 40) and everything he did was done with a commitment to excellence second to none. I will speak with Scott and get the straight facts on this issue and report back.

More soon. Ross Rowland

Locomotive restorations within budget AND on schedule are an exception, not the rule. Time and money are inversely proportioned in these efforts. An owner's expectation of keeping both set is simply unrealistic.[/quote]

I'll venture that ANY complex rehab project is subject to change of scope and budget once it's opened up and its true condition is visible. Steam locomotive rehab falls into that category. But, that's not the point. The point is that as the owner, you must hire managers with a proven track record, not somebody who promises a low-ball solution, then fails. Kelly comes to mind as such a person- I'm sure there are there are others too. I've worked on a lot of big rehab projects, and they all had surprises- it's the nature of rehab. The projects which succeeded, with happy owners, started with experienced project managers who produced realistic budgets and schedules, and kept their bosses eyes open and informed as the project went along.
Alaska 557 probably falls into that category- it started as a "practically brand-new" locomotive (my words) and has ended as an almost complete rebuild. But it continues to chunk along.
In any case I'm sorry to hear this project may be in trouble. As with most of us I was delighted to read about it and anxious to see it finished.
All just my $.02 of course.
Ned

MKT1522 is making some serious allegations that appear to be all hearsay so far.
I've known Scott since our initial restoration of 1522 in 1985 and this is not the way he rolls.
I visited him when he was in town down at Continental Fab and can tell you the boiler was a piece of crap when it got there. They had a lot of design, planning and work by pros involved into making it whole again. This is also talking smack about Continental which is a professional company with a great shop.
The boiler was mounted in a rotisserie on rollers and enabled all "downhand" welding to be done. They also have a heat treat oven large enough to hold the entire boiler for stress relieving.
I'm afraid I would need to see conclusive evidence of the allegations, not just some remarks on a web site.
They were also working on the new T1 and 1385 boilers.
There are those who don't like Scott either through jealousy or whatever, and for sure there are charlatans roaming out there. He just isn't one of them.

I had been following their Facebook Group page since this engine was returned from Colorado. They were seemingly making great progress and providing regular updates until they went silent on 4/1 (April Fools Day?). You can browse back through their page to see all the work that had been completed (you don't have to have a Facebook sign-on to view it).

https://www.facebook.com/EngineNo148/

Spoke with Scott. Here's exec. summary of the facts. Scott's firm ( Steam Operations Corporation) terminated its involvement with this project in early April via mutually agreed upon amicable terms.

His firm left the project shortly after the partially reconstructed boiler was reinstalled upon the frame.

A great deal of quality work ( running gear total rebuild, appliances, frame repairs, new oil tank, new water tank, etc., et.) has been accomplished and in a first class high quality manner.

Bottom line is that the folks in charge at US Sugar never thought that the money needed to put this locomotive back in service would add up to anywhere near where it now has ( this despite Scott repeatedly telling them there was no way to come up with a figure until all the work was done) and they felt by changing contractors they'll be able to get the remaining tasks done quicker & cheaper.

Good luck with that !!!

Sad but true. Ross Rowland

That makes more sense. Who is finishing the project? Basically, all the "hard" work is done.

Thanks for the update, Ross.

Is there any word of how much is left? It seems there may not be much other than putting the engine back together. Of course that would also involve some things experienced steam people know, such as blowing out the superheater and steam passages before replacing pistons and valves; hopefully the new contractor knows about that.

Ross, spot on, and realistic. Going to Scott made far more sense than dancing around with hearsay.

Dick