Greetings everybody! I hope everyone is settling into the new year and staying well. Additionally I hope everybody is beginning to look forward to emergence from the dark days of 2020.

We are grateful to have seen our workload increase since Kelly’s last report in November, and particularly since the first of this year. The following is a snapshot of some of the recent projects:

Heavy overhaul work has continued on a locomotive in our shop, with a new left front frame rail being machined and installed to mate properly with the existing frame components. Upon inspection, the original frame rail was found to have many defects and indications from previous service.


The new frame rail encompassed the area that supports and secures the main cylinder block. As such, the cylinders were reattached after ensuring the cylinder bores were centered laterally, and positioned parallel and level with the frame.


Work has begun and much work has been performed over the past couple months on three brand new thermic syphons for ex-Boston & Maine #3713 undergoing restoration at Steamtown National Historic Site. The initial bends have been made on our McCabe flanging machine, and the main halves of the syphons have been welded together. We are now working on tooling to form the upper flanges and lower throat portions of the syphons.


We performed overhaul work on the driving wheelsets of a 2-8-2 locomotive. This work included turning the tires, turning the main crankpins to proper quarter and throw, boring the crankpin holes in the secondary drivers to meet the dimensions on the main wheelset, and making all brand new secondary crankpins. This locomotive is a regular and reliable performer for our customer, and as such was in service until the very end of their 2020 season, and will return to service shortly in 2021. This, then, necessitated a quick turnaround for this overhaul work which our team was able to meet, completing the job within 60 days.


We were thrilled to hear of the rebirth of the East Broad Top Railroad last year, and we are honored to help the folks at the EBT bring that historic treasure back to life. One of the jobs we are currently working on for them is the inspection and overhaul of the driving wheelsets, driving boxes, and side rods for locomotive #14. The scope of work has yet to be finalized, but for starters the driving wheelsets will be seeing the application of four brand new wheel centers. Patterns for the new wheel centers are currently being made.


Adding to the excitement of operations resuming at EBT was their announcement that they intend to return to service locomotive #16, which has not operated since the railroad ceased regular operations in 1956. The locomotive must, of course, undergo a 1472 service day inspection meeting modern regulatory requirements before reentering service. As part of that inspection, we have supplied EBT with brand new 5-1/2” diameter superheater flues, and have swaged them down to their reduced diameter at the firebox end.


Work has continued on a new locomotive boiler, with much work being done to assemble the firebox. Inner and outer firebox sheets were assembled with the mudring, and sheets welded to each other. The sheets were then seal welded to the mudring, and mudring rivets were installed. Backhead brace T-irons have been fitted and riveted to the upper portion of the backhead. The entire firebox assembly then made a trip to our horizontal boring mill to have washout plug holes, and water glass and fitting holes drilled and tapped.



We have also had in process some smaller appliance and component jobs:

A customer of ours found themselves in search of better performance and reliability in the operation of the low-pressure safety valve on their locomotive. (Up to now they had relied on a make and model primarily meant for one-time use stationary service.) To that end we manufactured a brand new 1.5” Consolidated type valve. There are now well over 100 of our reproduction Consolidated valves in service on locomotives across the country.


We continue to overhaul and support full-size injectors, specializing in the Sellers brand. Additionally, however, we have recently undertaken some inspection and repair work on Penberthy brand injectors, used on smaller locomotives.


We have been filling various orders for staybolt material, forged head flexible staybolts, and flexible staybolt accessories.


Activity has been brisk when it comes to maintaining our own equipment during the winter months, too:

The final deadline and window for work was tight leading up to our Lounge Car #118 being placed into service in November 2018. The most necessary and immediate issues were addressed at that time, however it was understood that there were some components that were in less-than-optimum condition and would likely need to be addressed in the future. We were able to allot some time this winter to perform some further overhaul work on the “A end” truck. Work primarily focused on the interface between the journal boxes and pedestals, journal boxes and equalizers, and eliminating some wear in the foundation brake rigging. This work will allow this truck to perform reliably well into the future, likely requiring only routine servicing.



Our Parlor Car #88, the Marian, made her way into our shop for some mechanical work as well. Work here focused on repairing wear in the foundation brake rigging. The brake heads on the ends of her brake beams had come loose and were working their way out of gauge and off the tread of the wheels. A set of four brake beams was salvaged and repaired from one of our other cars to replace the original beams in-kind. A few new brake levers were made, worn holes were repaired in other components, new brake beam hangers were made, and new pins were made to provide a factory-fresh fit with their mating holes.


This mechanical work on our first-class cars is especially likely to pay dividends into the future, as demand for these cars is extremely high and they are required to be on our train almost every day we are in operation – they are not as fortunate to see the down time and in-service rotation that our coaches and open cars experience.

Speaking of our open cars, despite their relatively limited service, they still need attention at times too. Whether one of our cars is rolling down the tracks or sitting idle in the yard it still withstands a beating from the sun and weather. With that in mind, one of the projects undertaken in our car shop this winter is the refurbishment of our wooden open car seats. Over the past few years, the varnish coating on these seats had started to chip and wear, allowing some bare wood to be exposed to the elements accelerating wear even further. The car shop team set up the seats in an efficient assembly line manner for stripping and refinishing, complete with newly fabricated roll-around racks to facilitate handling and curing.

Seat hardware was given a new powder coat of gloss black.


The elements provide a beating to the exterior of the open cars as well as the interior, and Open Car #71 is undergoing a complete repaint.



Occasionally, damage to our equipment is self-inflicted. In the case of our Dining Car #93, this represents a necessary evil. The safety of our guests is paramount, and to that end we endeavor to keep the steps and platforms of our cars as ice and moisture free as possible. The ice-melt, however, is no friend to the non-skid coating on these walking surfaces. The textured coating on these surfaces on Car 93 was beginning to separate and flake off, so the car was brought into the shop to have this material reapplied.


Certainly not to be left out is mention of the center pieces of our operation, our steam locomotives. Our engine house team has been performing the required annual inspections on our steam locomotives. Annual work was completed on #475 in late January, just in time for #89 to exit active service for her required inspection. #90 will likely enter service next, as she is scheduled for another round of In-Cab Experiences in late March. (Stay tuned for the possibility of more of these experiences later in the year.) After performing for the first round of regular passenger operations during the month of January in many years, #89 will likely reenter service this year shortly after #90.


A note regarding some of our newest “rolling stock”: We watched with excitement as our friends at the Reading & Northern Railroad were able to light the first fire and put the first pounds of steam on the gauge on their ex-Reading T-1 #2102 in 30 years. Though we look forward to the return to service of this impressive locomotive, we were NOT to be outdone and have acquired and placed into service our own “2102”. (For you picky modelers out there, note that is: 21 “dash” 02.) Though it’s somewhat smaller in size, we think this should be enough to tide the railfans over until the “other” 2102 is placed into service….


January 2021 saw us welcome Ted Wickert to our Contract Mechanical Services team. Ted joins us as our Mechanical Services Sales Manager, and he brings with him many years of sales and service experience in the railway supply industry. Many of you may already have had some contact with Ted as he has been reaching out to folks in the industry making our capabilities and availability known, and he is here to help facilitate any project a customer may have in mind. Welcome Ted!

As always, our team stands at the ready to help you with your project. Give us a call and let us know what we can do for you!

-Erich Armpriester
Strasburg Rail Road Mechanical Services

Always. My. Favorite. Posts.

Thank you for the update. I really look forward to reading them and seeing the photos.
As usual, I'm thoroughly impressed with the work you folks turn out and appreciate the extra mile you've always gone to making things right.
If I were able to travel, I would love to see the shop in person.

Thanks for the update! For me too they are always my favorite posts. The work you folks do is simply fascinating and wonderful. And amazing. And precise. And heavy.

Thank you for the update, fascinating as always!

I also strongly encourage anyone who hasn't yet to sign up for the Strasburg in-cab experiences. I took the throttle of #90 last August and it was absolutely incredible, and the entire event was very well run. I can't wait to do it again.

.

BLATANT EXPLOITATION! :-)

For my son's 5th birthday, my wife and I rented a caboose on the Wilmington & Western Railroad for his party. It was announced that steam engine #98 was being fired by a female which if I remember correctly, was her first run. We made it to Mt. Cuba and back just fine. By the way, this was 1978.

Erich -

Thanks for the wonderful report on the projects going on at the Strasburg Rail Road Shops. Especially appreciated the photo of N&W Twelve-Wheeler # 475 with its centered headlight; certainly one of the best looking locomotives running these days.

Les

Kelly - since you guys are only running Friday-Sunday, are you banking or dumping the fire after the last run on Sunday night?

From my understanding, once an engine is fired up, you want to keep it warm to limit the number of contraction/expansion cycles the firebox components have to go through(?). I suppose it 4 days is a long time to keep an engine warm without running it, but would also understand if you are trying to cut down on the number of cycles. If you do bank the fire, does it count towards the engine's flue time?

I apologize if these come off as rookie questions, eager to see how all these factors piece together.

Please don't apologize; that's a good question for someone who isn't versed in such rules. I'm in the exact same boat as you, actually. I hadn't thought of the question, but now that you posed it, I'm interested in the answer too!

I believe those days do indeed count as service days. For some railroads that don’t typically use up 1,472 service days in 15 years, keeping the engine hot might be a viable option, but for an operation like Strasburg, which operates 7 days a week for most of the year, I have to believe that management of service days is a critical consideration. I know of one operation in my area that operates Friday to Monday during a portion of their annual calendar, and they do drop the fires on Monday night. Those engines still do hold a lot of heat and are probably easier to fire up later in the week.

I have seen the process used at Strasburg to fire up, and it has several stages, which take many hours. They are very careful with their equipment.

/Kevin

PRR8063,

When we are running weekends only, we most often let the fire die out naturally after the last run of the day, and then put a cap on the smokestack either at the very end of the operating day or first thing the following morning. This allows us to conserve as many service days as possible, while minimizing the rapidity and extent of heating and cooling cycles on the boiler.

Typically the only time we'll dump the fire at the end of the operating day is when an engine is due for an inspection during the upcoming week.

49 CFR Part 230 defines: "Service day. Any calendar day that the boiler has steam pressure above atmospheric pressure with fire in the firebox. In the case of a fireless steam locomotive, any calendar day that the boiler has steam pressure above atmospheric pressure." So, yes; any day the locomotive is banked with steam pressure on the gauge must be considered a service day that counts against the inspection cycle on the engine.

-Erich Armpriester
Strasburg Rail Road Mechanical Services

It's great to see your shop busy with so many projects, and as ecpected, the high quilaty of work coming out of it.

Thank you for these posts. These are, by far, some of my favorite posts to read on the Internet.

Also thank you for keeping the open cars running. Much to to my wife's chagrin, whenever we're there we ride in the open cars.