Things kinda change after 60 years haha

We have lots of good news to report in our April, 2024 status report. Here is the direct link: https://alaskarails.org/pix/former-loco ... index.html

In addition to news, the report includes a virtual tour of the 557 Engine House, including a view of the palatial Engine 557 Restoration Company international administrative offices.

Do you heat the shop all year long to keep it above freezing? If so, how much roughly does it cost to heat it in, say, January?

Sorry, I just saw this.

Except for a while during the first winter before the heater was installed, the 557 Engine House has been heated. Use of the Engine House (an Alaska Railroad property that had previously been leased for many years to a former lumber yard as a millwork shop/warehouse) is an in-kind contribution from the Alaska Railroad Corporation. I don't have any idea of the cost for utilities, they are included in our "lease." Heat is from a single large ceiling hung natural gas unit heater. Several ceiling fans keep the hot ceiling air mixed with the colder air at the floor.

The boiler work on ARR #557 that started in the fall of 2012 reached a major milestone yesterday. An inspector from the FRA, Robert Franzen and Bob Gold from Steam Services of America, and the volunteers from the Engine 557 restoration crew conducted the formal hydro test of 557's boiler. Work on the boiler has included installation of a new fire box, installation of new stays (including upgrading about 25% of the rigid stays to flexible), and new tubes and flues.

The image below is from the official report. It doesn't get any better than this!

Congratulations!

This week, as the Engine 557 volunteers worked feverishly inside of the Engine House to ready the locomotive for its first steaming later this year, a crew from the Alaska Railroad was on site to upgrade the Wasilla section house spur with a second switch and track panels to tie the isolated stub where 557 sits onto the spur and ARR main. Several feet of fill is being added to raise a low section between the Engine House and main. The dream gets more real every day.

YEA BUDDY !!!!!!!!

May's monthly status report has been posted at https://www.alaskarails.org/pix/former- ... index.html

By the time we are done, most, if not all of the piping will have been replaced. Here, Paul Dalleska bends a replacement for one of the injector starter valve delivery pipes.

The June status report has been posted at https://alaskarails.org/pix/former-loco ... index.html

Another step towards operation. With connection to the ARR main in late June we are now subject to blue flag protection rules.

The July status report is now posted at https://alaskarails.org/pix/former-loco ... index.html

The close clearance signs next to the door of the 557 Engine House are another clue that we are getting close to completing the overhaul mode and preparing for the operating mode.

The status report for August is now posted at https://alaskarails.org/pix/former-loco ... index.html

Our initial plan for refurbishing the piston rods was to have them ground. However, after checking with three of Alaska's largest machine shops, none had equipment big enough to grind the rods with the 19" diameter piston still mounted.

After some thought, we got creative and put our 12" swing, pre-WWII, Lodge and Shipley lathe to work. It was a perfect fit! In lieu of grinding, we turned and then roller burnished the surface. After several months of needing the lathe and machinists for other jobs, the photo shows the second piston rod being overhauled. One more challenge overcome.

October's status report is now posted at https://www.alaskarails.org/pix/former- ... index.html

As a reminder of how far we have come, here are photos of 557 in 2013 after being dismantled by the restoration crew and the photo from last week when she was rolled outside for a few hours for an initial boiler wash after the boiler rebuilding and hydro was completed.

November's status report has been posted at https://alaskarails.org/pix/former-loco ... index.html

On this Giving Tuesday we are kicking off our 2014 fund raising campaign. The goal is to raise $85,000. Two board members have issued a matching challenge - the first $20,000 in contributions will be matched dollar-for-dollar. To give online or for contact information go to https://alaskarails.org/pix/former-loco ... index.html

One of our newest volunteers, Frankie, is polishing the sockets in the superheater header, one of the tasks to be finished before our next major milestone, firing the boiler for the first time early next year.

Some good end-of-the-year news! One of 557's supporters has upped the ante on our end-of-year matching challenge. His addition of another $5,000 has now raised it from the initial $20,000. All contributions will be matched, dollar-for-dollar up to the new challenge amount of $25,000.

Information to make a donation is at https://www.alaskarails.org/pix/former- ... onate.html

We are making steady progress towards the first fire up. 1/4" thick fabric liner is being held in place by magnets until the first coat of castable mortar can be applied. The firepan was totally re-designed from what the Alaska Railroad installed when they converted the locomotive to oil in the mid-1950s. Their design required that a driver be dropped to remove the pan, ours doesn't.