How many of you are following the restoration of ATSF 2926 in Albuquerque,N.M? I received a message yesterday that they are having more leaks,and in places that they thought were safe from leaks. Will this project ever run on the rails again? I know that there has been a lot of money and labor poured into it for a long time,but I'm not so sure that it will end successfully.
Considering they have already been doing boiler tests and water tests, including at least firing up the engine at least once; they are in the home stretch. I would use phrases of "will this engine ever run again" for projects struggling in their infancy or that have been in developmental hell for decades (pick a few tourist railroads and you are bound to find a few that have had steam restoration projects going up to the decade or longer mark with very very little public updates). These ATSF 2926 guys are very transparent, in the final stages of their restoration and the fact they are providing updates on the problems they are still facing shows they fully have a fanbase that will support them the last leg of the journey. I expect to see them running if not this year, then 2020 at the latest. Leaks in boilers discovered towards the end of restoration is pretty normal actually, and the fact there is water in the boiler shows the progress that has been made.
Tell me more about them,please.
www.austinsteamtrain.org can give you the full story better than I can
A long time is right. A very long time. This project has been going on for nearly 20 years. Nearly a record for locomotive restoration. I have been checking their website weekly for the last six years. It seems the core of their workforce has dropped off and most of the work is being done by only a few people only twice a week. I would have quit long ago. It has been nearly two years since a hydrostatic test was done. It seems they spend most of their time casting souvineer tender plates and taking pictures of stray cats.
I realize they are all volunteers, but they need some serious guidence. I remember it took one person over 6 months to paint the letters on the tender. A sign painter could have done that job in no more than two days. They probably have over a thousand hours of work on the radial buffer. They wasted a lot of time putting the boiler jacketing on before a hydrostatic test was done. It had to come off to fix the leaks. Now they put it back on and I am sure they will have to take it off again. Anyone who works on these locomotives always leaves the boiler jacketing off until all the steam testing is done.
I was also very surprised when I saw they were using rubber/steel braided lines for the air brake piping. I have never heard of anyone doing that before on a steam locomotive, and it's a bad idea considering it is right behind the firebox. Normally those are all made from steel or copper piping. I can't see those lasting too long espcially in that hot New Mexico heat.
They have already wasted nearly two years of precious boiler time. They need to pay some experts to get this wrapped up and on the road, or start working more than twice a week. They are having leaks they didn't expect because the boiler is deterorating from years of not doing anything. Just like any locomotive if you park it for years it will start to break down. The tender was painted 11 years ago. By the time they get this done it will need a new paint job.
Thomas 9011 and taking pictures of stray cats.
and taking pictures of stray cats.
Hehehehe... are we talking about ATSF 2926 or the Nevada Northern Railway now?
20 years is a long restoration time... but... my point with my earlier comment was that at least these guys are in the home stretch. There are countless railroad groups that I would dare say are running over 20 year restorations at this point, or getting near that (I like to rib the Heber Valley when I am with my friends with the joke "Great Western 75, putting a new defintion to the phrase 15 year inspection..." Unlike ATSF 2926 I dare you to try and get anybody from Heber to say 'meep' about 75 these days in a public forum). Also I think its worth remembering that most of these western states restorations are in isolated areas were volunteers are going to be scarce anyways (hence why I always fund it funny that people claim the East Broad Top in PA. is "such a hard railroad to advertise do to its isolation" when out here we have lines such as the Nevada Northern, Cumbres etc. would kill to be as closely located to major population centers as the EBT was...)
My point being... these restorations have a lot going on to them. I think its commendable the 2926 guys are so transparent at least with their issues in this stage of the project. So many other restorations are just willing to shut up and keep their progress underwraps it is impossible to tell as outside observers what is actually going on with them. When I choose a group that earns my support, it is usually going to either those who work the fastest and the hardest (Durango, Chama, Nevada Northern, etc.) and the small hobby groups who are transparent and clear that their project is being done on a shoe string budget with a small crew but they are slowly chipping at it month by month (2926 being a case in point).Although I do agree... putting on jacketing before all boiler testing was done is a strange choice to say the least. However I hesitate to say "have them call in the proffesionals!" since I really don't know what the budget status is of this group. Calling in the proffesionals carries a price tag that isn't cheap in many cases. I imagine it is easier for these guys to do it "in house" even on a thin staff and have a chance to screw up (and learn from their mistakes) than it is to allocate budget to bringing in more experienced crew.
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