MNGRR Steam Team Work Session Report 5/17/2008

Mechanical Department Work Session, May 17, 2008
By Hans Brandes
Photo By Rich Currie
Description:#4 Being filled with water

Record Crowd Prepares Steam for Summer

They came out of the woodwork today to work on many a project around the yard today. Old friends that we have not seen for months showed up and lent a hand. Today was another big day for getting a lot done in the steam area. Hard to believe that Memorial Day is next week and that means the start of another steam season. This would be another  day where two steamers would be pulled out and worked on. So today, # 4 and #7 were hauled out of the house for another day of hard work.

In attendance today were Rick Knight (CMO), Gerry Bagley, Hans Brandes, Rich Currie, Joe Monty, Jay Monty, Trevor Hartford, Richie, (Trevor’s friend), Gil Brundage, Brian Espe, Bill Piche, Larry Urbanski, Larry McCarthy and Don Sanger. #7 would continue to have tubes removed while #4 be reassembled for operations.

Rick started out by having a crew meeting to divide up the work. In addition, Hans passed along the latest news on car and engine restoration in Phillips and Rockport along with possible activity in Bridgton. Boy, have we got a lot going on all over the state! It was also announced that #7 would be worked on in Portland by the Boothbay crew. This decision was necessary due to complications with trucking and unloading. This will allow us to continue work through the summer thus saving money.

On #7, tube cutting started where it left off. What started as two torches dropped down to one torch when we ran out of oxygen. Cutting continued in the smokebox end done by a combination of Rich, Joe and Hans. Meanwhile, in the firebox, Trevor and Richie worked on grinding down tube ends for removal. It was noisy inside there necessitating ear plugs. Due to only having one torch for most of the day, the tube removal count was only 20. There are now 14 tubes to be cut and an additional 20 to be removed. It seams like we are on the home stretch on this part of the project. All those good tubes will go to the scrap yard for hopefully a reasonable price to help offset #7’s overall cost.

Early in the day, #4 was taken to building 7 for water. Unfortunately the land side door was locked and we don’t know the new combination. Fortunately, the fiberglass shop was open so we could get that way. #4 was pulled out be #11 and then hooked to the front of #1. What a sight to see a triple header with a real menagerie of power. After being brought back to the wood box car, #4 was met by a whole crew to reassemble the smokebox, clean out the cab and bring #4 to life for the season. Those working on #4 included Joe, Jay, Bill, Don, Larry and Larry, Gil, Trevor and Richie.

Rick also lead a cleanout crew of Brian and Gil. They cleaned out a lot of junk out of box car EDA 56. They found and reassembled a parts cleaning sink which now is in the engine house. Thanks guys for doing that dirty job.

A lunch break was taken with our favorite fallback meal of ‘round steaks’ from the golden arch. Thank you again to Bill for being the runner today. After munching on burgers and fries we worked on setting the steam roster for the summer. This is the first time that we have attempted and succeeded at setting the roster for the whole summer. Thank you to everyone for getting availabilities in. Now everyone can make their summer plans.

Don had brought some scrapers. So Rick asked anyone who was not busy to grab one and scrape grime off of #7. We want to hot wash it once this is done so that we can repaint it and make it look good for when it goes back into service. So Rick, Rich and Hans scraped a lot of oily, grimy gunk off of #7. There is still more left for those who are interested.

By around 3:30 PM, that all too familiar hiss of steam could be heard. Yes, #4 was alive. With the smokebox door back on, safety valves in place, and pressure on the needle, the first whistle of season was sounded. #4 was taken to the coal bin for loading. After that, it was time for everyone to get their steam fix and take some rides. The revenue train was done for the day so the mainline was ours. Everyone got turns and the walkers on the path were glad to see steam on the rails again. The last trip of the day by Hans and Bill went up to Cutter Street. As we stopped just west of Cutter, a little boy was there with his parents. His eyes bugged out as we came to a stop and blew the whistle. That is what steam is all about.

We were graced again by Donna our student photographer who had plenty of action to photograph today. I think we gave her plenty of angles from both on and off the train for some action shots. Someday we will have to see how all these picture turn out whether framed, in an exhibit or maybe even in a book. Samples that we have seen to date have been awesome in color and showing the true character for working on the railroad.

Our time before operating season has come to a close. We will schedule additional work session throughout the summer on non-operating weekends. In addition, if there is anyone who can come up to grind welds, that is OK too. We need to finish removing tubes on #7, then grind down all the welds and tube ends so that they can be removed. We may also be able to do some tube prep and staybolt work.

Rick would like to extend his personal thanks to all who showed up today and those who have showed up time and time again. It has taken a lot of hard hours and will continue to take quite a few hours to put #7 back in service. Every hour you put into the #7 project saves us money that would be spent for contracted labor. Though we have a long way to go, we have come a long way.

Please send your monetary contributions so that #7 can be under steam once again!