I did not get pictures but thought this might merit as a news item.
Best guess, trying to reconstruct events, a squall line of thunderstorms came through the museum site about 10-11 last night. It appears that the trolley wire near Barn 8 got a hit and the current traveled inside the building to our newly installed safety switch and disconnect. It totally destroyed that, a pile of molten metal in the bottom of the charred case.
Then it blew a hole in the back of the case and blew a hole through the metal barn siding. From there the metal siding conducted the strike to the corner trim (all fasteners at the joints burned), then to the door trim (some burning at the lower hinge) and into ground.
When it blew through the building wall some of the wood timber and framing caught fire but self extinguished. Also puzzling is that both of the five bulb clusters indicating barn power is energized had exploded bulbs, or bulbs blown completely out of the sockets, and the fuses for those were burned. Either the current got there from ionized air inside the cabinet or a second branch of the lightning jumped the outdoor section insulators to get inside. Those are only designed to insulate against 600 volts, far below the potential of lightning, but we may never know.
So for now, no 600 volt service is possible to Barn 8 and cars inside are in effect stranded. They might be able to be pulled out with a locomotive, or moved with a heavy stinger, but there is no other place to store them, and this cumbersome process would have to be reversed at night.
Damage maybe in excess of $2K-3K and a significant lead time if we are to order and replace the cabinet, cables, fuses, etc.
Bob Kutella
Comments
Fri, 07-25-2014 16:47
Shane, Clean rain water is certainly possible. The snag is that you would need a BIG collection and storage system. We are using around 8000 [...]
Fri, 07-25-2014 16:42
John, Yes. Sadly the tender is in poor shape. She should go under cover as part of the new barn project. There will be much discussion around [...]
Thu, 07-24-2014 00:01
I will commit something to 2702 if I see a specific fund for it. Supposedly the owners made an effort to keep it original, other than removing seats. [...]
Wed, 07-23-2014 19:54
Hi Nigel, I have some suggestions to enhance the experience of steam railroading for museum visitors: 1) In September 2002, I visited on the [...]
Wed, 07-23-2014 00:17
while watching the Diesel Days parade, i noticed a detail on UP 1848 that stood out to me. it was its cab number, i could tell it had a previous [...]
Mon, 07-21-2014 17:48
The hydraulic drawbar on X-5000 works. Its operation was determined Saturday evening and successfully used all day Sunday. The car measured up to a [...]
Sun, 07-20-2014 13:56
2702 would definitely be a project of a massive effort. It has some sort of giant roadside casino sign installed on it. The interior is completely [...]
Sat, 07-19-2014 21:02
Great show today; 100% improved from last year. Ran at a faster pace which kept it interesting. Also, the brief synopsis of each loco made it very [...]
Sat, 07-19-2014 19:39
Missed the push me pull you this year. If you guys do a high noch engine pulling dynamic breaking load the X-5000 should go in the middle. Chuck said [...]
Sat, 07-19-2014 16:42
Roger, Is IRM going to pursue acquisition of RI commuter coach 2702 -- the one for sale for $11,000? It's an important link in the development of [...]
Sat, 07-19-2014 14:59
Nigel, thanks for all your continued work on the blogs! I'm a member living in NJ so it's always good to hear what's going on back home. Anyways, [...]
Sat, 07-19-2014 12:19
Nigel is there any possibility of using rainwater in the boiler to lessen the amount of treatment that needs to be done to it?