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
Wed, 04-16-2014 16:21
3007 would be primarily for outside excursions with help from LOTS of volunteers, funds, and class 1 support. lets pretend Iowa Interstate decides to [...]
Tue, 04-15-2014 16:44
Yep. IF there were ever to be incentive or funding to put one of the larger items of the steam collection into operation, my personal favorite would [...]
Tue, 04-15-2014 15:20
yes, i remember one of the guys in the steam shop telling me that the size of 1630's wheels make it difficult to navigate the modern railway. but if [...]
Tue, 04-15-2014 10:50
John, We are not intending to repaint the tender end and sides. No #1630 does not carry cab signaling. (She left Frisco service long before it [...]
Tue, 04-15-2014 10:43
Jeron, I do not think this is something we would seriously consider. The IC car is already part of the collection. It did run on passenger trains [...]
Mon, 04-14-2014 20:42
I don't see any stripping on the tender..will that be repainted too? Also, I'm not sure how relevant this is to the discussion, but does 1630 have [...]
Thu, 04-10-2014 01:58
Nigel, I know the auxiliary water tender for Frisco 1522 was for sale a year or two ago. I don't remember if it was sold, or is still for sale. I [...]
Wed, 04-09-2014 22:32
Yes. We are looking at what it would take to rig it like the existing one to use as a water back up for #1630. It currently lacks the [...]
Wed, 04-09-2014 10:34
It is interesting to see both the milk cars together. I had been wondering if the steam department would use the IC car. The Railway Express reefer [...]
Sun, 04-06-2014 17:53
Perhaps because it would be months of work to lift the tender from the trucks and then ship the trucks to a facility with a bath big enough to do [...]
Sun, 04-06-2014 17:51
Not to my knowledge
Sun, 04-06-2014 15:24
Would the passenger car department be interested in some donated "Pullmman Style" wool blankets and/or travel type pillows for display purposes in the [...]