I remember firing that Shay one hot July..after throwing some coal I would get off shay, walkbeside it on side opposite sun......then get back up in that furnace and throw more.
Well done IRM
out of service for 12 months? last ran in 1999? dude, this thing has been in the shop for a decade and a half (15-16 years!), thats longer than when 1630 was in the shops. i guess it makes sense for it to be in the shops for that long due to its complexity.
Per Brians report:
"The locomotive was withdrawn from service after the 1999 operating season for general maintenance and to bring it up to the standards required by the Federal Railroad Administration in their required 1472 service day inspection."
Try reading next time before posting stupid comments. Everyone would appreciate it.
I think that, if you read Brian's report, it does not say it has been out of service for 12 months but that he has been in charge for the last 12 months. And by any measure he has really got things moving.
The major issue extending the work was the discovery that the front tube sheet required a difficult flanged patch for which the McCabe flanger had to be brought into service. This repair was completed by 2009 but then #1630 took priority for the following 5 years.
Nigel
Great work, Brian! It's looking like the end will be in sight soon! Uh, Did it ever burn wood since it was at a lumber company? Uh, A wood burning shay would be unique and fun!
Thank you all very much for the compliments. We all really appreciate it! Richard, to answer your question, the locomotive was built as an oil burner and ran as an oil burner until retirement from Klickitat Log and Lumber. Elliott Donnelley bought the locomotive after it was retired, and eventually brought it to IRM. Before arrival at IRM the Chicago and North Western Railroad did some work on the locomotive for IRM, as in the 1960s the museum had basically no infrastructure to work on steam. One of the things the C&NW did was to add grates to convert the locomotive to burn coal. It has been a coal burner ever since then, and there are no foreseeable plans to change it back to oil. A wood burning locomotive at IRM would be fun and educational, but I can speak from personal experience that firing a locomotive with wood is a LOT of work!
Steve,
Unfortunately #101 is out of service and fairly well down the list. Aside from the sort of boiler work / smokebox replacement that has been done on the Shay it also needs a good deal of running gear work along the lines of #428.
Nigel
Nigel, how far down the list is #101? It is the first steam locomotive I ever rode behind back in the early 70s when my Dad first took me to the IRM. I would very much like to participate bringing it back to life when I retire and move back there. How many steam locomotives does the museum plan on restoring and maintaining in steam worthy status?