ATSF 2926 restoration progress

Hi all,
Sorry about the hiatus, but I took a short (Burnout) vacation.
Today (Apr 8) we continued work on the trucks, the brake beam repairs have turned out to be much more extensive than anticipated, as allmost all the brake shoe mounts have wear that must be replaced by weld metal, and reground to spec by our welder. Damage seems to have been caused by the Shoes vibrating on the mount. (He does great work, which really impresses me as I cant stick weld at all)
Also all but one set of wheels have been sonic tested for cracks and voids, and have been found to be to spec.
After some thought it seems that our trucks are much older than the tender, having truck numbers, 13 and 4 which would seem to indicate that they were delivered with tenders purchased for the 3765 class of locomotives, which had the first of the long haul tenders, and that the tender shop switched out trucks on an as needed basis during rebuilds. This is only a guess, but it would seem possable. (As far as I know, only the 3765s, the 2900s, and the 5010s had these tenders)
The crown nuts on the finshed brake rigging have been alinged and cotter pins installed, it feels good to see work done, inspected, and passed........
Work on the bushings in the primary side frame pivot points continues, and there remain 6 bushings to be fabricated and installed. (3 side by side in one point, and one each in three other points)
Again it is amazing that the condition is so good, we are having to replace less than 5% of the total number of bushings, showing the great care that was taken when these Locos were "Layed Up".

More to come,
Gunns

 

Thanks for the update, Gunns. I agree with Alan. Take heart, and look at the 765 site. They have finally completed the overhaul of the 765 after 10+ years and umpty thousand volunteer man-hours. The final product was worth the wait, and yours will be too. Looking forward to seeing her completed.

 

Gunns, I just read on Railway Preservation news that the old Santa Fe facility where you guys are working on the 2926 has received some funding to become a museum, and an official home for the 2926. Do you have any details from the source of all this info? It's great that you will have a home. Will the engine be sheltered? :teeth:

 

I saw it too, But don't have any "Hard" info. It would be great to be in the shops, as we will soon need a pit to work on the Loco. (no way to get the loco 14 in brake pistons out without a pit amoung other things). Effort on the tender is moving along, we found damage on all the break shoe mounts on the brake beams, and have had to remove the beams and re build the mounts (add weld metal and grind to profile) also painting needs to be done to those areas we wont see again after reeassembly.

Gunns

 

New photos

Since the last report,

Work has progresed on the brake beams, and thier reinstallation.

This is what the new brake shoes look like.

http://www.railimages.com/gallery/kevinevans/ahn

Note the yellow shoes, they weigh about 2-3 lb compaired to the 45 lb cast iron, and the manufacture says that they last as long....

Another shot of the back end of truck 13 with the compleated work.

http://www.railimages.com/albums/kevinevans/aho.sized.jpg

Here is a brake beam awaiting re installation on truck 4 (tender front truck) showing the weld and grind restoration work, some of the beams had the top quarter of the support broken off.

http://www.railimages.com/albums/kevinevans/ahp.sized.jpg

Here they are pulling out one of the last internal brake beams on truck 4, note you can see 3 pepole, all fighting one 2 in dia. bolt (sigh)

http://www.railimages.com/albums/kevinevans/ahq.sized.jpg

This is one of six bolster plates that had to be rebuilt, ( a middle one )
one ea. for the trucks a pivot plate and one ea. for the bolster pockets in the tender. The whole well gets packed with grease and felt for seals.

http://www.railimages.com/albums/kevinevans/ahr.sized.jpg

The next two shots are of the mounting bolts for the builders plate, where the plates will be mounted, after they are cast, the patterns are done, and awaiting casting.

http://www.railimages.com/albums/kevinevans/ahs.sized.jpg

http://www.railimages.com/albums/kevinevans/aht.sized.jpg


More to come.
Gunns

 

Thread size, and Jammed solid, ....Penitrating oil, air hammer, Sledge hammer and "Blue" air, and it's out of there......

Gunns

 

Gunns.....

Thought I would put an update here. I have been working with Mike in your group for a few months now. I am doing an original drawing of your engine 2926 and it will be done in about a month. It is a side view and prints will be available of it for sale in August. Most of the proceeds will go directly to the organization to help with the restoration expenses. Not quite sure if I will throw anything in the background or not yet, I.E. some sort of structure. Also not sure if it will be a run of 500 or 1000 prints. All will be signed and numbered.

For those of you that don't know my artwork here is a 2-10-4 I did quite a few years ago, the 2926 will be similar to this:

 

Grandffiti, looking forward to your drawing. I have some photos of 2900's if you need some more background info. :teeth:

 

fitz...

Thank you for the offer, if I can't come up with something pretty quick I will get in touch with you. I always like to put something in the background to help with scale. I was originally going to put the Albuquerque station behind it but it burned down quite a few years ago and for the modern collector, I have found over the years, accuracy to date is important. I am leaning towards putting the edge of the Belen station behind it, as it is still there, and hasn't changed much over the decades. This way collectors of all age groups can identify with it and the timeframe doesn't matter. Still not sure though.

Thank you again for the offer.

 

latest update

Well,
I have been busy, but in between it all I thought I woud drop in a progress report. the trucks for the tender are allmost done the last of the bushings are beeing emplaced and allmost all the truck painting is completed. Progress is being made on the ground level water fill system. Also the open house will be held on the 21 of Oct. Free hotdogs! Entertainment, and guided tours.

More to come,
Kevin

 

Gunns, glad to hear from you again! Sure wish I lived closer so I could attend your open house. Keep working on that restoration. That engine and tender are worth the effort. :teeth: