NESCo News
and restoration updates
New England Steam Corporation (NESCo) is proud to announce that it has received a $5,000.00 Mass Bay RRE Railroad Preservation Grant from the Massachusetts Bay Railroad Enthusiasts, Inc. (Mass Bay RRE). This gracious grant will be applied to the ongoing restoration of Maine Central steam locomotive 470’s trailing truck.
NESCo is honored to be the recipient of this grant in recognition of the historic significance of Maine Central 470 and the important restoration work that NESCo is conducting.
As a contribution to the restoration of Maine Central 470, artist Bernie Perch has followed original Maine Central drawings to obtain dimensions, design, and machine two new bronze whistles for the locomotive. Each measures about 24" in height and weighs about 50 lbs.
The bronze began as a heavily damaged propeller off a fishing boat that was donated to NESCo. The 400-pound propeller was cut into smeltable chunks at the NESCo shop in Hancock, Maine, and these chunks passed through several volunteer hands to reach the Amish-operated Cattail Foundry in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Using Bernie Perch's patterns, the bronze was poured into rough castings, which were returned to Bernie. Bernie did the machining at his home, producing this pair of gorgeous whistles.
The only departure from the original Maine Central drawings was the casting of "Maine Central 470" in the whistle tops and "NESCO" in the whistle valves, identifying specifically which engine these belong to. Bernie supervised the testing of the chimes on a steam line from a small steam switcher in Pennsylvania. People supporting the project included Susan Deupree Jones, Richard Glueck, and several friends of NESCo that acted as drivers between Maine and Pennsylvania.
NOTE: Bernie Perch is not in the whistle business, and is not soliciting requests for contract builds.
Preparations were made at the Washington Junction yard to get ready for Touch-A-Train next weekend!
New England Steam Corporation (NESCo) is proud to announce that it has received a $5,000.00 Mass Bay RRE Railroad Preservation Grant from the Massachusetts Bay Railroad Enthusiasts, Inc. (Mass Bay RRE). This gracious grant will be applied to the ongoing restoration of Maine Central steam locomotive 470.
NESCo is honored to be the recipient of this grant in recognition of the historic significance of Maine Central 470 and the important restoration work that NESCo is conducting.
Present for work were Bob. Paul V., Brian, Hanna, and Leverett.
Bob cut all new diamond plate treads for the tender steps and secured the smokebox front to the stand.
Brian and Paul worked on cleaning up the smokebox front and inspection door.
Hanna and Leverett worked on organizing parts located in Building 1 on the DESR property.
Local journalist Anne Gabbianelli has covered NESCo’s restoration of Maine Central 470 in two publications! Click the links below to view the articles.
Present this Sunday were Leverett, Alden, Cully, Matt, Paul V., Hanna, and Ron.
Ron and Hanna resumed work on the lubricator. Matt, Paul, and Leverett did some more work on the tender frame. Piston travel was adjusted to 7 inches and all of the pins were greased and cotter pins applied.
Alden and Cully removed as many flexible staybolt caps as they could on the throat sheet. Later, Ron, Matt, Hanna, and Leverett brought over the Barco flexible connections that go between the locomotive and tender.
Work Sunday had the crew removing superheater units. All of them are out and in storage! This was hard work, but the crew all did a great job.
Steps were bolted back on the tender frame. The tank valve for the right side of the tender was disassembled and inspected. There was a crack found in the housing that will be repaired. The rest went home with Bob to be rebuilt.
Leverett hooked up air to the tender brake and everything works. Adjustments will be made to get the piston travel right, but it all seems to function correctly.
Present were Brian, Hanna, Alden, Cully, Paul V., Bob, Ron, Al, Alex and new volunteer Matt Hofer. Great work done by all.
There will be a work day next Sunday, April 17th. Work plan to be announced later this week.
This Sunday's crew was able to remove the first row of superheater units. We have a system that seems to work well.
The brake cylinder on the tender frame is now permanently mounted and the brake rigging is all hooked up.
Present were Hanna, Paul V., Ron, Timm, Cully and Leverett.
Next Sunday we will continue to pull superheater units. Tender steps can also be mounted.
Some of the finishing tasks for the stoker engine are pictured below!
The completion and installation of these final parts led to test running of the engine on compressed air. It ran quite well on first startup. A few tweaks were made. Copper head gaskets are not being used at this point; Bob used paper substitutes for testing and repeated removal. The new copper ring gaskets will be saved for steam.
More stoker engine final assembly is taking place. Click for captions!
One of the last machining tasks was to manufacture replacement valve piston rods. These were heavily corroded in the area that travels thru the packings. Bob purchased some 1045 TGP 5/8” stock to make the new rods. This material is accurately turned, ground, and polished to the major diameter of new rods. One end had to be machined to 1/2” diameter to mate with the valve piston and threaded 1/2”-13 for the piston retaining nut. A hole also had to be made thru the threads for a cotter pin. Overall length is 17 3/8”. The end that goes into the connecting rod had to be threaded to 5/8”-11. This is where the length (timing) is adjusted and maintained with a locknut. Threading was all performed by single point threading on Bob’s lathe.
Click on the images below for captions.
470’s tender frame was reinstalled on its trucks!
It was a frosty start to the morning. Leverett, Bob, and Paul were at the shop. Click the photos below to read captions!
This upper remaining portion of the cab wall is one piece riveted to the first T iron roof rib. There are nearly as many rivets in the patch as there are holding the entire thing to the rib. It makes sense to replace the entire panel. We will have an complete reconstruction of the front cab wall. There is also heavy corrosion at the top seam that can be addressed with panel removed.
Somewhat short on photos this week….attendees were busy!
Bob, Hanna, Alden, and Paul made some good progress on the cab. A fair number of holes were drilled for marrying the upper rear walls to the original cab. Old existing rivet holes that had substantial wasting were first welded up and ground smooth. This allowed properly sized new holes to be made where needed. This joint is reenforced by a 3” backing strap that ties in up to the roofline. Holes were drilled with a mag drill that required a temporary steel base spanning the window opening to be clamped up. Hanna and Alden jigged and drilled all the needed holes that had been laid out.
With Paul's arrival we shifted over to riveting. About 25 rivets were driven.
Hanna and Alden both had their first experiences running the plasma cutter on some 1/4” steel plate. Both found it pretty interesting and did well. Lots of sparks!
Click the photos below for captions!
Present Saturday were Bob, Cully, Hanna, Ron, Jim and Roger.
Bob's crew got more riveting done on the cab. Roger and Jim made good progress on a second coat of black paint on the tender. Ron and I got the brake cylinder put together. Bob and Hanna made a base to mount the retrieval hoist on the tender in preparation for riveting.
The following photos are by Bob DeWachter. Click the photos below to view captions!
Not pictured: Roger Bennatti and Jim Armstrong began giving the tender frame a second coat of paint.
Present this Saturday were Paul V., Ron, Cully, Alden and Leverett.
The swing hangars, spring plank, were applied during the week.
Saturday, the new leaf springs were applied along with the pedestal binders.
I added 2 new quick disconnects to the shop air line to allow the 1/4 inch air lines to be directly connected.
Paul cleaned up the rust on the frame bolster in preparation of fitting a new center bowl liner and fitted the new bolster shims.
With great regret, it has been determined that the rapid spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19 warrants the cancellation of our Touch-A-Train event. The popular family event, originally scheduled for Sept. 11th, should be a safe and fun event for families and especially children. Both New England Steam Corporation and Downeast Scenic Railroad wish the open house to remain just that, and therefore have opted to cancel the event this year rather than compromise the safety of our visitors.
Keeping the virus contained is far more important at this time. We all want to be done with COVID-19, and this is one way to at least do our part.
Thank you for understanding, and please help us spread the word, not the virus!
Roger and Jim needlescaled the coal bunker doors to death and numerous bracket pieces. Dick spent his day removing rivets from coal doors where rust and corrosion had built up and pushed the steel components apart. Leverett, Ron, and Jim, and to a lesser extent, Dick, put the left side journals onto truck #1. Right side will follow this coming week. Hanna did a huge amount of cleaning up the shop to prepare for Touch A Train. Dick conducted three tours as well.
Wes is placing more insulation on Sunday the 22nd.
