1009 Steams Again!

by David Othen

(This is of course a personal account and not an official
news release. Contact me if you need further info.)

I got back last night (August 23, 1998) from an incredible week at the Salem & Hillsborough Railroad where steam engine 1009 was brought back from its retirement to take part in a half hour drama being filmed by a private company in collaboration with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and Global Television.

A group of about four or five volunteers led by Richard Viberg have worked hard to overhaul many parts of 1009 - a 1912 4-6-0 steam engine built by the Montreal Locomotive Works for the contractors building the National Transcontinental Railway (the third across-Canada railroad). A grant of about $5000 was received from the New Brunswick Government to help get the engine into a steamable state and one local youth was hired to assist. The objective was to safely raise at least enough steam to blow the whistle and have smoke coming out of the stack. Consequently such things as the air pumps were not overhauled and so it was planned to use a diesel locomotive for braking purposes.

Pat, I and our two dogs arrived at Hillsborough in the early evening of Saturday August 16th to find that a fire had been lit in 1009's boiler (she had been previously been given a cold water hydrostatic test to 200psi using the pump on a fire truck). I was soon involved in helping to shovel coal and get steam raised. We had a large group of onlookers who were delighted to see steam coming out of 1009 again. Soon we found that there were a lot of minor leaks but apparently nothing major. It was felt that many of these leaks would slowly settle after more steaming so the old lady (1009) was allowed to cool slowly and by midnight the fire was out and the boiler pressure down to zero.

On Sunday we ran our regular two diesel-hauled excursion trains, but because the movie set had our run round loop at Salem blocked (with the CRHA caboose and an old box car that had ended its working life with CN as a clothes drier for the work crews) we had to have a diesel on both ends of the train. We also had a family from the UK visiting (they had contacted me through John Clayton by e-mail). I was second man on the diesel and we took the father and son for a cab ride and they were fascinated and full of questions.

But back to the main story! On Monday a few minor repairs were done to 1009 to try and stop some of the leaks particularly in the lubricator and she was turned on our wye (which the track crew had cleaned of three years vegetation) to face the direction needed by the movie producers.

On Tuesday our three catering staff (Jill Nelson, Bessie O'Brien & Pat Othen) fed the 50 to 60 actors and film crew an enormous lunch in our dining car train. The movie staff were thrilled to have a nutritious home cooked meal served on real china (normally catering at movie sets is sandwiches and paper plates!) The catering crew served a meal to the actors and film crew for each of the next four days.

Again I digress. On Tuesday afternoon the provincial and federal boiler inspectors arrived for the official tests. Again 1009 was hydrostatically tested to 220 psi and after a lot of discussion the OK was given to start the fire. After two and a half hours and a lot of shovelling of coal by John Whitmore and myself (we are not used to shovelling anything heavy especially coal into a firebox with accurate positioning!) the water was hot and the steam pressure began to rise. Slowly over the next one and a half hours the pressure was raised to 100psi and despite a few leaks everything seemed to be satisfactory. The boiler inspectors then asked us what maximum pressure we would like to operate at (the pop valves are set for 162 and 165 psi) but in deference to her age we said 120 - enough for her to move herself and three cars.

The word was given to raise the pressure to 120psi and this was done successfully. With the diesel coupled for braking the engineer opened the throttle but the locomotive did not move: instead the steam appeared to be going directly out of the stack, by-passing the cylinders, Nevertheless she was towed around the yard and the whistle blown to let the rest of the village know that 1009 had indeed been resucitated. (We already had a large and appreciative audience).

After all the excitement the boiler was filled with hot water using the two injectors alternately and then 1009's fire was allowed to cool and a small fire was kept in the back of her 8 foot long firebox. By 11:00pm the water level had dropped below half because of a leak in the blow down valve and I recommended dumping the fire. This was agreed and I carefully dumped the fire into the ashpans where it was allowed to cool.

On Wednesday at 5:30am I found that we had no water in the glass and so after an emergency discussion with the CRHA (NB Division) chairman, Pat McKinley, water was put into the top of the boiler using a garden hose. This risked seriously depleting our well - Hillsborough is a small village and only some of the houses are on the public water system! By 7:00am we again had half a glass of water and John Whitmore and I started the diesel (as an air compressor to give a draft for the fire) and lit the fire. We slowly raised steam and by 9:30 am we had 40psi and were able to run the blower and injector (which forces water into the boiler against the pressure of the steam).

At about 10:15am we were towed to the shooting location about two miles away and John & I took turns with the shovel, under the watchful eye of Eldon Lutes, as we made steam and smoke and the engineer (George Parks) blew for the crossing. It was then eight hours out in the hot sun as the same piece of action was filmed again and again from three or four different angles (there was only one camera) and the train was moved backwards and forwards using either a diesel on the front (8245) or rear (1754) of the three car train (box car, hart car and flat car). (Chris Viberg drove the diesel every day and skillfully and accurately positioned the train for each shoot and Pat MacKinley drove the second diesel on Wednesday and worked with Chris on Thursday)

The movie directors - there were an Executive Director, Director and 1st, 2nd & 3rd Assistant Directors - were delighted with Wednesday's shoot and everything had gone as planned. That day about three minutes of the actual movie was shot. We returned home and let the boiler cool down slowly by leaving the fire to burn itself out. This it had done by midnight! A long day!

On Thursday the action needed only the three cars and a diesel to move them about and although I had planned to help the train crew, I was tired and so it was decided that it was best if I took the day off. This allowed me to spend about three hours on the set watching the action from the other side! It is absolutely incredible the energy of the movie people. Almost everything is done at a rush - in fact there were several minor injuries with people falling over bushes or off flatcars. Even the paramedic had to be helped off the set when he sprained his ankle and pulled several tendons!

There are long periods with little happening as camera angles are checked, sound tests are made, actors are briefed (many of the local students had been hired) and rehearsals are conducted. A group of staff are equipped with headphones and walkie-talkies and suddenly a shout goes up ROLLING! and absolute silence is expected. One shoot had to be stopped because of the sound of a transport truck about 2 miles away! Then it's ACTION! and the actors go through their paces, the train moves and the sounds are recorded. Then it's CUT! and either everything is complete for that scene or it's a retake and everything has to go back to its initial position including of course the train. Because of the multiple takes from different angles everything has to be the same for each shot of a scene, including the lighting - so if it was cloudy on the first take it must be cloudy in all takes of that particular scene. As a result it may be necessary to wait for the next cloud before reshooting!

Often activity on the set starts as early as 6:00am and may go as late as 10:00pm so it can be a very long and tiring day for some people. Water and light snacks are available for everybody, all the time, and the location/security crew advise everybody to wear sunblock and caution you about dehydration. It is incredible how many things have to be looked after!

About the middle of the day's shooting (which can be anywhere between 12:00 and 3:00pm) the main meal is taken and everybody including the train crew are hastily transported by van back to Hillsborough to eat on the dining train. The crew are used to eating on the move and can consume a large meal in 10 to 15 minutes. In less than an hour everyone is back at work!

On Friday the steam engine was needed again (the boiler had been filled the previous afternooon by the fire department). It was decided that I could be responsible for the firing of 1009. I was awake at 3:30 am and checked the water level about 4:00am. Repairs to the blowdown valve had reduced the leak and there was plenty of water in the boiler. At 5:00 am, after a look in the smokebox to check a theory about the mysterious steam loss, John Whitmore started the diesel locomotive (to again provide air for drafting the fire) and we began the fire. The boiler was still warm and everything went perfectly and by 7:30 am we had 50 psi with both blower and injector on. We left Hillsborough about 8:20 am and arrived at Salem (5 miles away) just after 9:00am. While being towed I had to keep the boiler filled by using the fireman's injector since there is a long grade of about 1.5% between Hillsborough and Salem.

Shooting involved the train arriving at the railroad camp where it was stopped by Canadian soldiers who were looking for escaped German Prisoners of War (they jumped out of the Hart car before the soldiers stopped the train and escaped into the surrounding woods!) . We stopped for the meal at about 2:00pm so by then we were hungry and thirsty despite the snacks and water!.

At about 4:30pm the train was released from the set and 1754 hauled us back to Hillsborough where we triumphantly arrived about 5:15pm. I had managed to return with a full boiler, 40psi and a fire almost out! Just what was needed! The boiler was allowed to cool slowly, what little remained of the fire was dumped into the ashbox about 8:00pm and by 10:00pm the pressure had dropped to zero.

About 20 volunteers and track crew had done it! We had resucitated a steam engine that had not been steamed for over 3 years. We had successfully raised 120psi of steam and we had raised some much-needed funds for the railroad.

By the way, the mysterious leak is due to a crack in the T-pipe and possibly also a leak where the dry-steam pipe is joined to the saddle that contains the cylinders. Apparently there is a metal donut that makes a metal to metal contact with the pipe and this is not seated properly, possibly because a gasket was put on the wrong side of the joint. A simple thing to fix, but since our boiler certificate was granted for one week only it may be a long time before we are able to test whether this explanation is correct.

What a week! I have suddenly gone from an observer on the footplate of many coal burning steam engines (the last was a 2-10-0 on the Severn Valley Railway in May) to a steam raiser and coal shoveller. Each day we probably used about 2500 gallons of water and between 1 and 2 tons of coal!

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©1998 David Othen, Canadian Train Photographs, all rights reserved.