Restoration Journal - May 16-June 20, 2008

Over the past month we continued preparing the locomotive for its asbestos abatement. In this time, we have removed most of the heavy items that need to be removed from the boiler in order to remove the boiler jacket.

With the liberal use of an oxy-acetylene torch, all of the bolts and fittings on the sand domes, the feedwater line from the heater to the check valve, as well the bolts on the right side of the check valve, and the steam lines to the dynamo were loosened. We also finally got around to giving the cab a much needed sweeping.

Again with the torch, all connections (steam, exhaust steam, air inlet, air outlet, feedwater in, and feedwater out) on the air compressor and boiler feed pump, as well as the air inlet filter and governor were removed. The four bolts holding the air compressor to it's bracket were loosened, but we could only loosen two of the four bolts on the water pump, as access to these bolts is extremely restricted due to their design.

The piping on the air reservoir on the left (fireman's) side was disconnected, and the straps holding the tank were loosened, as were the access hatches in the left side running board for the air compressor and boiler feed pump.

On the 28th, the air brake piping along the lower right side of the boiler was removed, as was the dynamo and throttle rods. The reach rod from the cab to the power reverse gear was disconnected but not removed. The injector feed pipe running along the running boards was freed from all of its brackets, and we began to remove the injector starter valve. The air reservoirs on the right side and front of the engine were disconnected and had their respective straps loosened.

A special thanks goes out to Lou, the City of Guelph's welder who helped us immensely.

The dynamo was whisked away for an overhaul by one our of gang. After an inspection it was hooked up to an air supply, and sure enough, it still works, although it wasn't run at capacity as it does need to be disassembled and cleaned.

The 29th saw the injector starter valve removed. The handrail stanchion end clips were loosened, while the junction boxes (on the right side) were opened and the wiring cut, while the whistle cord was removed (from the left side). The suction line for the boiler feed pump was cut (with a torch) where it passed through the ashpan (while torching said pipe, Lou commented that the welds done by CN's guys were rather lousy and that he would do a way better job when we go to reinstall it). All open ends of the piping we worked on was taped over to keep rain and pests from getting in. Also, the straps on the left and right side air reservoirs (inboard, next to the boiler) were loosened off.

With the help of a crane, supplied by the City of Guelph's Forestry Division, we began removing some of the larger and heavier items from the engine. The right and left side air reservoirs were released from their hangers and lifted off. The air compressor and boiler feed pumps were another story. The four bolts which hold each pump to its bracket were badly corroded and wouldn't come loose. Also, with the running boards in place, we couldn't use the crane to pull it up, so a 10-ton jack and wood blocks were used to free the the pumps from their brackets. The crane had no trouble removing the pumps once they were free. In addition to all this, as mentioned earlier, the top two nuts that hold the water pump in place couldn't be loosened, so they were torched off.

One interesting observation we made was that both brackets for the air and water pumps had shims installed on them to make the pumps stick out further. The strange thing is that these shims are so long, they protrude above the running board and are fastened to the boiler shell. A study of a builder's photo revealed that this is in fact how MLW installed them. Why they couldn't just design the brackets to stick out a bit further is beyond us.

Again with the help of the crane, the bell, front air reservoir and the suction line for the boiler feed pump were lifted off and removed. The bell required a lot of torch work, as the threads on the studs that bolted the bell frame to the boiler were welded up in order to prevent the bell from walking away. The Front air reservoir was another challenge. As it is mounted under the smokebox, it had to be dragged out from its position. A fork lift would have been real handy as it simply could have driven in and lifted it up and out without all the fuss.

Dave S. torching the nuts on the air compressor.

George R. loosening the nuts on the air compressor.

Dave S. Torching the steam inlet pipe to the boiler feed pump.

6167 Steams Again! While Dave S. was torching the steam inlet and governor to the air compressor, there was some moisture inside the pipe which boiled away under the heat of the torch.

The steam inlet pips to the air and water pump as well as the governor and air inlet filter from the air compressor. This particular model of air filter uses pulled curled hair as its filtering method.

Lou torching the nuts and bolts holding the dynamo in place.

A close-up of Lou torching the nuts and bolts holding the dynamo in place.

Since we didn't have a crane handy, we had to take a page from the Egyptian book on steam locomotive restoration and use one of the timbers from the coal bunker roof to get the dynamo down.

Looking at the right side of the locomotive after the dynamo and throttle rigging were removed, and the reach rod to the power reverse gear and piping to the injector starter valve were disconnected.

The dynamo after it was removed. It's too bad that the builder's plate cracked in half from all the corrosion underneath.

The dynamo with the cover off and hooked up to an air supply.