Tag Archives: tender

C&NW 1385: 106 Years Young

Mid-Continent Railway Museum Posted on by

Today is the locomotive’s 106th birthday so we are celebrating with a restoration update!

The R-1’s tender tank is complete and ready for paint. The gallery below shows the construction of the new tender tank.

The frame is also done and is in primer paint. In mid-February 2013, Mid-Continent volunteer Jim Connor delivered the deck tender boards to DRM Industries.

One item of debate had been over whether to attempt to salvage the trucks. The trucks had largely sat idle with the tender since 1973 when the tender from steam pile driver X263579 was substituted for use with the 1385. Most people’s image of the appearance of the 1385 tender is actually the X263579. The old tender was stored at end of track for nearly 30 years at Quartzite Lake where it eventually became buried in mud and debris caused by flash flooding in 1993. The trucks remained largely buried until the tender’s rescue in April 2002 [see December 2011 issue of Mid-Continent Railway Gazette for the rescue story]. With guidance from Steve Sandberg, new project consultant, it was determined that seeking “new” used trucks during the current restoration was a better option.

Two used serviceable trucks were purchased in mid-February 2013. They had previously been used on a freight car. One truck had all four casting marks and the other had three. This tells us how many times the trucks have been rebuilt. When all four casting marks are removed, the truck is scrap. The wheels will be pressed off and new ones pressed on.

The draft gear resides inside the coupler assembly of the tender to help dissipate the shock of coupling into a string of cars or trying to start them. It also helps smooth out the forces through the coupler as when going down the track. In late 2012, Mid-Continent was seeking a replacement for the tender’s draft gear. As it would turn out, Miner, the manufacturer of the original draft gear used on the tender, was seeking old draft gears for their corporate museum. The draft gear found on the 1385’s tender was a model which they lacked in their collection. Discussions between the Steam Task Force and Miner led to a trade arrangement in which Miner supplied a more modern style draft gear in trade for the old one.

The plan is to finish the tender and move it to North Freedom for display. This will offer a visible sign of progress on the project. With most ongoing work either taking place off-site or being of the engineering and design variety, there has been little thus far for visitors to Mid-Continent to actually see.

As for non-tender developments, the Steam Task Force is continuing to work on boiler engineering with nothing specific to report at this time. Meanwhile, work on the cab has picked up. Boards have been milled for the cab roof. Investigations are also taking place into finding a suitable replacement for the original Lehon Mule Hide covering for the cab roof.

As for overall project status, there is still much work to do. The biggest cost area, the boiler, still lies before us. Work is also yet to begin on the running gear. Roughly 70% of the Wagner Foundation’s $250,000 challenge grant has now been met by matching donations since the challenge began in June 2011. Despite this progress, the project will still require roughly $1 million in additional donations in order to cover the estimated total cost for the project. That is why YOUR help is needed. The sooner we are able to meet this fundraising challenge, the sooner everyone will be able to enjoy seeing 1385 under steam. Anyone wishing to make a gift to the 1385 restoration can do so directly on our donation webpage or can find instructions there for how to mail your donation. Finally, THANK YOU to everyone who has already donated! We couldn’t have gotten this far without your help!

Tender History and Plan

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Written by Mike Wahl

For this installment I will start with the history we have gathered about the original 1385 tender.

The original Chicago & North Western builder’s specifications from March of 1907 call out the following specs for the tender. I have summarized part of the information below.

Frame: The frame is to be substantially built of 13 inch steel channels and thoroughly braced.

Truck, Wheels, and Axles: The tender will carry two 4 wheel trucks. It was to have 5 1/2 x 10 inch journals with 33 inch wheels.

Tank: The tank is to have a capacity of 7500 gallons of water and 10 tons of coal. It is to be made of steel ¼ inch in thickness.

Included below is a picture of the 1384 which shows what the tender of the 1385 looked like in March 1907 when completed by the American Locomotive Company’s Schenectady Works.

The Chicago & North Western kept valuation records on all of their equipment. Each locomotive and tender was assigned a number to keep track of the cost spent on the equipment. The valuation record number for the locomotive was the locomotive number, the 1385 was 1385. The tenders were given a unique number. In the case of the 1385, tender number 7303 was with the locomotive when purchased by MCRM.

Using this record we can tell a few things about tender. On 10-19-1926 the tender received a cast steal frame, replacing the original steel channel frame, for a cost of $235.73. This is the first entry on the valuation record. It also states that the only engine it was in operation with was the 1385. So we do know that from 10-19-1926 until it retirement this was the tender the 1385 used. At this point we can only speculate that this was the tender it used from 1907 until 1926.

If you examine the photo of the 1384’s tender verses the tender photo’s of the 1385 I have included you can see some differences in the coal pocket area. The R-1 class locomotives with 7500 gallon tanks had a tender modification done, to add more coal capacity. They added radius wings to the edges and height to the front board to increase the tender’s capacity. There is a drawing called Tender Tank – Alteration for increased coal capacity date March 7th, 1944 that shows this change.

The Tender Plan

As I stated previously, the tender will be broken down into smaller tasks. They are the tank, tender frame and tender trucks.

Tank: The plan for the tender tank is to engineer and design a new welded tender tank to replace the original. The current tank will be used for reference along with the original drawing in the design of the new tank. The design goal of the new tank is to preserve a look as historically accurate as possible with the utilization of modern materials and manufacturing processes. To make this a restoration, not a completely new tank, we plan to use as much of the original hardware as possible like the coal board brackets, hatch parts and any other components that are salvageable.

Tender Frame: The tender tank was removed from the frame a few weeks back which allowed for us to perform an inspection. The overall condition of the frame was good. The contractor has removed the components from the frame, sandblasted it and it is in red oxide primer. The next step on the frame will be to examine it after cleaning and priming to determine what repairs are needed. I have included a picture of the frame taken by our contractor.

Tender Trucks: The tender trucks are in very bad condition. When the tender was parked at the end if the line at Quartzite Lake the trucks were buried in dirt and gravel. The team is currently evaluating rebuilding using roller bearing replacements as an option for the trucks. This decision will be made down the road once all of the options are evaluated.

Alco Historic Photos; Paul Swanson collection

Sister #1384 builder’s photo, 1907. Alco Historic Photos; Paul Swanson collection.

1963 at Quartzite Lake, MCRM collection

#1385 at Quartzite Lake in 1963. MCRM collection.

Sandblasted and primed original tender frame for the 1385.

Sandblasted and primed original tender frame for the 1385.

 

 

Developing a Plan

Mid-Continent Railway Museum Posted on by

Written by Mike Wahl

During my visits to North Freedom the last couple weekends I have been asked, what’s going on with the 1385, what’s the plan? My response has been we are doing just that, making a plan.

To make any project successful a good plan, strategy and expected final outcome is needed. To make a good project plan the project must be broken down into smaller parts. There’s an old joke that goes: How do you eat an elephant? Well, one bite at a time of course! The next question then is what bite do we need to take first? To determine this we needed a strategy and scope of work. With a defined strategy, we can choose where to start and set our priorities. With a defined scope we have a formal document that captures and defines the work activities, deliverables and timeline for our contractors and vendors.

So enough with the philosophy and more on to the plan and strategy.

We have broken the 1385 project down into parts of the locomotive. They include major components of the locomotive like the running gear, boiler, tender, appliances, and cab. These components will then be broken down further to better define the scope, priority and timeline. We have begun this process on the locomotive. Our first focus has been the tender.

Just for some foresight on my next post, we have broken the tender down into 3 sub-components or tasks. They include the tender tank, tender frame and tender trucks. Each one has been evaluated and a plan and strategy has been developed. I will start a new post soon on the tender with more details. I have included a few pictures as a sneak peek of what the tender looks like today.

In closing, during my studies, I had a project management professor at UW-Stout sum up “How to eat an elephant” in the following manner. I think this sums up our project goals well.

“Take small bites out of your elephant. Take the right bites. But most importantly, determine what your elephant will look like when you’ve eaten the whole thing this will help keep you focused on the results, not the work.”

Creating New Tender Truck Springs

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Leveling the WC&C #1 boiler in preparation of upcoming work.

Jason and Ed jack the boiler to level position in preparation for work next week.

Jason and Ed jack the boiler to level position.

Bottom two photos – In the process of rebuilding the tender trucks we are repjacing all of the elliptical springs. Over the years, two sets of springs had been replaced with non-standard types. Luckily, it was only required to fabricate two of the “end blocks” that are in between the mating surfaces of the springs. This has been done by Joepen, a local, well equipped CNC machine shop in North Freedom.

Work Weekend of Rivet Holes and Back Plate

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Mike Wahl reports:

“It was another great weekend in the shop. This was weekend Four in a row. Great progress has been made since Snow Train. There were many people in the shop throughout the weekend.

“The number one priority for the weekend was to finish the rivet holes between the barrel courses. Jim Connors started with a crew on Friday boring holes. On Friday, Jim, Doug Klitzkie, and Bryon Schumacher completed the second course. This work continued Saturday with the same crew working on the first course. We worked late into the evening to complete the boring but when we quit on Saturday the holes were all bored.

“The second priority was to make a new backer plate for the throat sheet. This work started on Friday evening with Pete Deets and Tennessee cutting the piece of material. On Saturday Pete, Mike Flood, Jim Gaiser, and Ed Ripp continued work on this. By the end of the day the backer was fitted and the rivet holes were drilled.

“While this transpired, Al Joyce and Dave Wantz were busy in the machine shop making studs for the throat sheet.

“On Saturday Mike Flood and I went out and measured up the tender. With the nice weather we were able to spend a good deal of time looking the tender over and also looking at how the 22’s tender was repaired. From this information a repair plan and drawings will be completed.

“Chris completed seal welding smokebox seams. There is a little welding left to complete on the front ring and a few bolt holes to weld-up that are misplaced.

“Saturday we were able to complete another task on the list. Ron Kokemuller was able to loan an auto feed magnetic drill to complete the boring of all 196 tube holes. Ron thank you for finding this equipment, it has sure made short work of the tube holes.

“On Saturday Jeff Bloohm and Kelly Bauman gave me a hand measuring the driver tires and lead truck wheels.

“On Sunday the work on the backer plate continued with Doug Crary drilling the pilot holes in the sheet for the staybolts and marking the centers of the holes for the backers. When I left on Sunday he was busy drilling the clearance holes for the staybolts and the stud holes for tapping. Doug how far did you get?

“Doug and I also went on a scouting mission looking for the inlet check so a new mounting plate to the boiler can be designed. After some looking we have found it.

“Bryon and Ed on Sunday worked on tightening the course seam bolts. The third course is tightened up. We need to finish the second and first.

“As you can see it was a great weekend with the highlight being Jim Busse and his family putting together a cook-out on Saturday night. It was beautiful evening and great food. Thanks to Jim and his family.

“Thanks to all!”

Pete Deets adds:

“At one point in time we had three magnetic base drills working at the same time. One was the demonstration machine obtained & operated by Ron K. drilling the front tubesheet. The second was the Fein drill inside the boiler barrel that Jim C. and company were using to core rivet holes. The third machine was the BIG drill on loan from Jim Baker that Ed, Goz and I were using to drill the rivet holes in the throat sheet backer plate. With the stud work, welding on the smokebox and work on coach 425 going on at the same time it was a real happening place! Smoke, metal chips and excitement were in the air.”

Jim Connor photos.