26 August 2005
Royal Hudson 2860 Rebuild
Currently underway in the shop of the West Coast Railway Association is the rebuild of Royal
Hudson #2860.
The boiler sheet metal and lagging are removed, revealing the
fireman's side of firebox and stay bolts underneath. All photos by Randy Lucas.
|
Shown in the pictures immediately above and below, the stripping of the boiler has just started . It is anticipated there will be
some replacement of front and rear tube sheets, as well as work to the side sheets in the firebox. Other than that, nothing major
is required, just a routine "tube job". The locomotive is in great shape!
Engineer's side of the boiler. Other than a routine tube job and
minor repairs on the boiler #2860 is thought to be in excellent condition.
|
The big bare spot, in the picture immediately below, shows where the sand box was. A mobile crane was used to remove the sand box
and transport it around the shop and yard, next picture below, for inspection and repair. 2860's sand box was draped over the boiler
under the wrapper to maintain the streamlined appearance, which accounts for the unusual shape.
Sand box has been removed from top of the
boiler.
|
Mobile crane was used to remove the sand box and move it around
the shop and yard.
|
As of 13 Aug 2005, tube removal is almost complete, and all the superheaters have been removed. New tubes and flues had been
previously purchased and sent to Portland to be swaged by Doyle McCormack and company; new superheaters are also on order. Some
of the caps have been removed from the flexible staybolts, all the stub ends have been removed from the smokebox tube sheet, and
work is now focused on removing more of the outside jackets and hardware.
Work is also in progress on the boiler appliances, and new gauges have been ordered to replace missing items. A new booster engine
exhaust coupling has been fabricated to replace one that had been borrowed from CPR #2850, which powered the 1939 Royal Train. The
return of this item, and several other small loaned items, was requested by Exporail for the display of #2850 in their new museum
building at St. Constant, Quebec.
Also, as part of the rebuild process a diesel MU and the device for reading the Flashing Rear End Device (FRED) will be added. The
FRED reader and the radios have already been donated.
|
