Steam Locomotive Restoration

In late 2011, the Jansen family, which owns Lynden Transportation, purchased a steam locomotive from the estate of Monte Holm, a former resident of Moses Lake, WA. Mr. Holm had purchased the locomotive as scrap in 1964, from the Alaska Railroad. It stayed on his property, in Moses Lake, until 2011. When the Jansen family purchased the locomotive, #557, it was donated to the Alaska Railroad, with the understanding that it would be restored and returned to service within the next eight years. Shortly thereafter, it was moved from Moses Lake, first to Seattle, then to Whittier, AK, by barge, and finally to Anchorage.

#557, all photos by James Ogden.

The 557 spent some time in Anchorage, for the Alaska Railroad's annual open house and for some inspections. During that time, a group was organized to restore the locomotive, and preparations were made for yet another move, this one relatively short, to Wasilla, AK. The newly formed Engine 557 Restoration Company began work once the locomotive was in its new home, in a nondescript warehouse, near the railroad, in Wasilla. Work finally began in the middle of 2012, with a group of dedicated volunteers.

Since I first became aware of this project, over two years ago, I have been following progress on the locomotive. I had wanted to get involved, but being in Montana, it would have been a long commute to make it to the work sessions every week. Since moving to Alaska, I have been out to work on 557 at least once a week.

Boiler Measurements

The 557 restoration project is still in the disassembling stage. The entire locomotive has to be carefully dismantled so that it can be inspected, cleaned, repaired, and restored. Parts must be inspected, cleaned, and measured as they are removed, and carefully cataloged, so they can be located and reattached later. The most important part of the dismantling of the locomotive is the measurements of the boiler. The entire boiler and firebox must be measured for thickness, to ensure that corrosion has not eaten away too much metal, and it will be able to stand the 225 psi operating pressure when it is fired up for the first time again. This has been a very time consuming part of the project, because of the number of measurements that must be taken. Some of them are in tight spaces, such as the bottom of the boiler. A few even have to be taken on the inside of the boiler, because other parts are riveted to the outside, making the actual boiler plates inaccessible except on the inside. The firebox must also be measured for thickness inside and out. While this is a time consuming part of the project, it is also a one person job, because there is only one ultrasound device to measure with, and some of the locations needing to be measured are so cramped that more than one person would simply be impossible. Measuring the locomotive has been my project for several weeks now, and I hope to be finishing up by this weekend.

Main Rod

Other people have been working on other parts of the locomotive. The connecting rods and drive rods have all been sandblasted and polished over the last few weeks. Any imperfections in them have been either buffed out or filled and reshaped. The bearings in them have received a lot of attention, as they will be responsible for transferring the tractive effort to the wheels.

Additionally, the cab had a bit of a rust problem, particularly around the bottom. The sheet metal and angle irons in the cab have been patched or replaced, depending on the severity of the rust. Everything that gets replaced gets weatherproofed and sealed up, to prevent corrosion and help the locomotive last as long as possible.

The tender has seen much less action than the locomotive, so far. The tender is in fairly good shape, but still needs some work. Some preparations have been made to life the body of the tender off its trucks, so the trucks can be removed and rebuilt. The Alaska Railroad has all the facilities to rebuild the trucks, and will be doing that. The old brass journal bearings will be replaced with new, Timken roller bearings, for improved reliability and better operation. The body of the tender needs a thorough cleaning, inside and out, and some fresh paint. There is surprisingly little rust on the tender, which should make restoring it considerably easier.

#557's Tender

Currently the Alaska Railroad is optimistic that the 557 will be ready for operation in 2015. This largely depends on the number of volunteers available to work and the number of financial or in kind donations the locomotive receives. The current plan is to have the locomotive operate a few times a week, during the summer, on a route from Anchorage, to Portage, a distance of about 50 miles. The train will turn on the wye in Portage, and return to Anchorage, stopping in Girdwood to take on more water. Of course, all these plans are dependent on getting the locomotive operational before then. We are still in the dismantling stage, and reassembling the locomotive will take quite a bit longer than taking it apart!

For more information on the project, check out John's Alaska Railroad website.
Donations can be made through the Alaska Community Foundation, instructions can be found at http://www.alaskarails.org/pix/former-loco/557/support/donate.html.
If you are interested in working on the project, the person to contact is Pat Durand. He can be reached at sewtrain557@gmail.com.