Drivers Removed

As you have most likely noticed, I have not written in some time. Basically, two things have been going on in my life, work and restoring the steam locomotive.

First of all, work has been going well. Two weeks ago, we took our final exams. Our exam grades would determine our seniority, so there was some motivation to do well. Higher grades would get a better seniority. There were several parts to the test. The first part had been our field training, which had occurred a couple of weeks prior. The grade we got on that would be one third of our overall grade. The written portions would cover the other two thirds. The first part was basically a vocabulary test. There were dozens of glossary terms, and we had to write the definition. Additionally, there were a few other things we were supposed to know, such as the current rule of the week. After that, there were pictures of all the different signal indications. We had to write the name of each aspect and write out each indication. Once we were done with signals, we had five essay questions, about various topics, such as signals, restricted speed, and a few other things.

When we were finished with the test booklet, we turned it in and our teacher got us set up on a computer, in another room. There we had 98 multiple choice questions to answer, which covered selected rules from the General Code of Operating Rules and the Alaska Railroad Air Brake and Train Handling manual. That was the only portion on which we saw our grade. When we hit the submit button, on the computer, it instantly graded the test and showed how many we got wrong. I missed one, on which I had neglected to carefully read the entire set of answers. When we were finished, we were allowed to leave. Since the written portion had to be corrected by hand, we would not know what our seniority was until later in the afternoon.

I received a call from the crew office after lunch. I was informed that I had gotten the highest score in the class, and as a result, I was awarded the highest seniority in the class. We would all be moved to the Anchorage Brakemen's Extra Board at 0001 on Tuesday. I decided to place a bid on a job, since you are not subject to force unless you are on the extra board, unless they are forcing you from one position to another (such as from Brakeman to Conductor). On Alaska Railroad, I am only qualified as a Brakeman, so that is not an issue. I wanted a regular assignment just so I would know I would not get forced to Fairbanks. There was only one Brakeman job up for bid, and it was a good one. It was a morning yard job, starting at 0700, and working Monday through Thursday. It seemed too good to be true, and I was sure someone with more seniority, a lot more seniority actually, would probably be awarded the bid. The bid closed the next day, and much to my surprise, it was awarded to me. I would be expected to show up for work on Wednesday and finish the week on that schedule. That is what I have been doing since we all took our exams.

557 cab, ready for sand blasting and paint.
All photos by James Ogden.

On Saturdays, I have been going to Wasilla to work on the steam locomotive, #557. On most weekends recently, I have spent the day taking ultrasound measurements of various parts of the boiler and firebox, so we can tell how thick the steel is. The steel must be able to withstand the normal boiler operating pressure, which on this locomotive is 225 psi. In order to do that, it must be at least a certain thickness. The locomotive is 70 years old, and has been sitting, idle, for more than half of that time, in Washington. It rains a lot in most of Washington, and needless to say, there is corrosion. It is bad in some spots and bearable in others. These thickness tests help us to know how bad the corrosion is, and whether or not we will need to make repairs to the boiler.

The weight is off the drivers.

This most recent Saturday was different. I finished doing the ultrasound of the firebox, and then the entire crew that was there focused on one task, which is unusual. We had acquired four 100 ton capacity air jacks, some steel beams, and a lot of old bridge timbers, which we would use to lift the locomotive. We set up the steel beams through the space between the boiler and frame. We used the bridge timbers and some other hardwood scraps as dunnage, and we placed the jacks around the locomotive, two per steel beam. The jacks were placed on several of the bridge timbers until they reached the beams without having to be extended at all. We had a commercial grade, diesel air compressor parked outside, and hoses running to all the jacks. Once we were satisfied that everything was secure and in proper places, we commenced lifting the locomotive.

Lifting the locomotive was a slow process. The air jacks can lift a fairly large load, but that is accomplished through a lot of reduction gears, giving it enormous torque, but making them operate very slowly. The movement was almost imperceptible. It was most easily noticed by checking the progress every several minutes. The process reminded me of the Panama Canal, where enormous objects are raised and lowered, but it all happens very slowly. Despite the slow speed at which the locomotive moved, it still felt like there was a lot going on! It was very important that it be lifted level and upright, so that it would not tip or put excessive strain on any set of jacks.

557 is airborne!

The locomotive needed to be lifted about 30 inches in order to get the drive wheels out of their housing and the axles clear of the lowest parts on the frame. The problem was that the jacks only could lift about 16 inches. We extended the jacks fully, and then placed more timbers under the locomotive, as close as we could get them to the bottom of the frame. Once all the timber was in place, the locomotive was lowered onto the timber, and the jacks were removed.The timbers the jacks had been standing on were extended by adding even more timber, and then the jacks were replaced, again at a height where they reached the steel beams while fully lowered. Once everything was in place, the second half of the lift took place, in just the same fashion as the first. Once again, progress was slow, but we were constantly watching the locomotive to make sure it was completely level and the lift was happening evenly.

The forklift hauling the #4 axle away.

Once the locomotive was the proper height, the lift was stopped, and the compressed air was disconnected so that no changes could be made to the height of the jacks. We placed some scrap wood between the rails, and knocked the crown brass and journal boxes off the axles. At this point, nothing was holding them on besides gravity. Once the journals were off the axles, we rolled the axles out towards the rear of the locomotive. Now, rolling 54 inch drive wheels is not an easy task at all! The drive wheels on steam locomotives have fairly large counterweights on them, opposite where the connecting rod is attached. This allows the wheels to turn smoothly despite the driving force being applied to only one side of a wheel. The wheels are mounted on the axle on a 90 degree offset from each other so that the locomotive can never be in a situation where it cannot start the wheels moving. This means that the counterweights are near each other when you try to roll the wheel. If they are coming up, it takes a lot of energy to move the wheels the way we were doing it. Once they come over the top, the wheel tries to get away, and it takes a few people to hold it back!

Storing the drivers.

The drive wheels were rolled out towards the rear of the locomotive, where our little forklift was in position to carry them off to storage. Well, that forklift, which is about as small as they come, has surprised us before. The very first thing it ever did was move the locomotive! We had wondered if it would be able to move the wheels, and it did. The rear wheels were bouncing and threatening to lift off the ground, but it made it! The wheels were all placed on blocks so they cannot roll. Once all the drive wheels were out and stowed, it was time to remove the pilot truck. As it turned out, that would not quite clear the front coupler or sill. At least, it would not clear it on the rails. We ended up having to derail the pilot truck, and wiggle it out straddling a rail. Since railroad equipment generally moves easiest on the rails, that proved to be quite a task! On the pilot truck, we removed the entire thing, not just the wheels and axle, so it was heavier than any of the drivers. The forklift was unable to lift that without some counterweight, so several people stood on the back of the forklift to weigh it down, and keep it from tipping forward. Apparently the actual lifting capacity exceeds the weight of the thing! By that point we had pretty well run out of storage space for the moment, until a few things were better organized. We ended up just putting the pilot truck outside. Obviously, we were not too worried about anyone walking away with it!

Pilot truck.

Once all the wheels were out, we lowered the locomotive again. We lowered it to the blocks we had originally placed it on while we repositioned the jacks. It will sit like that for a couple of months while the while thing is sand blasted and painted. Once that is done, the wheels go back under it.

At this point, the 557 restoration has reached a milestone. There are very few things left to remove, and the rebuilding will begin very soon. Rebuilding will take quite a bit longer than disassembling it has, but it is also a more precise task. We estimate that rebuilding it will take about two years, and we are all hopeful that 557 will be pulling excursion trains during the summer season in 2015.

All the wheels are out.