Steam & Excursion > Another McCall goodie.

June of 1986 John McCall was on hand in Rusk Tx  to photo TSR # 500, ex-Santa Fe 1361,  make her first steps under steam after being prepared for service following her removal from San Angelo Tx .  Her green paint scheme gives no hint of her prior ownership.

This engine had been shopped by the Santa Fe in Cleburne, Tx  prior to the end of steam repairs and and held  as protection power.  It never was fired up for service and was in remarkable condition when rescued by the Texas State Railroad..

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Why did they have to reboiler her?

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Can't give you any specifics on why a new boiler is needed,  Don.  I was just told it had to have a new boiler. And, there in lies another story.  A new boiler was ordered by TSR and it arrived with a crown sheet of 1" thickness.  TSR accepted and signed off on the boiler not knowing of that defect.  So the engine just sits and IP will not install the new boiler unless the correction to the new boiler is made putting a 1/2" crown sheet in it and any other problems are cured with it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/04/16 12:07 by tomstp.

They did not have to reboiler the locomotive. There is nothing wrong with the old boiler that a competent rebuilder could not repair.   They needed to install new tubes and flues, (AKA 1472) but there was no money for that in the parks budget.  However, there was money for a new boiler, so as is so common with government entities, they had a new boiler built at 2X$ or 3X$ the price of the repairs.    Now, since the new boiler was overbuilt in the firebox, it will never be used without a complete new firebox, so there is nothing except the running gear and two boilers sitting at Rusk, plus a new, all welded, tender tank, which was built because there was no money to FIX things, only to buy new things.  

T&P 316 is also sidelined for the same firebox issues with its new boiler, although to be fair, its original boiler was getting pretty bad.  

The only engine there with a proper new boiler is the Southern Pine  28 which has a boiler built by Dixon which was built to exactly the same plans and specifications as the original Baldwin boiler.   That boiler was only necessary because someone, somewhere tried to repair the original boiler by welding the rivited seams, which totally rendered it both unfit for service and not repairable.

That leaves T&G #30 (Magma #7) as the only engine there with its original boiler, because it not being an engine used in Texas prior to coming to TSR was "not eligible" for a new boiler.  The one time when NOT being a Texan became a benefit.

 

Is that the French Friendship boxcar or a  plain old goods wagon at  the right in the photo?
The loco's wheels are awfullly wide, they look derailed!

James R.(Jim) Baker
Whittier, CA

The date on that picture should be June of 1981. I went to work there in 1982 and 1316 was already in service.