Steam & Excursion > A Steam Restoration Gone Wrong - Too Bad.

While I am a big supporter of those who preserve and try to restore steam locomotives, I have to take exception with what was just done to this one.

What you see here is Polson Logging / Rayonier #90. This engine was purchased by the Lions Club in Garibaldi, Oregon in 1963 at the end of her logging career at Rayonier. The Lions Club still own it today. She sits next to the loading faculty and engine house of the Oregon Coast Scenic RR.

This 90-ton Baldwin logging Mike has suffered serious rust and deterioration due to her nearly 50 years on the Oregon Coast. Her jacket, cab and tender have serious rust deterioration. She really needs her jacket and asbestos removed to save further serious boiler degradation. Unfortunately this is not what she just received.

Grant money was recently obtained and used to simply pop-rivet some tin over the rusty jacket, cab and tender and then black paint applied. After that the totally incorrect lettering designating this logging engine as "Southern Pacific Lines #90" was applied.

What is left is an engine that will now incur more rust, even faster with the tin panels covering the rusty scars. Also the public is confused by an engine that had a real logging history (as does the town of Garibaldi where she resides) with that of an engine that never ran on the SP.

The second photo shows what she looked like just before she was retired by Rayonier and sent to Garibaldi.

While I am sure the best of intentions were involved, I feel the grant money was wasted when it could have actually been used the preserve the engine and its true history.

Martin





All that glitters is not good restoration.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 09/30/11 14:40 by LoggerHogger.

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I'll buy it! ;)

Is this the "Lions Club International" service club or some other organization that uses a different spelling?

Looks pretty darn nice to me; what's your complaint?

Martin. Should we discuss Rayonier #38? I'm, sure you've seen her lately.

Did anyone reach out to the Lion's Club folks in advance to offer their advice and expertise on the "do's and don'ts" of a cosmetic restoration? I doubt if anyone in their group really has a clue as to these things. I would think they would welcome the advice of someone experienced in such matters to insure the best use of their funding. Or not. ;-)

The Lions Club was told exactly what would help the engine and what would hurt. It was expalained that the old jacket and lagging needs to be removed as it is trapping water on the boiler shell and causing what can be irrpearable damage. It was further explained that adding tim plate to the problem would only trap more water and accelerate the degradation.

After all that they decided the quick and easy thing was to add tin plate and paint even though more water is now being trapped and the boiler shell will deteriorate faster now.

As for the comment on Sierra #38, yes I have seen her and very recently. She is in a dry climate and has all her jacket an lagging removed. She is not deteriorating like #90 is now.

Martin

Have to agree, Martin. Last photos I saw of Sierra/Rayonier #38, she looks absolutely gorgeous!

You speak of #90 as if you would expect her to be able to run
again. There is more than cosmetic damage here. If I am not mistaken,
the rods have been cut and there are various parts of the running gear
on the ground or missing. What she needed was loving care through the
60's, 70's, 80's etc... It certainly appears to look a lot better than
it did this past summer when I visited Garibaldi. HOWEVER, the fix
that was used will most probably not last through the winter. Too
bad as it was once a pretty loco with history behind it. Did you
notice the small building on the south of the loco....It is
identified as the old SP Garibaldi station....I always wondered ?

I knew this post would bring contraversy. I needed to be said.

First, #90's rods are not cut. Her pistons were removed. I know this engine. No one can estimate any engine from a photo on the Internet.

Yes she could be made to run again. That is unless her boiler is ruined by this kind of "preservation".

Brian's sarcasim (that is SierraRail) is noted. #38 has none of the cancer that is plaging #90. She is not deterioating like #90. She is now suffering NONE of the degradation that #90 is.

My point is this. There are steps you can take to save an engine for the next generation and steps you can take to ruin an engine so that she will never run again. #90 had the chance in this grant to be saved, but took a giant step backwards.

Martin

LoggerHogger Wrote:
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> The Lions Club was told exactly what would help
> the engine and what would hurt.

Well, that's a danged shame then. You get out of these things what you put into them. In this case, it sounds like that won't be much except for a big pile of rust some day.

Whoever it belongs to...its their decision what to do with it and they have done just that...proper "restoration" "preservation" or whatever you want to call it...looks good to me even if the Espee never had one like it. The Nickle Plate never had a blue PA1...bitch about that to Doyle!!

Enough of this "proper restoration" crap...it didn't end up at Schnitzer (yet)...get over it!

Dick Samuels
www.oregonpacificrr.com (where we preserve what's preservable0! LOL

My read on this is that it's not so much an issue with the "fantasy" paint scheme, but with the inadequate steps that could have been taken to properly arrest the decay. While it's true it didn't end up at Schnitzer, and improper cosmetic restoration will eventually produce the same net result (i.e. scrap metal). If it could have been done right for the same, or near the same amount of money, it seems foolish of the caretakers of this piece of history to totally disregard the advice they were given.

Sure, it's theirs and they can do what they want, but what do you want to bet that some day, when No. 90 is a bucket of rust and the group that owns it has a choice of either fixing their mistake (if possible) or cutting it up, an urgent plea goes out to the local community and to the RR preservation community to "Save the 90!"? We've seen this happen time and time again with improperly stuffed and mounted relics. What's the saying? An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure?

To bad. Makes me wonder if the grant money wasn't able to cover the asbestos removal

EMDSW-1 Wrote:
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The Nickle Plate never had
> a blue PA1...bitch about that to Doyle!!
>


??????

See the March photo

http://www.nkphts.org/calendar/

Trainjunkie gets the point.

The group here claims they wanted to "preserve" the engine with this grant money. They were told when they asked what damage would be caused by the "patch-over" fix they planned.

Yes, obviously, this is their engine to ruin, scrap or do with as they wish. The point that was not lost on Trainjunkie was that the group not only missed their goal of aiding in her preservation but actually went backwards at the same time.

Just as the owners who "preserved" Coos Bay Lumber #10 were left with this as the only way to dispose of their engine after it was the victim of destructive preservation.

Martin

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RuleG Wrote:
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> EMDSW-1 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> The Nickle Plate never had
> > a blue PA1...bitch about that to Doyle!!
> >
>
>
> ??????
>
> See the March photo
>
> http://www.nkphts.org/calendar/

My bad...don't know much about Alco's, PA1's in,particular...understood Doyle to say he was "recreating" a Nickle Plate PA-1 from a D&H unit from Mexico and was painting it to resemble a Nickle Plate unit "because he could".

Point was...you can make believe anything is something it is not. Just close your eyes and dream on!

Dick Samuels



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/01/11 08:21 by EMDSW-1.

LoggerHogger Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I knew this post would bring contraversy. I
> needed to be said.
>
> First, #90's rods are not cut. Her pistons were
> removed. I know this engine. No one can estimate
> any engine from a photo on the Internet.
>
> Yes she could be made to run again. That is
> unless her boiler is ruined by this kind of
> "preservation".
>
> Brian's sarcasim (that is SierraRail) is noted.
> #38 has none of the cancer that is plaging #90.
> She is not deterioating like #90. She is now
> suffering NONE of the degradation that #90 is.
>
> My point is this. There are steps you can take to
> save an engine for the next generation and steps
> you can take to ruin an engine so that she will
> never run again. #90 had the chance in this grant
> to be saved, but took a giant step backwards.
>
> Martin
As I recall,the pistons and connecting rods between #1 & #2 drivers were removed to move the loco as the #1 driver has a smaller diameter tire on it, as can be seen in the photo. Not sure what the decision makers had to consider, but asbestos removal and a roof over the loco would probably have been the best plan. Chris.

I guess it won't be possible to get a shot like this anymore. Oh, yeah, the tender isn't visible, is it?

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I agree Martin, I wonder what it would take to purchase and restore.

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