Steam & Excursion > AT&SF 2926

I had the opportunity recently to visit Albuquerque and Northern New Mexico with my wife. Our first stop after getting off of the Southwest Chief from Riverside, CA was the current work area of the NMSL&RHS, where the AT&SF 2926 is in the midst of a complete rebuild. CMO Rick Kirby was gracious enough to give us a very detailed tour that lasted about an hour. We're thankful that Rick took an hour out of his day to show us the current status of the restoration and delve into the many technical challenges that the organization faces and solves. Getting the 2926 back into running shape is a huge challenge, but I have no doubt that they will accomplish that goal. The website is also great, with lots of information about the project and many pictures of the progress: http://www.nmslrhs.org

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The rods after stripping and polishing are a work of art. In picture #3, the crossheads recently removed will be going to Williams where the Grand Canyon Railway will be re-machining the surfaces to remove the corroded areas from sitting in a park for 40+ years.

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This is a ambitious project (like all railroad restoration projects) with a lot of money and volunteer time involved. What railroads have committed to hosting the 2926? Hate to see all that effort go into restoration and have no where to run to cover rebuild and upkeep costs.

With the State of New Mexico owning Belen to Santa Fe the engine will have a place to run.

I read on their website about the recent burglaries. What all was stolen? Is it able to be replaced?

I notice the boiler is checkerboarded for the ultrasound test for the FRA Form 4. Has this been done yet?

Brian Black

From what I know as described on the website, there is now missing a brake rod assembly and two cab-mounted brackets: http://www.nmslrhs.org/burglary/burglary2.php

The best case would be to recover these parts, however; there could be the possibility of using parts off of the 2912 in Pueblo for patterns to fabricate replacement pieces.

I believe the ultrasound check was done and a major patch to the boiler shell was made on the fireman's side, with three other smaller patches on the engineer's side. These were all around the firebox.

Looks like they are progressing nicely here, thanks to a lot of volunteer effort. Thanks for the photos and update.

Steve Mitchell
http://www.yardgoatimages.com

tomstp Wrote:
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> With the State of New Mexico owning Belen to Santa
> Fe the engine will have a place to run.

You may want to research that a bit more. Last I heard, the state of New Mexico "backed out of the deal", which was made by the previous governor. The BNSF is not real happy about NOT selling the Raton Pass line, and must keep it open for ONLY Amtrak passenger trains.

Which should last about another six months.

HotWater Wrote:
> tomstp Wrote:

> > With the State of New Mexico owning Belen to Santa
> > Fe the engine will have a place to run.
>
> You may want to research that a bit more. Last I
> heard, the state of New Mexico "backed out of the
> deal", which was made by the previous governor.

What tomstp said is correct. New Mexico purchased and owns the track from Belen to Santa Fe, NM, which were phases 1 and 2 of the track purchase arrangement former Gov. Bill Richardson's administration negotiated with BNSF. That's the track the Rail Runner commuter service uses. The part of the deal that current Gov. Susana Martinez backed out of was phase 3, where the state was to purchase from Lamy, NM (main line junction for the old branch to Santa Fe) to Trinidad, CO. Richardson didn't have plans to expand commuter rail over that segment, but it was included in the deal so BNSF would agree to sell the Bernalillo - Belen and Santa Fe - Bernalillo segments that WERE needed to make Rail Runner happen. See among others:

http://m.vcstar.com/news/2011/apr/30/nm-transportation-department-ending-track-deal/
http://www.santafenewmexican.com/localnews/Chief-at-crossroads#.UKjJsIfAd8E

Which the state will lease back to the BNSF when the Rail Runner program goes broke.