Steam & Excursion > And Yet Still More From Railfest 2005...

Still coming down from my Rocky Mountain High...

WOW. What a week... Even though the Eureka wasn't able to make it to Durango this year Railfest was still fantastic. Several of us who would have been with the Eureka went to Durango anyway (what else do you do when you request the time off in advance??) and rode the President's Special to Silverton. Even though I would have preferred to chuck wood aboard the Eureka during Railfest, riding the DSNGRR's President's Special was a nice consolation prize. Of course the abundance of 'beverages' soon made me forget what was missing. Talk about a party train...

At Silverton it was good to see Wayne Brown and the Goose crew. While drooling over ourselves in Silverton, all the locomotives let off the most fantastic whistle blasts that reverberated off the peaks above Silverton. Loud cannot descibe the sound of 4 steam whistles crying out in the cool Rocky Mountains.


SandingValve

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DSNGRR 481 in Silverton

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Drifting down from Silverton

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DSNGRR 472 with President's Special near Elk Park

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After I got my 'goose' cooked aboard the President's Special, Wayne Brown let me take Goose #5 for a very short jaunt.

Thanks Wayne,

SandingValve

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What was the problem with the Eureka? Thats such a beautiful piece of machanical art, I sure hope that it's nothing serious.

chuchubobnv Wrote:
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> What was the problem with the Eureka? Thats such a
> beautiful piece of machanical art, I sure hope
> that it's nothing serious.

No problem other than the FRA wouldn't let it operate
without all the boiler piping replaced. So he kept it
home this year. Lots of red tape.

Nathan Z.
Colorado Springs, Co.

Although the Eureka has an impeccable maintanence record and has a sound boiler and running gear, the way the rules and regs are written require an inspection to a locomotive that has seen 126 days of use since it's restoration. Here's a direct quote from Dan Markoff:

"The situation here, as you note, concerns a boiler with minimal time on the tubes, that has been boiler washed far more than is necessary, is thoroughly dried and stored in a very dry climate. The question is, should the rule have some leeway under those circumstances or should the rule be absolute. If absolute, then what of a locomotive that is restored, operated one day, and then stored properly for 15 years indoors. Should all the tubes have to be pulled for an inspection and removal of scale that could not have possibly accumulated?"

The Eureka is unique in it's construction, mainly the boiler with a lap seam. Even though this seam is able to be visually inspected from the exterior, the FRA wants to see the inside as well as the thickness of the boiler shell itself. Neither of these inspections can be performed without some major disassembly of the locomotive. In nearly every case the tubes need to be pulled. Yes, they can be 'safe-ended' and reinstalled to save maybe a few bucks. The crux for Dan is the principle of the rule for a historic artifact that sees a very limited amount of 'steam time'. The rules provide a limited provision with the waiver process, however a waiver was not granted in time for Railfest 2005.

I understand Dan's point of view as well as understand the FRA's stance and why the rules were adopted. Hopefully the Eureka will be able to get some sand on the rails and continue to provide the history of American railroading that Dan had intended from the beginning.


I'm the 3rd guy from the left in the pic.

Erik A. Young
Fireman/Conductor



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/28/10 13:02 by SandingValve.

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