State of 1218 (was Re: 611)

[NW Mailing List]

On Mon, Jun 15, 2015 at 5:43 PM, Jerome wrote:

> Some thoughts about #1218 and # 2156.  During my last visit to VMT, I was
> told that # 1218 is missing some valve gear parts.
> They were not installed when the loco left Birmingham shops for display in
> Roanoke.  And they were 'lost' when the Birmingham
> shop was closed and sold.  So - is that the case; and would NS want to
> fund manufacture of the replacements, plus the long list
> needed to restore # 1218 to operation ?
>

Back when the NS Steam Program was terminated with extreme prejudice, the
matter was thoroughly discussed on the RAILROAD listserv email list. Steve
Lee, manager of the UP steam program, was a member of the list and
commented about the auction held in 1997.

Lee also commented on the state of the 1218. His comments are posted here,
with his permission, to provide a professional perspective on what happened
to the A. The 1218 could be put back in service, but at great expense to
_someone_ (or many, many generous donors).

Bruce in Blacksburg

===================================

I saw the engine in the shop during the auction and got a good look at it.
The work that was in progress at the time was primarily firebox work that
was needed at the time the engine was restored but wasn't completed at that
time because of budget and time constraints. This consisted of new partial
side sheets in the firebox, a new door sheet, most of a new mudring, and
some new side sheet sections at the mudring. This was in addition to
replacement of flues, tubes and superheaters and some appliance work that
was normal maintenance, not left over from the restoration. When I saw the
engine, the new sheets had been rolled and the staybolt holes punched, and
were tackwelded in place in the firebox. The ashpans, grates and grate
bearers were out, of course, as were the flues, tubes and superheaters. As
I said, the sheets were only tackwelded in place. There was still a great
deal of work to do in finish welding the sheets, riveting the mudring, and
making and driving several hundred staybolts. None of this work was fully
completed; the grates, grate bearers and ashpans were put back in for
appearance by Scott Lindsey and his crew.

NS's entire stock of flues, tubes, and superheater material was sold; most
of it went to scrappers because it was odd-sized and not of use on any
locomotives now running or under restoration. Some of the appliances
(injector, air pumps, lubricators, water pump, dynamo, etc) now on the
engine are shells, put back on for appearance only. The appliances that had
been rebuilt brought a much higher price at the auction than would empty
shells, of course, and no one at the auction could stand the thought of
fully-rebuilt appliances being put on a locomotive that probably won't run
again for many years, if at all.

As noted, N&W used a lot of odd-sized stuff, including odd-sized staybolts
and odd-sized flues and superheater units. Because these things weren't
adaptable to any other locomotives out there now, the scrappers got it all.
Of course, this stuff can be made new again from scratch.

IMHO, NS could have simply scrapped the 1218 and all the machines, parts,
tools and supplies at the end of the program. Instead, they spent some
money putting 1218 back together, and made the other stuff available to
other users. Contrary to popular belief, they did not make much, if any,
money on the auction sale when all things are considered, and much of that
stuff is being used all over the country now to keep other engines going
and even to help in some restorations. AFAIK, no one has ever given them
any credit for that.

Steve Lee
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