STEAM AND PRESERVATION JEFFREY D. TERRY
N&W 611 Returns to Steam
Coal smoke rose over Spencer on March 31 as Norfolk & Western Class J No. 611 was successfully test-fired at the North Carolina Transportation Museum. The restoration team, led by Scott Lindsay, brought 611’s boiler up to its maximum pressure of 300 p.s.i. during the all-day test, which included blowing out the 4-8-4’s piston ports in preparation for final as- sembly of the valve gear and running gear.
During the test fire, No. 611’s tender was not connected, since it was inside the Spencer backshop being painted. Instead, coal was supplied from a front end loader placed near the cab, and the locomotive was connected to an exter- nal water source. During the fire-up the crew also took the opportunity to test No. 611’s deep baritone whistle, which could be heard all over town. The test capped several months of boiler work, which included the installation of flues and superheater units.
The 611 is the only surviving N&W Class J, and is owned by the Virgin- ia Museum of Transportation (VMT) in Roanoke; it’s been at Spencer since May 2014 undergoing the extensive FRA-mandated inspection and rebuild- ing required to return it to operation. No. 611 was built in-house by the Nor- folk & Western at its East End Shops in Roanoke in 1950. After a short career in passenger service, it was retired in 1959 and donated to VMT, spending the next two decades as a static display in Wasena Park. In 1982, it was restored by Norfolk Southern for excursion duty, but was retired again after just 12 years. The last time No. 611 was under steam was December 7, 1994, when it complet- ed a three-day trip from Birmingham to Roanoke. On October 7, 1995, it was placed on static display at VMT, where it remained until the move to Spencer for its latest restoration. On April 16, Norfolk Southern an- nounced a series of excursions for the powerful J, including its debut run on May 30. Visit
www.nscorp.com for sched- ule and trip details.
Rio Grande 168 to Steam Again
Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad has reached an agreement with the city of Colorado Springs, Colo., to lease for- mer Denver & Rio Grande No. 168, a
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132-year-old narrow gauge 4-6-0 that has been on static display in Antlers Park for nearly 80 years. Plans call for the locomotive to be restored to operat- ing condition by C&TS at its Antonito, Colo., shop.
“We’re thrilled that the partnership with the people of Colorado Springs will allow the whistle blow of the D&RGW locomotive No. 168 to once again be heard on the tracks between Antonito, Colo., and Chama, N.M., as it was near- ly a hundred years ago,” said Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad president John Bush in a press release. “It’s a very rare opportunity for us to acquire additional equipment that actually worked on this line and to be able to restore it and bring it back into service.”
No. 168 was built by Baldwin Loco- motive Works (Burnham, Parry, Wil- liams & Company) in February 1883, one of 12 Class 47 Ten-Wheelers pur- chased by D&RG between 1883 and 1884. Sometime around 1915, No. 168 received a new steel wagon-top boiler, and in 1921 it became part of the Denver & Rio Grande Western (created when the Denver & Rio Grande merged with Rio Grande Western) and was classi- fied as a T-12. Its service on D&RGW ended in 1933 when it was retired and stored in the Alamosa yard, although the 4-6-0 had a brief reprieve during 1935 when it was refurbished and fitted with a diamond stack and box headlight for a small part in the 1936 Fred MacMurray film “The Texas Rangers” – its last docu- mented use under steam. After repainting the locomotive on Au-
gust 1, 1938, D&RGW donated No. 168 — fake diamond stack and all — to the City of Colorado Springs. A cosmetic res- toration of No. 168 was initiated in the late 1970s; the contractor for the work was John Bush. The diamond stack was removed, the cab was repaired, and the rusted-out boiler jacketing was replaced. The tender, discovered to be in terrible condition, received a new frame, and steps were taken to prevent further cor- rosion. Bush also returned the locomo- tive to its early 1900s appearance, com- plete with simulated gold-leaf lettering. The project was completed in 1984. Cumbres & Toltec
initiated talks
with the city of Colorado Springs in late 2014 about acquiring the Ten-Wheeler. The community was receptive to the idea, and on March 10, a 45-year lease was approved by the city council. Cur- rent plans call for the locomotive to be trucked to Antonito in the near future to begin restoration, which is hoped to be completed in time for the 2016 season. Funding for the project will come from grants and private individuals (C&TS
recently set up an account for tax-de- ductible donations). When finished, the locomotive will be paired with a train of authentic D&RG passenger cars, now being restored, to recreate a Rio Grande passenger train of the 1880s.
Canadian Forest Products 112
Western Forest Industries recently do- nated former Canadian Forest Products (CANFOR) 2-6-2T No. 112 to the West- ern Vancouver Island Industrial Her- itage Society, operators of the Alberni Pacific tourist railroad. The 73-ton sad- dle tank locomotive was moved to Port Alberni, B.C., in mid-March for possible restoration. No. 112 was built by Baldwin in 1923 for the Snoqualmie Falls Lumber Com- pany as its No. 6, and later operated for Weyerhaeuser. It was acquired by Canadian Forest Products in 1947 and operated into the mid-1960s, becoming one of the last logging steam locomo- tives to see regular service in Canada. In 1968, it was placed on static display in Nimpkish, but was later relocated to the CANFOR offices in Beaver Cove where it remained until early 2015. Western Forest Industries, which op-
erates several former CANFOR prop- erties, offered the society the now-de- teriorated No. 112 in the fall of 2014. Volunteers then spent the next few months removing the cab, steam domes, and other parts in an effort to reduce as much weight as possible prior to the move. Nickel Brothers was hired to transport the locomotive from its long- time display site to Port Alberni. The Society hopes to restore No. 112 to service for use on tourist trains along- side Alberni Pacific Logging Company 2-8-2T No. 7 (Baldwin, 1929), which was restored in 1995. Alberni Pacific offers excursions behind steam most summer weekends; trains depart from the former Canadian Pacific station in Port Alberni and travel six miles to the McLean Mill National Historic Site.
Progress at Cass
A milestone was reached in mid-March when Cass Scenic Railroad three-truck Climax No. 9 was fitted with a newly constructed riveted water tank, bringing the locomotive one step closer to opera- tion. The Climax was built in 1919 for Moore, Keppel & Company, and has been under restoration since 2002 by the Mountain State Railroad & Logging His- torical Association, the non-profit sup-
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