The rebuild of the 1929 Baldwin 2-8-2T steam locomotive has been moving along nicely. The tubes are all in, the tube ends in the firebox have all been welded and they are getting ready for the squeeze.
A little test squeeze revealed water weeping around some of the staybolts. There was a hold up due to the caps that go on the staybolts – a lot of them were old so new ones have been ordered from a shop in Pennsylvania, near where the loco was built. New copper washers (gaskets) are needed for the caps so a sheet of copper has also been purchased and a shop in Nanaimo is going to use a water jet to cut out them out. The staybolt caps have arrived and will be installed when the gaskets arrive.
Jim Isnor from Kodiak Nondestructive Testing has been a big help to the project by supplying the testing that is required on the shell of the locomotive. Isnor is a member of the Quality Control Council.
The City of Port Alberni (the owner of the Number 7) has granted permission for the old locomotive to operate for 10 days this summer. There is lot of work and organization to be done to get the train operating, but the Western Vancouver Island Industrial Heritage Society (I.H.S.) is up to the task. David Hooper, a member and volunteer of the I.H.S. said, “The Boilermakers doing what they have done is the bright spot in the whole story.”
Barry Dobrensky rolling 5” flue tubes in the smoke box under the directions of Sarah Smith
Mike Roxburgh and an I.H.S volunteer pressure testing the superheaters that are installed into the flue tubes
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Boilermakers Bringing a Steam Locomotive Back to its Past Glory