News from the 261 Shop

Milwaukee 261 returned to the shop at Harrison Street on Sunday, September 14th after a successful trip on the Canadian Pacific’s rails to La Crosse, WI; returning to the Twin Cities on the Burlington Northern Santa Fe. For both the crew and the engine it was a great way to end the season. And the beginning of the big rebuild.

Since Sunday, the shop crew has removed the elements of the exhaust system, cleaned the smokebox and built scaffolding across the pit to facilitate disassembly of the boiler. Last weekend the superheater elements were disconnected from the header and one-by-one all 58 superheaters were pulled from their flues, blown clear of residual water, numbered and stacked at the far end of the platform. With the removal of the superheaters, the flues can be cut from the sheets at both ends, pulled out the front of the engine and recycled.

Once the flues have been removed, the interior of the boiler can be cleaned, inspected and tested in accordance with FRA standards. The tube sheets will be inspected, ground clean of excess weld and prepped for the installation of the new flues.

Other near term jobs will include removal of the boiler jacketing and insulation. The reusable sheet metal will be sanded and repainted and new sheets will be cut and formed as necessary. The flexible staybolt caps will be removed and the firebox will be cleaned and needle-scaled.

All this work will take many man-hours of labor and the success of the rebuild will depend on money, the skills of the shop crew and the willingness of volunteers to spend time at the shop this fall and winter. To everyone who visits the website, we encourage you to contribute to this effort.

The shop has been a busy place lately with many volunteers showing up to get ready for our Spring excursions. Typically the pace will accelerate as the weather warms up and outdoor work becomes easier. For the last few weeks, work has centered around the installation of the rebuilt trucks under the 202. It is at least a day-long process to jack the end of the coach to obtain clearance for rolling the truck back underneath. Once the center of the bolster is correctly positioned below the coach the jacks can be lowered. Some adjustment to the car height may be required after the truck is in place and adding shims to the equalizer springs or a thicker pad between the equalizer and the bearing box is often sufficient. These have been significant improvements to one of the longest-serving coaches in the fleet and will make it fully Amtrak compliant.

Also on the 202: marker light housings have been added using some existing wiring on the car as well as a battery/charger to power the lights if the power should fail, the air line to the lavatory has been rerouted and the “B” end vestibule has been reworked.

On the 261, new arch bricks have been cast and will be installed this week when the arch is rebuilt. The grate bar supports have been cleaned and adjusted and the grate fingers reinstalled. A number of staybolts were replaced earlier in the month (typically 10-20 will be replaced every year, depending on condition) and the seal welding completed. The water glasses and pressure gauge will be inspected and installed in the next week preparatory to our first fire-up in early May.

Two upgraded bathrooms are near completion in one of the stainless-steel coaches and emergency escape windows have been upgraded. Last but not least, the Victorian ambience of the concession car has been improved with the addition of wainscoting opposite the serving counter.

It’s the end of February and the snow is melting – everywhere but here. Temps have started edging above freezing but outside work is still a challenge.

Alterations are progressing on the Superdome which is getting ready for another round-trip to Chicago in March. The lower room has been extensively modified to add food prep space and a new commercial dishwasher. The project removed an overhead duct space that was a real hazard to anyone coming down the steps into the room and added some overhead lighting. The finished room will be much more useful for organizing and serving meals on our excursions. Most of the carpeted space will be recovered with ceramic tile and some of the benches have been reworked.

In parallel with the Superdome, work is continuing on the extensive bathroom modifications on one of the clocker coaches. The new toilets will be relocated from the original toilet locations and the interior walls and electrical wiring will be reconfigured.

Finally, the truck rebuild that was begun before Christmas is nearing completion.

Our usual Spring work week should be around the first week in April; the exact dates will depend on the schedule of the out-of-town volunteers including Ed Selinsky, Robert Franzen and Don Crimmin. Typically the work week will center around completing projects on the locomotive. The grate bars and fingers were removed in the fall to allow for cleaning the side supports and the area around the mud ring. Additionally, the side supports will be moved slightly to give the grate fingers a bit more flexibility. In the past couple of years they have tended to stick occasionally and this should fix the problem. The firebox sheets were cleaned at the end of the season last year and no problems were found.

The June trip to Milwaukee is now posted on the home page and everyone at the shop is looking forward to an exciting week on the 261.

Saturday, December 8th. A typical Minnesota winter day: temperature about 5 degrees with a northwest wind to blow the snow around. It had snowed twice earlier in the week leaving just enough snow to cover the tracks at the shop. Perfect weather for jacking up a railroad coach, rolling out a truck and replacing it with a newer set of wheels. The 261 crew has become pretty adept at this particular job and by 4:00 in the afternoon the 202 had been retrofitted and the old truck had been moved to an alternate track.

Winter at the shop can be limiting, particular when the temperature is well below freezing. Equipment can be very stiff, engines hard to start and volunteers hard to motivate. Fortunately there are quite a few projects this winter that involve upgrades to coach interiors - heated interiors.

The stainless-steel Clocker coaches that have been running well on excursions for the past couple of years are being fitted with new restrooms: including new toilets, floors and relocated doors that will make them more convenient for passengers and easier to maintain for the crew. Tim has installed a new generator on one of the Clockers that will make it more flexible on excursions where HEP (head end power) is either unavailable or inadequate.

The heating/cooling ducting has been completed on the new concession car making it much more comfortable both in summer and fall. Custom-designed cabinetry, new refrigerators and ceiling fans with lights were installed earlier this year and the original oak floors refinished. Since our previous concession car was not going to be upgraded to Amtrak standards, this has been a welcome addition to the fleet.

The Superdome and Cedar Rapids have both been back-and-forth to Chicago numerous times since 261 was winterized. They have run very well and have not required much attention from the shop crew other than some additional wiring for additional electrical outlets. Planned upgrades to the Superdome will include reconfiguring the lower level room, removing bench seats, replacing the flooring and raising a soffit above a window that was a real nuisance to anyone under six feet giving Joey a more usable space for excursion service. These charters have been very well-received by customers and are a valuable source of revenue for the organization. Because of popularity of these trips we are planning several trips with the Superdome and the Cedar Rapids for next November and December.

We were unable to salvage the old shop news entries from the wreckage of the server that had contained it, so we’re starting this all over again. We’re going to encourage the 261 crew to update this frequently, and hope you’ll enjoy visiting.

Regards,
Doug