The Home Machinist!

This morning my favorite morning newspaper carried an article saying Alaska Railroad 557 arrived in Anchorage on Tuesday to be restored for operation. This locomotive was owned by Monte Holm of Moses Lake, Washington, and had been there for nearly 50 years. It's from the same WWII S-160 class as the consolidations at Ft. Eustis mentioned in another thread. The article is at http://www.adn.com/2012/01/03/2244752/o ... t-not.html. There is a link to several additional photos.

Hi,

That's very good news.
I like this type of locomotive,simple but still powerful.

There are quite a few locomotives of this type still in existence.

It seems that a 7 1/4 in gauge model is still for sale in Italy:

http://web.mac.com/alcampanini/Vapore_V ... ntini.html

Best regards,
hudson

YES, complete with STAINLESS STEEL boiler - so it won't rust.

Congratulations, Dick...that's GREAT!

Are you going to get to help with the resurrection? That'd be fun...


Mark in Modesto

I got these yesterday but had to verify that it was OK to share them. They were taken on Tuesday along Turnagain Arm south of Anchorage. Click on them to get the full effect. This type of scenery is one of the reasons I live here.

I've been out of the loop on local rail history for several years and this caught me by surprise. I'm planning on retiring at the end of the year. If they will let me play trains with them I may have to change my plans.

The photos are courtesy of Dave Blazejewski, ARR Superintendent of Transportation.

Wow theyy wasted that much fuel just to move one steamer. Must be nice to be rich like that to not bother to pull the rest of a train for just one steamer.

Hello Dick, Those pictures look like they could be paintings, beautiful landscape and the sky appears almost as if it could have been painted also. Thanks for posting . I for one appreciate the beauty of the photos.

Vic

Fantastic pictures but has the discovery channel missed a trick just think of the drama they could have eked out of this move on ice road truckers.

Jim

An update -

A new non-profit corportation, Locomotive 557 Restoration Company, has been incorporated and the charter board of directors has been appointed. The purposes of the Company include restoring former U.S. Transportation Corps S-160 Consolidation, Alaska Railroad #557, so it may be operated in excursion service on the Alaska Railroad. I can now announce that yours truly is a member of the board of directors.

A $350,000 matching grant has been pledged by the Rasmuson Foundation, one of Alaska's most respected charitable foundations.

When purchased from the ARR by Monte Holm, the locomotive didn't have the proper tender. An original tender which had served with a locomotive crane after its associated ARR S-160 locomotive was retired has been donated by the Museum of Alaska Transportation and Industry. As shown in the photo below, the tender was moved today.

The locomotive will soon be moved by truck to the wharehouse that will serve as its home for the next couple of years while the restoration takes place. One of the first orders of business will be the removal of all remaining a*******s by a certified contractor.

(Note that I changed the punctuation in the thread title from a question mark to an exclamation point!)

I'll post occasional updates and photos here, but to follow the progress and to learn more about the project, check the "No. 557 Info" link on John's Alaska Railroad Web Page at http://www.alaskarails.org/

Looks good. I'm looking forward to see what kind of photo excursions might be possible with it, and what bits of the Alaska Railroad it could potentially have access to. I help direct the Nevada Northern Railroad winter photo freights, so I'm no stranger to wading in deep snow in freezing weather to get a good shot!

Cheers,

-Mike

The locomotive and tender were moved to what we now call the "engine house" in Wasilla yesterday. I had to work. My impending retirement looks better every day.

The local paper and TV both covered the move. On the TV station's web page there is a write-up and place for the video, but the video isn't available yet.
http://www.adn.com/2012/08/15/2589194/s ... large_view
http://www.ktuu.com/features/assignment ... 0534.story

In the video, some may recognize long-time live steamer and new president of the restoration company, Pat Durand. He and his 1-1/2" Alaska Railroad F-7 barnstormed tracks in the "Lower 48" for several months 10-15 years ago.

Here are some photos of how to put a locomotive on a low boy trailer - http://www.alaskarails.org/ARR-potw.html

As soon as I can get a photo of the locomotive tucked into its new home I'll post it.

The first link said the restoration would include "work on electronics". Does this loco use vacuum tubes?