WW&F No. 9 - Official Work Thread

[Kevin Madore]

Man, that locomotive is a work of art.  I will never know how you folks are keeping track of all of the little details that need to be attended to.  You have put so much time and TLC into her, it will almost be a shame to get her dirty.....but I'm so looking forward to seeing her under steam.   There's something about 19th century engines.  Only a small handful can still move under their own power, and an even smaller number ever actually haul revenue trains.

Kudos to you all!!

/Kevin

[Mike Fox]

1st of 2 coats of varnish was applied today. Can't wait to see it outside again.. Lights off...


Lights on...

[James Patten]

Here's a picture of the lettering after the varnishing.


I really think this brings out the character of the lettering.  Hard to describe but the leafing appears to have a bit a bumpy look about it.  I'm assuming that's a function of the underlying surface being not quite smooth.

[Jason M Lamontagne]

I believe that effect is more on account of the leafing process.  The alumititaniunubtanium metal foil sheet is not applied to each letter as a whole sheet.  Instead, it is repeatedly stuck to the size at different angles and over different areas.  This results in each character having a number of different facets, all reflecting light a little differently.

I suppose surface roughness can't be discounted- it probably accounts for some of the look.

In any case- the look is decidedly different than a painted letter.  

We strongly suspect the original lettering was silver or aluminum leaf.  As with the varnished paint scheme- we want the loco to look like it did, as opposed to having the modern look obtained with modern products and approaches.

See ya
Jason

[John Kokas]

The old leafing process is great by me; really gives the finish character.  Harry is probably grinning from ear to ear.

[Jason M Lamontagne]

I'd like to develop two lists related to the No 9 restoration for eventual inclusion in the newsletter, as a matter of providing a record to the membership.  I'm inviting the readers here to help flush out those lists.  The first is a general list of major restoration activities arranged by year.  A first cut is below.  The second will be a component by component accounting of the finished, restored machine.  I hope to generate a first cut of that, from which we can work, this or next week.

Here's the first cut of the annual list.  I may be in error in some areas- feel free to point them out.  Also, more detail here would be great.  I thought this might be a fin community activity for those who've been paying close attention.

Thanks!
Jason

No 9 restoration by year

2006:  document and disassemble
2007:  rear frame prep, old forward frame assessment and repair
2008: old frame work, new rear frame
2009: casting.  Receive new boiler.
2010: new smokebox.  domes and casings on boiler.  forward frame manufacture
2011: frame and boiler assembly
2012: tramming
2013: crank pin machine
2014:  steam plumbing, deck, rear truck, rear brakes, grate motion
2015:  drive gear and final valve work, jacket, cab, tank, front end

[Alan Downey]

This is a fantastic idea. A few things to point out-

I'm not sure if by "front end" you mean the smoke box internals, or the pilot area- but the latter (both?) was tackled in 2014.
I'd also suggest that the "brass bits" be mentioned in 2015 (bell, number plate, whistle).
The care and dedication which has gone into the paint/finishing process also makes it a significant part of what's occurred in 2015.

[Jason M Lamontagne]

No 9 restoration by year

2006:  document and disassemble
2007:  rear frame prep, old forward frame assessment and repair
2008: old forward frame work, new rear frame
2009: casting.  Receive new boiler.
2010: new smokebox.  domes and casings on boiler. New forward frame manufacture and fitting.
2011: frame and boiler assembly
2012: tramming
2013: crank pin machine
2014:  steam plumbing, deck, rear truck, rear brakes, grate motion, pilot and associated parts.
2015:  drive gear and final valve work, jacket, cab, tank, front end (internal), brass trim (bell, number plate, whistle).

[Jason M Lamontagne]

Great, Alan, thanks- just what I was hoping for!  Not sure how to handle the updates- perhaps I'll just continue to copy and paste as suggestions come in.

Jason

[Steve Smith]

Here are a few No. 9 restoration work dates, the first from memory, the others based on some pictures of the work I annotated and saved on my computer:

2005 summer—Jason taking measurements inside the original smokebox

2006—Design of the transition casting linking front and rear frames

Design of rear frame

Late 2006—Disassembly of No. 9

December, 2006—Forming backhead of No. 9’s new boiler (at Boothbay Railway Village)

January 20, 2007—Separation of No. 9’s smokebox from boiler—with grrrrreat difficulty

2007—design of the new rear frame

2007—Rear frame fabrication

2007—Boiler shell and firebox exterior annealed

May 2008—Riveting rear frame

[James Patten]

Do you want to count from when #9 first arrived?  I seem to recall

1995 or 96 - rebuild rear truck and some in-cab bits.
late 96 - first run on compressed air.  We ran it a few times in 97
1997 - ultrasound of boiler and condemning thereof.

[Wayne Laepple]

When did No. 9 actually arrive back in Maine?

[James Patten]

February 1995.  If memory serves it was the Friday before the President's Day weekend.  The next day was the 100th anniversary celebration of the first W&Q passenger train to Weeks Mills.  The governor was there.  I remember it being cold.

[Jason M Lamontagne]

We'd love to have him back- now Senator King- for the formal dedication in the spring.  Yet to send invites- we'll see.

I'll update again in the morning.  Worth noting- in Maine there's an official way to "condemn" a boiler; this didn't happen to 9's old boiler.  They simply said they'd never issue a certificate for it.  Guess there's more than one way to skin a cat.  Or a PoCo locomotive...

See ya
Jason

[Wayne Laepple]

Or is it a PoCo Loco?