Work Weekends in March 2024

There were three work sessions during the month of March with Bob and Paul in attendance. 

Primarily, work was focused on the rebuild of the cab. One of the big challenges was the actual fitment of the new front wall to the boiler shell. We have the boiler, but the floor the cab sits upon has long since been lost to time. This has made things tough to figure out!

When we made the initial cab wall cutout, we made some assumptions in the shape of the boiler shell, such as perfect radius and plumb vertical side sheets.  It has become evident that things were not that perfect as better measurements came to light. To tackle this, Bob and Paul used a sacrificial sheet of plywood to accurately fit the boiler shell at the location of the wall brackets. This took multiple fit and scribe and cut sessions. Eventually, a pattern was developed that resulted in a one-inch clearance around the boiler.  This was transferred to the cab wall and steel trimming commenced. 

Now that that hurdle has been conquered, the front windows can be located properly and cut out.  The original front wall saw many changes over the years with doors and windows.  Some areas had only a little metal remaining, and many cracks, so patches were made.  We are trying to avoid those issues with this rebuild! Therefore, the front window size and location will be slightly altered to what was present at the end of #470’s service to give the best results. Next, the crew will tackle a bunch of rivets waiting to be installed in the cab!

NESCo Receives Mass Bay RRE Grant

New England Steam Corporation (NESCo) is proud to announce that it has received a $5,000.00 Mass Bay RRE Railroad Preservation Grant from the Massachusetts Bay Railroad Enthusiasts, Inc. (Mass Bay RRE). This gracious grant will be applied to the ongoing restoration of Maine Central steam locomotive 470’s trailing truck.

NESCo is honored to be the recipient of this grant in recognition of the historic significance of Maine Central 470 and the important restoration work that NESCo is conducting.

2/10/2024 Work Session

Hit the 50's today in Hancock!  Far cry from the 9 deg a few weeks ago. DESR had a crew in the shop working on the rebuild of one of their passenger car trucks. Meanwhile, Paul and Bob worked on 470’s cab, laying out rivet holes and testing a new tool!

What new tool? Bob DeWachter built a portable hydraulic rivet setting press from scratch in his home shop. Set up for 3/8” hot rivets, it makes short work of forming perfect spherical rivet heads. No assault on the senses like a big air hammer! Rivets are subjected to 12 tons of pressure via an air driven hydraulic pump controlled by foot. The press has proved easy to operate standing on a bench. With lots of handhold area, a crew will be able to hold it in place for many areas of the cab.

Its first job was to add rivets to one of the removable hatches on the tender. Bolt flanges were added to the panel shown here by welding. On this hatch, the rivets have been added for aesthetics. The other hatches will have only rivets used to attach the flanges. Best part, it only took about 1/2 hour to set all the rivets in this hatch, with no botched rivet heads and no earmuffs required.

Check out the press setting a hot rivet, live!

1/4/2024 Reverse Gear Ships Out

The reverse gear was shipped out today to FMW Solutions to evaluate it for rebuild. While we love to restore #470 in shop, some things are best contracted out. Here, you can see the reverse gear in its current state before getting crated and shipped out!

We will keep you posted as we learn more!

From the Shop of Bob DeWachter

470's mechanical lubricator has a bronze steam manifold with four loops to heat the lubricating oil.  One of the loops had a split from freeze damage, another had minor swelling from freezing.  So, it went to Bob’s shop for repairs.

Both of these loops were removed and the unit glass bead blasted. This revealed that there are two plugs that seal the manifold passages. These plugs are where the drill entered the casting to make the passages that interconnect the steam loops. The 1/8” NPT plugs had been cut off flush.

Closer inspection revealed a problem….  Apparently in the distant past these plugs had been drilled out and replaced.  When the drilling was performed, that back portion of the plug broke off and traveled deep into the passage.  You can see it lodged in the hole feeding a loop.  Completely blocked off.  Decided the best course of action was to remove all the tubes, the plugs, re-drill the passages and ensure all was clear.  Sure enough, the other plug had done the same thing elsewhere.  Little to no steam could flow.

So, the bare manifold was fixtured up on the Bridgeport and an endmill was used to machine out the pipe plugs. Followed by a long shank drill to remove the blockages in the passageways. The pipe threads were chased out and new flush hex head pipe plugs fitted.

With that finished, Bob moved onward to a new setup to machine the ring grooves for the steam loops.  These needed to be clean and provide a loose fit for each of the four tubes. You need clearance for the hard silver solder to completely flow throughout the joint. A Volstro Rotary Spindle attachment was used. This orbits an offset spindle via the quill feed gearbox.  A  .100” diameter two flute endmill was used to cut the rings. Picked up the centers of each boss.  Digital readouts made short work of locating the rotary spindle at each station. All the bosses were machined to fit the steam loops. Check out a video here!

The tube split was cleaned and widened with a Dremel tool and burr. The crack was chased back, and the tube gently squeezed back somewhat. The surface was prepped for hard silver soldering, using 65% silver, by being pickled to chemically clean, fluxed, solder pre-placed. Bob brought to tube temp on a small hearth with propane. The solder flowed nicely, repairing the damage.

The manifold and steam loops were pre-staged in position, fluxed and silver bits around each joint.  A hearth was built about it and two propane heads positioned to primarily heat the base. A third torch was on hand to encourage areas in need of more heat.  All joints were done at the same time. Additional silver was added as required.  Metal clip clamps and sheet metal strips were used to steady the loops.

After letting slowly cool, flux was removed, unit was glass beaded and the tubes inspected. All the joints had flowed out well and nicely filleted. The loops were then pressurized with air and Bob used soapy water to check for pinhole leaks.

The manifold is now ready to be re-installed into the lubricator!

Virtual Shop Tour and Updates!

New England Steam Corporation director Bob DeWachter takes us through a detailed shop tour showing the current status of the Maine Central 470 restoration in this lovely two part video series. To schedule an in-person shop tour to see the locomotive and restoration for yourself, head over to https://www.newenglandsteam.org/tours.

A view of the boiler and cab work to date!

A tender almost ready for rivets and the chassis!

9/23/2023 Work Session

Luckily, the railroad suffered no damage from Hurricane Lee other than a few trees down across the tracks. Clean up was speedy, allowing restoration work and shop tours to resume last weekend. Paul and Bob spent Saturday in the shop working to make the lower panels for the new front cab wall. Rivet holes were drilled and fit up bolts installed. This allowed the panels to be trimmed to their final size and shape using the plasma cutter. Next, these new panels will be riveted!

Lead Truck Update

The new leaf springs arrived this week for the lead truck! They are headed down to Maine Locomotive & Machine Works where the lead truck restoration is being completed. Great progress has been made towards the completion of lead truck. The wheelsets were recently machined, and the bearings are being machined to fit the axles.

9/2/2023 Work Session

This weekend, we did the final cleanup from Touch a Train 2023 (www.touchatrain.org). Touch a Train was such a great success this year. Over the course of four and a half hours, New England Steam Corp and @downeastscenicrailroad welcomed hundreds of visitors to Washington Junction Yard. Thanks so much to everyone who came out and said hi. We had a great time telling you about the restoration and all the progress we have made this year!

Thanks for all your support of Touch a Train 2023! Special shoutout to this year’s sponsors: Furbush-Roberts Printing Company and Governor’s Restaurant and Bakery. As well as the Ellsworth and Hancock fire departments and Nora's Grill food truck.

Additionally, work continued this week on the cab. Bob, Jim and Paul worked to round the corners of the cab armrest brackets. Then all four armrest brackets were riveted to the cab walls. With that finished, they then began fitting up the lower legs of the new front cab wall. It’s really taking shape!

8/5/2023 Work Session

Success today! The top row of rivets on the cab wall, near the roofline, was successfully riveted. We have been struggling for some time to set rivets in this tight space.

First, all the old attempts had to be drilled out before the new rivets could be set in. One thing we learned is that regardless of how the heading over of the rivet came out, they were all quite difficult to remove and certainly wanted to keep things together!

Once in place, the rivets were perfected with some cosmetic touch ups of the rivet heads.

The success was brought about by everything we have learned in previous attempts and prototypes, as well as a new forging oven bought for heating rivets. We are loving the new additional heat control this is providing.

Roger continued to needle scale the plethora of small parts that need to get cleaned up.

Everyone worked on getting the shop prepared for Touch a Train 2023. We can’t wait to see you out at the yard. Get all the details at www.touchatrain.org. The event is free!

Present for today’s work session were Leverett, Paul VS, Bob, Roger and Brian H.

7/23/2023 Work Session

Beautiful warm summer day with no rain for a change! Bob and Brian attacked poorly executed rivets on the cab wall, and removed them so that they can be redone. When they don't pass muster, they can be re-done. Next, they drilled the rivet holes for the new cab side window arm rest brackets and fitted them up with temporary bolts. Bob did some grinding and cutting on the cab roof vent frame. The smoke box petticoat made a fine work rest!

Jim worked on the loco's chassis, removing the never ending accumulated crud. Finally, Brian got quite a few cleaned up parts primed and painted.

We gave a number of shop tours both before and after train departures.  A chap from England was very interested in what we were doing, along with a couple from Arizona. Never know who you will meet during the course of the day!

Only a few more weeks until Touch a Train.  Do come pay us a visit!

In attendance were Jim Armstrong, Brian Herbert and Bob DeWachter.

7/15/2023 Work Session

Today, Paul and Bob reworked the staging for a better working height to drive rivets in the cab front wall roofline. Paul, Jim and Bob drove some rivets into the cab wall to roof brace.  It didn't go very well, and none of them came out in a presentable fashion. We are going to have to rethink the process and make some tweaks to achieve better success rates.  All part of the learning process!

Jim did some cleaning and oiling on the chassis.  Roger worked on needle scaling the cab roof hatch frame.

Bob made a bit of an archeological discovery this weekend. A few weeks ago, the welded on cab hatch had been cut free from the hatch framework.  We were never convinced this was the original hatch that had been welded shut.  Having plans for the old steel, Bob did some cleaning up.  There was no paint left on the outside of this hatch piece, but there were some splotches of black on the inside of it. Using a flapper disc to remove the paint, Bob went through black, primer and then found MEC green and yellow.  So the hatch blank was made from a piece of another car or locomotive by the RR.  There is no clear indication of when this was done.  Maybe when other areas of the cab were patched.  It is definitely a different shade of green than a few spots found in other cab areas. Quite a mystery!

Paul, Roger, Bob and Jim Armstrong in attendance.

Amherst Railway Society Grant

New England Steam was recently awarded a $2000 grant from Amherst Railway Society that will be applied to having 470's Franklin Precision Reverse Gear disassembled, inspected and a cost given to rebuild it for service. Once we know what the rebuilding costs are, we will seek additional funding to pay for it. We will be shipping it to FMW Solutions later this year.

7/1/2023 Work Session

Only Bob was working in the shop today, but he still managed to get quite a few things accomplished!

He started with some maintenance on the MIG welder.  With that done, it made sense to test it out some, and decided to eradicate a grouping of holes in the upper cab corner. These holes were testament to the various window/door hinges applied over the years.  Since we're starting fresh with the wall, window, and hinges, these holes were of no use.

This is what it looked like before:

And after Bob worked on it:

Bob checked out the air monitoring instrument and performed a sample gas calibration. This dials in the sampling sensors for O2, CO, H2S (sewer gas), and Methane (flammables). The device has an air pump constantly sampling work space air and alerts with beacons and audible alarms if danger thresholds are detected. Bob also delivered a donated serviceable 50lb CO2 fire extinguisher on a cart. This will be excellent for chilling bearings!

Finally, Bob made some brackets for both cab sides that mount the window arm rests.  These will be riveted in place.  The brackets that had been there before were welded. We are opting for rivets, as it will be more appropriate and aesthetic. To finish the effect, the corners will all be rounded before the final installation.

6/24/2023 Work Session

This weekend, we concentrated on getting some rivets driven into the new metal of the cab.  We are still working out setups and techniques.  This week, we tried new, longer, rivets for the front wall to roof arch brace joint. This area has been a tough cookie due to the limited space involved. The rivet backer with a pneumatic cylinder that braces to the next arch of the roof continued to work well. The hammer forming of the rivet head is done on the outside for this joint. We were able to drive rivets on both sides of the new front wall, successfully tying in the new side walls.

A few non-acceptable rivets were removed, and a few heads were reworked to improve appearance.

All in all it was pretty successful and we should be able to pick up where we left off next session and get more rivets driven. If anyone has interest in some hands on involvement with 470's restoration please contact NESCo. We always need more hands!

In attendance at the shop today were Bob DeWachter, Brian Herbert and Peter Violette.

Mid Maine Sports Car Club Comes for a Tour

On Sat the 24th NESCo conducted a tour of our shop and 470 hosting the Mid Maine Sports Car Club.  Pre-arrangements were made to accommodate our largest group tour to date.  We were ready!  37 MMSCC members arrived in a group of beautiful European Sports and Touring cars.  Great group of people who were genuinely enthusiastic to discover what NESCo and 470 was all about.  We had three NESCo members in the crowd adding to the interaction and Leverett did a great job leading the tour and answering questions.  Everyone seemed to have an enjoyable time!

Special thanks to Anne Follweiler from MMSCC for reaching out and making this happen.

If your organization has an interest in doing this, please contact NESCo to schedule your tour!

6/10/2023 Work Session

Roger continued with needle scaling bits and pieces.  After amassing quite a collection of cleaned parts, Brian got most of them primed up on Sunday.

Bob welded two old 2” tubes together, which were threaded through the smokebox, boiler and into the firebox.  This allowed hanging of lighting to illuminate the entire interior.  Brian set up a ventilation blower to provide fresh air into the boiler.  Paul spent much time in the “tube” cleaning up tube ends and swept the floor, filling a few sacks (and his hair) with debris.

All of us tackled removing the throttle from the boiler.  We were able to remove the throttle spool from the body.  There was no corrosion of any kind inside, and the piston ring was absolutely perfect.  Nice surprise! This was lowered to the ground, giving the previously installed davit its first test.  We got the locking nut for the throttle shaft backed off, but the shaft still needs more persuasion to unscrew….   The upper throttle body mounting bolts were removed after diligent work.

During the next work session, we will tackle the dry pipe connection and throttle shaft.  Then the throttle body will be free.

In attendance on this fine day was Bob D., Paul VS, Brian Herbert, and Roger.  Leverett was about also.

New England Steam Corp.
a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization
P.O. Box 302
Winterport, ME 04496