Engine 557 Restoration Company
Progress Report February 2023

The morning south bound freight train usually clears the engine house by 8 a.m. each day. On February 22, 2023 it boasted 16,000 horsepower in four units lead by SD70MAC 4012. The snow cover in Wasilla is only a third or less than that both North and South of us on the main. Temperatures have been mild in the teens up to the mid thirties here at the 557 Engine House. Spring is coming for sure with over 10 hours of daylight today and gaining over 6 minutes a day. On March 20th we will break 12 hours per day.

Greater Anchorage Incorporated hosts the 10 days of The Anchorage Fur Rendezvous with a full schedule.

Engine 557 has a display at the Historic Anchorage Alaska Railroad Depot as part of the Great AlaskaTrain Show. Several of our regular volunteers work with Secretary Dick Morris to staff the exhibit. The Military Society of Model Railroad Engineers sponsors the event this year returning after a two year Covid break.

What others say

From Ross Rowland on Railway Preservation News, “Congratulations Dick to you and your crew for your steadfast devotion to this task. I'm confident that once she's back in service you'll be properly rewarded. Keep up the good work.”

Tom Simco from Colorado is well known in the restoration and rail preservation circles and gets to Alaska every other year for a visit to 557 and family. He says, “Just to let you know I ALWAYS READ THE UPDATES on the #557!! And then I forward it to about 6 dozen folks here in CO., N.M. & back east and up into New England!”

Alan Armbruster, President of The Tanana Valley Model Railroad Club visited the Fairbanks Ice Art Park and took photos of a real polar express. Alan commented, “My Chinese Ice Carving friend had already carved this Steam Engine, and I suggested ‘557' as the number, which he gladly added to his sculpture. That is why the wheel arrangement is not exactly as the true '557', but still real 'cool'.”

Check out the steam coming out of the stack on a cold winter day! RailFan Alan in the cab gives some scale to this frozen memory. Very COOL indeed.

Now there are 2 Ice Sculpture Parks in Fairbanks, and 557 Steam Engine is located in the 'Ice Art Park', off Philips Field Road in Fairbanks.

Welding Rod Hansen traveled from Texas to Wasilla just to work on super heater elements for a week. He worked with several of the crew preparing some of the heat warped elements, removing bad sections with the metal blade chop saw. Completed welds on new forged return ends reflect the quality of work done on these elements.

Last month we noted progress on finishing the surface of the piston rods. Jeff, Jerry and Terry have now completed burnish hardening the surface and final finish to remove the smallest of possible stress risers. If the piston rod assembly had been 1/2 inch shorter this creative setup on the Lodge and Shipley machine lathe would not have been possible.

The crew worked with Jerry Cunnington and Jeff to finish the ends on the ferrels in a variety of sizes that will be installed on the tubes and flues only on the front flue sheet. Terry Fisher at the Anchorage Metals Supermarket, precut all the various gauge flat steel stock needed for the project.

Yes we are making progress on 557 while preparing to host a three man crew from Steam Services of America in March to install tubes and flues. The process started by shuffling tubes out of storage under the work bench where they have been since 2014. The cost of these tubes and flues has gone up as much as 300% since then. Next extracting the 5.5” flues posed a little more challenge as we had to rearrange the area to get the fork lift in. That is why everything on the floor is on wheels or palletized for movement with the fork lift. Once tubes and flues were repositioned, suddenly we had new storage space under the bench.

James Keene went to work immediately using 60 grit flapper disks in a pneumatic die grinder to carefully remove the paint from two inches on one end of each tube. The tubes will be individually sized for each position in the boiler then trimmed and finish cleaned on the other end.

We have had many February visitors at 557. Patricia Purcell, a member of the Museum of Alaska Transportation and Industry Board came by to check on progress. The Museum had stored the USRA tender behind a locomotive crane for many years before donating it to Engine 557. The tender originated behind Alaska Railroad USRA designed Lima 0-6-0 switcher believed to be number 613. When the locomotive was scrapped the tender went into service with locomotive crane #57 which was in turn donated to MATI.

Trice Smith, was visiting from Denver and spending some time here with family for a week of Rondy. Scott McEwen brought her by 557 to get an update on developments in the Engine House.

Rusty Wendlandt is an active custom builder in HO scale visiting from Wisconsin with his Uncle, Carl Gloede. They rode the AURORA to Talkeetna and stopped by 557 on their road trip return to Anchorage with Mike Gerenday who took the photo.

Back on October 8, 2022 at our 557 roll out this casual photo captured two old timers. On the left is what is left of myself, Pat Durand, after being on this project for 10 years. On the right is Dan Gullickson formerly of Barrow and Fairbanks and the guy who started the ball rolling on restoration and operation of 3 ft gauge Porter 0-4-0 Builders #1792 which became Tanana Valley #1.

Dan had been the music teacher in Barrow for several years and then moved to Fairbanks with his family when the BIA established its media center there. Dan went on to become the public information office for the Bureau of Land Management BLM in Fairbanks.

From the 70’s on we have maintained a personal and business relationship based on our common interest in history, old iron, railroads and educational media. Early in 1990 we were to have breakfast together, and Dan advised me we were going to the Kiwanis and that I was to be the featured speaker. I asked what the topic was going to be. Dan’s reply,“ You are going to tell them why we need to restore #1, that old derelict locomotive setting at Alaska Land.” As I lived 300 miles from Fairbanks, obviously I was the expert on such things.

With that little encouragement the school teacher media guy, Dan organized the Friends of the Tanana Valley Railroad and when #1 was 100 years old, she operated around the 3 foot gauge track at Alaska Land, later to be renamed Pioneer Park. With dedicated volunteers she still fills that important role connecting us with Fairbanks history in the Tanana Valley 30 years later.

Possibly as an act of vengeance, when 557 was destined to come back to Alaska, my friend Dan Gullickson, pushed me forward to issue the challenge and witness the creation of Engine 557 Restoration Company.

That in a nut shell is how two guys who had never worked for a railroad, but with a shared vision of Steam Engines telling their stories for future generations, could make a difference. Yes, we are still friends with many shared memories to go with the vision.

 

Patrick J. Durand
President Engine 557 Restoration Company

 

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