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2005

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26 August 2005

Royal Hudson 2860 Rebuild

Currently underway in the shop of the West Coast Railway Association is the rebuild of Royal Hudson #2860.
 

The boiler sheet metal and lagging are removed, revealing the fireman's side of firebox and stay bolts underneath. All photos by Randy Lucas.
 

Shown in the pictures immediately above and below, the stripping of the boiler has just started . It is anticipated there will be some replacement of front and rear tube sheets, as well as work to the side sheets in the firebox. Other than that, nothing major is required, just a routine "tube job". The locomotive is in great shape!
 

Engineer's side of the boiler. Other than a routine tube job and minor repairs on the boiler #2860 is thought to be in excellent condition.
 

The big bare spot, in the picture immediately below, shows where the sand box was. A mobile crane was used to remove the sand box and transport it around the shop and yard, next picture below, for inspection and repair. 2860's sand box was draped over the boiler under the wrapper to maintain the streamlined appearance, which accounts for the unusual shape.
 

Sand box has been removed from top of the boiler.
 

 

Mobile crane was used to remove the sand box and move it around the shop and yard.
 

As of 13 Aug 2005, tube removal is almost complete, and all the superheaters have been removed. New tubes and flues had been previously purchased and sent to Portland to be swaged by Doyle McCormack and company; new superheaters are also on order. Some of the caps have been removed from the flexible staybolts, all the stub ends have been removed from the smokebox tube sheet, and work is now focused on removing more of the outside jackets and hardware.
 
Work is also in progress on the boiler appliances, and new gauges have been ordered to replace missing items. A new booster engine exhaust coupling has been fabricated to replace one that had been borrowed from CPR #2850, which powered the 1939 Royal Train. The return of this item, and several other small loaned items, was requested by Exporail for the display of #2850 in their new museum building at St. Constant, Quebec.
 
Also, as part of the rebuild process a diesel MU and the device for reading the Flashing Rear End Device (FRED) will be added. The FRED reader and the radios have already been donated.

Cordova Bay Station Victoria British Columbia Canada - www.okthepk.ca