CLEVELAND — The American Steam Railroad Preservation Association is aiming for an initial test firing of Reading Co. 4-8-4 No. 2100 within 60 days, as it continues a number of smaller projects after completing installation of firebox firebrick.
The engine is being restored to operate as American Freedom Train No. 250.
Forrest Nace, the organization’s treasurer and a member of its restoration crew, says volunteers worked in shifts with professional bricklayers on weekdays during the holiday period to ensure the firebrick was installed by the end of the year. That allowed contractors to move forward with cab and burner pipework and bracket fabrication when they returned to work in early January.
While the locomotive had previously been set up to burn oil, the components have been reengineered to place the burner at the front of the firebox, below the throat sheet, as opposed to at the rear where the firebox door opening is located. “This necessitated an all new valve/pipe location and bracket setup to be engineered and fabricated,” Nace says. “The stoker motor was also removed from under the cab and placed into storage to allow more room for inspections and maintenance of the oil-burning components now installed.”
Among other projects in progress are installing new boiler bracket studs, making new steam dome and feedwater heater gaskets, and fabricating a new firebox door frame and door with peephole.
The organization is seeking donations, memberships, and merchandise sales to raise the $145,000 needed for the project. “If we sell just 760 more of our AFT 250 memberships,” Nace says, “we will have the funds on hand to complete the restoration this year, and cover the costs of performing the break-in running we will need to do.”
The online store and a tax-deductible donation page can be found at the organization’s website. Donation checks can also be mailed to: American Steam Railroad Preservation Association, 2800 W. 3rd St, Cleveland, OH 44113.
That looks funny.