One of our most useful pieces of equipment went down on us last year. After many years of faithful service, the transmission gear box failed. It is one of our new machines, housed in the Tri-Dam building, so most visitors do not see it. Keep in mind that the term ‘new’ is relative, here. The Cincinnati #4 Horizonal Mill with Powered [...]
Archive for the ‘Sacramento Shops’ Category
Revamping the Cincinnati Milling Machine
Posted in Crossheads & Guides, Equipment, Maintenance, Restoration, Sacramento Shops, Staff, tagged Cinncinnati Milling Machine, Railtown on March 15, 2012 |
Scenes Around the Shop Today
Posted in Boiler, Sacramento Shops, Sierra No. 3, Staff on January 19, 2010 |
In The News
Posted in Boiler, Driving wheels, Frame, Restoration, Sacramento Shops, Shop Tours, Sierra No. 3, Staff, Volunteers on October 30, 2009 |
KCRA 3 in Sacramento aired a story about the Sierra #3 on Wednesday evening. You can see it for yourself (note: Reporter Walt Gray refers to being able to see it at Jamestown next month. Shop tours resume on the 11th of November, but we don’t expect to be operational until April!) http://www.kcra.com/video/21469294/index.html Also, an article in [...]
Oversized Load
Posted in Boiler, Driving wheels, Frame, Restoration, Sacramento Shops, Sierra No. 3, Staff, Volunteers on October 29, 2009 |
Oversized loads require a special transportation permit, issued by The California Department of Transportation (CalTrans). Our load is over the height limit. A permit had been obtained for a 14’6″ load (at the top of the steam dome). Our final measurement (including rail, angle of the trailer, etc), measured 15′ 3″. This required a new [...]
Zero Days ’til Ship
Posted in Boiler, Driving wheels, Frame, Restoration, Sacramento Shops, Sierra No. 3, Staff, Volunteers on October 28, 2009 |
Final Boiler Placement!
Posted in Boiler, Frame, Restoration, Sacramento Shops, Sierra No. 3, Staff, Volunteers on October 26, 2009 |
After more than a month of fitting and adjusting, the time for the final attachment of the boiler has arrived! Each of the furnace and waist bearers has been fabricated and adjusted. All of the difficult-to-reach holes have been drilled and reamed. “Proud” bits have been ground down (“proud” is shop-talk for something that sticks [...]
Crunch Time-Today in the Shop
Posted in Boiler, Driving wheels, Frame, Restoration, Sacramento Shops, Sierra No. 3, Staff, Volunteers on October 25, 2009 |
On Thursday, October 29th, the #3 will be shipped back to Railtown. Consisting of the new boiler, the chassis and the driving wheels, it doesn’t quite look like a locomotive. . . yet. To ensure the ship date is met, it’s all hands on deck, and a long week ahead. Here’s a look at what [...]
Fabrication of New Furnace Bearers
Posted in Boiler, Restoration, Sacramento Shops, Sierra No. 3, Staff on October 19, 2009 |
The problem was how to bend the plates of 5/8″ thick steel exactly where we wanted it. After some colorful discussions and several sketches on lunch bags and knapkins, ace designer and fabricator Leonard Jones built a jig for the bending operation using a few pieces of steel and a handy 350 ton hydraulic press. We [...]
Furnace Bearers
Posted in Boiler, Restoration, Sacramento Shops on October 15, 2009 |
At the rear of the boiler are eight furnace bearers, four on each side. These transmit the weight of the boiler to the locomotive frame. They are bolted rigidly to the sides of the boiler but are not rigidly connected to the frame since they must slide as the boiler heats up and grows longer. If these were [...]
Back at the Jamestown Shops
Posted in Driving wheels, Frame, Sacramento Shops, Sierra No. 3, Staff, Tender on October 4, 2009 |
Most of the workforce is now at the Sacramento Shops, where work on the Sierra #3 boiler is now occurring 7 days a week until the target return date of October 29th. In the meantime, activity continues at Railtown’s Jamestown shop, just at a quieter pace. Previously repaired rod brass, frames George Sapp and Erik Young [...]
