Appearantly #28 is down for repairs so it looks like Sierra #2 will be starting off this years tourist season at Jamestown. The crew has been working to get #2 ready.
From what I hear, #3 Is getting a new boiler made in Washington, and I think a new smoke box with it. Fabrication will be completed done sometime in June/July. They are also are also getting a new tender tank made, and a new cab. The old tender tank is rusted through in many spots. I hear the Covers (Covers Apple Ranch) won the bid to do the wood work on the tender floor. Not sure what the new cab will be made out of. Probably Metal. They have the money to do all this work already. #28 needs a new crown sheet. "Excessive stress corrosion and wasting around the stay bolts". Its also rumored that the whole firebox needs to be replaced. I'm not sure if they have any money to perform this work. I'm also not sure if they have had the time to diagnose everything she will need. We'll see how long they can keep #2 operational. Shays need lots of love.
Bad News Vintage Locomotive Sierra 613 Stands In for Steam April 29, 2009 by Railtown Staff Sierra Railway 613 The Sierra Railway 613, is a diesel-electric locomotive built by GE/Alco for the US Army. It is a MRS1 (”Military Road Switcher”), Alco number B2063, and weighs 120 tons. This is one of 96 diesel-electric locomotives built for the US Army Transportation Corp in 1953. They were designed with a multi-gauge truck, and interchangable couplers, so that in the case of deployment in Europe, they could be adapted for any type of existing track. They were preserved in storage until 1970, when five of them were transferred to the Concord Naval Weapons Station for use as switchers on the base. The Navy assigned this one the number 65-000613. In 1991 we purchased the 613 from the US Navy, and it has been in use at Railtown ever since, as a yard switcher. We also use it for our excursion trains when our steam locomotives are down for maintenance. Originally painted jet black, the 613 has an unusual paint job, the result of a commerical filmed at Railtown. The differences we experience when operating a diesel locomotive, emphasize why steam engines were so quickly replaced by this modern technology. For example, our engine crew doesn’t have to wake up as early in the morning. Instead of a 3 hour prep-time for steam, the diesel can be ready in as little as 10 minutes, and doesn’t require a fireman. It also requires less fuel and we can skip the trip to the water tower. Our vintage diesel locomotives serve an important role, and have their own unique stories. However, we look forward to having the Shay #2 running again in the near future, after repairs are made to the center truck.
True.... I rememeber when I was growing up near there, ( Concord Naval Base),some protesters stood on the track in front of one of these engines, and one guy was run over, losing his legs.
I don't rememeber exactly. I think they were moving something to or from the base to ships, and they were protesting the shipments. It was even caught on film, because there were news crews there. They showed the 'non-gory' version over and over on the news.
If I remember correctly, that incident happened in the mid-1980s. The protesters where protesting "military shipments" to Central America (El Salvador or Nicaragua?).
