Carson & Colorado Railway

Before getting into the May work weekend we are saddened to report  that Larry Peckham, one of our biggest supporters, suddenly passed away on May 1. Aside from his interest in the #18 – which he remembered being put into Dehy park in 1955 – Larry was a big 4 wheel drive enthusiast. He was a lifelong bachelor and had been a resident of Independence for the final 67 years of his life. Aside from being at every work party as our “Safety officer” Larry had contributed over half of the money spent to date on the restoration. Larry’s smile and presence will be greatly missed. Larry was 72 at the time of his passing. A memorial and work party will be held in his honor on June 28th.

As for the work weekend over the 9-10th of May…. During the process of getting the spring rigging laced up, we realized two things that we had missed: The #2-3 springs were completely different from left to right, and the coil springs located behind the #3 driver were also all different sizes.

To remedy this issue we jacked the rear of the locomotive up slightly and removed the coil springs as well as the right rear leaf spring and are having all new made. While the weight is off the engine we also took the time to even up the spring saddles to compensate for the change in crown brass thicknesses. With the new springs installed this should really make the #18 sit and ride nicely.

In addition to the spring work, Scott and Bob spent some time installing the brake rigging and new brake shoes. Both the #1 and #2 brake beams and four shoes are installed and ready for the brake rods and #3 brake beam to go together next time. As far as running gear goes, things are really flying together despite the setback of the coil springs.

Meanwhile up in the smoke box the copper ferrals were all installed and the flues are ready for rolling on the next work days! While we will be taking most of June off we will be hitting the work hard in July and August so stay tuned.

The weekend of April 12th and 13th was to be the weekend for the final push to lower the #18 back onto her driving wheels. By the end of the day on the 12th after a year and a half the #18 was back on her wheels.

There was only about 6″ further to lower the locomotive. Just as before we had to lift, remove cribbing, and then lower and reset the jacks, while in between checking the driver boxes and making adjustments as needed. Shortly after we began lowering we had to re-install the remaining spring rigging for the #3 drivers. Because of tight clearances, and issues with the rear springs and driver boxes this was a difficult job.  After some sweat and hard work we got them in.

At the front end things were a little easier with the pony truck. We removed the cribbing, double checked the alignment of the bolster then lowered the locomotive into the pony truck.

Once down far enough for the frame to clear the bottom of the driver boxes we installed the frame binders, and ran the wedges up. The latter of which will be properly adjusted later. Finally it was all clear to lower her down all the way. Once down we made note of any issues and took some measurements for later reference. It was found that the locomotive was still not sitting quite right and that we will have to build up at least two of the spring saddles to accommodate for the crown brass and axle work.

On Sunday it was decided that it would be best to roll the locomotive as far as possible in hope that she would settle with the drivers and the driver boxes with the frame. While prepping for this move, copper ferrell’s for the tubes were being installed in the front tube sheet.

When we where ready to move, we hooked her up to a jeep with a winch and pulled backwards until the back end was outside the tent. This was the first time she had been outside the tent since 2011. Then we pushed (with man power) her back in. As planned, this did align the locomotive and wheels.

As before THANK YOU to all who came out to help. This was a big step towards completing the restoration. It sure is good to see her on her wheels again.

In other news we now have available for purchase a limited edition 13×19 print of Jan Rons painting of the #18 at our proposed engine house. Details can be found by following the link on the upper right side of the page.