Norfolk Southern Steam Locomotive Department
I was privileged to be a member of the Norfolk Southern Steam Team in 1984-1985 and worked both in the shop (formerly located in Irondale, AL) and on the road. I started working on the engine crew of the 611 in Virginia, and then was sent down to the steam shop in Irondale which is just outside of Birmingham, AL. In the shop, I participated in the final six months of the 1984-1985 overhaul of steam locomotive 4501 including steam fitting, machining, riveting, tramming, welding, fabricating etc. While the shop had excellent specialists such as head boilermaker, running gear specialist, etc., everyone in the shop lent a hand in just about every job that had to be done. This locomotive was stripped all the way down to just the bare frame and the empty outer shell of the boiler. Even the entire front tube sheet and sections of the side sheets of the firebox were replaced. Some of my projects included:
Reverse engineering, then casting and machining the metallic steam seals for the piston and valve rods. Assisted in the fabrication of the completely new smokebox front ring and door assembly. Machined and installed hundreds and hundreds of staybolts. Replaced many steam lines in and around the cab and boiler. Trammed and measured the old side rods for the replacement crankpin bushings. Lapped and assembled the metal steam joints for the exhaust stand, cylinder steam lines and superheater/drypipe connection, then fabricated and welded the skirts where the steam lines exit the sides of the smokebox. Hydraulic swaging and annealingand sawing the superheater flues. Many, many other tasks too numerous to mention.
If I made a complete laundry list of all the specific projects that I completed or assisted with in the rebuilding of the 4501, the casual observer might get the impression that I restored the entire locomotive myself, or at least thought that I had. Nothing could be further from the truth. Yes, I put in more than 2000 hours in just one six month period, but so did about ten other men, all of whom were/are tremendously talented and hardworking professionals. We were also assisted by a few selected volunteers who often worked just as hard as the paid crew. There are hundreds, perhaps thousands of tasks involved in completely rebuilding a steam locomotive. The complete restoration took about two years.
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Preserving Technology 47 Panola St. Asheville, NC 28801 USA Telephone: 828.713.7828 Fax: 828.251.1112 I am taking a short break from using e-mail due to spam, please forgive the inconvenience. Copyright 2003 Thomas A. Troszak All rights reserved.
