Cass Scenic Railroad Receives Federal Grant
to Complete the
Climax Locomotive Restoration

Looming Deadline Requires Additional Volunteer Help

On August 11, 2009 Governor Joe Manchin, announced that the Cass Scenic Railroad State Park, and the Mountain State Railroad & Logging Historical Association (the Park’s Foundation of Record) were the recipient of a $200,000 Federal Transportation Enhancement Grant (TEA-21).

Robert Beanblossom, District Administrator of State Parks, and Joe Gonzalez, Board of Directors of MSR&LHA, were on hand to receive the grant from the Governor. This is the second grant that the Park has received in the past four years for the Climax Restoration Project.

The first grant was used to acquire many of the needed patterns, castings, parts, and materials for the Climax locomotive.

This second grant is for the boiler work and completion of the locomotive. The overall purpose of the Transportation Grants is to enhance the Cass Scenic Railroad with a completely rebuilt operational historic locomotive to carry passengers.

To date, including this new grant, the Park and Mountain State have expended over $500,000 in the Climax Project, and have been working on it for seven years. This includes careful disassembly, inventory, and cataloging all the parts and castings and the refurbishing of literally thousands of individual parts. Keep in mind that this locomotive had hard use with very little maintenance, was involved in a violent collision, and was in the 1972 Cass shop fire. When Grady Smith and the restoration volunteers started to dissemble the locomotive, pieces of some castings fell apart.

 Over the years parts have been rebuilt, or new ones made, milling, boring, drilling, and salvaging everything possible. New material has been bought, patterns and castings made, and many subassemblies of components completed.

Now a New Beginning, so We Can Reach the End

The Climax Project is now reaching it's most important and critical stage. With the new grant there is a critical time line to finish the locomotive to a completion stage so it can be turned over to the Cass Shop for the pressure vessel instillation work. In the agreement between Mountain State and the Park, it is the responsibility of Mountain State to restore the Climax's under frame, running gears, cab, coal bunker, and water tank to operational level. 

We are also responsible for contracting to have the boiler prepared for service, including getting PE-stamped engineering drawings of it, completed Federal Railway Administration Forms 4 and 19, and insuring that all needed repairs are completed by the contractor. The Cass Shop crew will install the boiler in the frame, make all needed pressure plumbing, lagging insulation, and install the jacket covering of the boiler. Mountain State will assist under the direction of the Shop Foreman.

Now is the time to call on our membership for HELP.  In the past seven years, Grady and all of the folks that have worked so hard on the Climax project have done a fantastic job of getting the locomotive ready to this point. We have a 30-month window on the Grant. This means in the next 30 months we need to have the locomotive ready to turn over to the Cass Shop for the boiler installation to meet the compliance of the Grant.

Several Board members are ramping up the support to the Climax Project with the development of short and long term planning. We have developed a list of tasks and a time line to accomplish these items. Over the next several months the objectives that we need to accomplish are as follows: 

• Complete the reconstruction, painting, and final assembly of all three locomotive trucks (including tires,axles, gears, and brakes).  Much of the work on the truck components has been completed and once the gears and bearings are ready the trucks can be painted and assembled for the final time.

• Sandblast and paint the locomotive frame.  Major repairs to the frame are almost complete and it will be sandblasted by a contractor prior to priming and painting.

• Complete the construction of the new water tank.  This requires putting in several hundred rivets, welding in baffle plates, installing the top and bottom, and painting the tender.

• Prepare the wood deck to accept the new water tank.

• Place the trucks under the frame and do the final installation of the water tank.

We plan to accomplish the above work by next May (in time for the 2010 Cass Railfan Weekend).  This is a very aggressive schedule and the only way it can be done is by your help.

 
Volunteers Needed

You might think that you do not possess any of the fine skills that are necessary to do locomotive work. Not true. Much of the work just involves painting, wire brushing, and nuts and bolts assembly. This is an opportunity for you to be involved and be part of this historic project. All of your lodging, and meals are provided and the accommodation's are in typical Company house living style. 

All volunteers must be current MSR&LHA members.

A Schedule of the upcoming work weekends is here.

Please help us complete this wonderful project