From: rh@loral.uucp (Randy Houk )
Subject: SP #2353 Restoration Project
Organization: Loral Instrumentation
Date: Tue, 15 Sep 92 17:34:36 GMT


     The following article was written by Larry Williams, the project
     leader for the restoration of 4-6-0 #2353 at the San Diego 
     Railroad Museum in Campo, CA.  I hope you find it interesting.  

                       SAN DIEGO RAILROAD MUSEUM PROJECT
		       LOCOMOTIVE SOUTHERN PACIFIC #2353

          The restoration of locomotive Southern Pacific #2353 by the 
     San Diego RaiIroad Museum Steam Team is proceeding toward its
     goal of running steam at their Campo, California location starting 
     in late 1994.  This goal was formally adopted during the last year 
     even though the restoration effort on the locomotive has been 
     continuing since 1986 when the museum trucked the locomotive from 
     the Imperial County Fairgrounds to the Campo museum site.

          Shortly after it arrived at the museum yards, a group of members 
     thoroughly evaluated the locomotive components, brought in a 
     restoration consultant, and issued a comprehensive report that is 
     still being used as their guideline.  This favorable report on the 
     #2353 along with the fact that the locomotive had run on the San Diego
     and Arizona Railway twice in its active service life, encouraged the 
     members to choose to restore it ahead of several other steam 
     locomotives they owned.

          The process of removing the outside appliances began in 1987 with 
     the removal of the smokebox door, the jacket and lagging, and the ashpan. 
     The superheater units were pulled out and the boiler was placed under 
     hydrostatic test pressure and inspected for leaks.  The air compressor, 
     pipes, and air tanks were removed by the end of that year.

          In 1988, the Steam Team, under the leadership of museum member 
     Doug Mick, removed the handles, knobs, glasses, and controls from the 
     cab and then the cab itself came off.  With the advice of steam 
     consultant Dennis Daugherty of the California State Railroad Museum 
     in Sacramento, the team decided that if the restoration were to be done 
     right all the tubes and flues had to come out. The incomplete records 
     indicated the last boiler service had been in the Los Angeles shops of 
     Southern Pacific in 1946, that the locomotive had steamed until 1957, 
     and then had sat in the park for 30 years.  The team decided that the 
     boiler sheets had to be examined, and once inside discovered serious 
     cracking in the knuckle of the front flue sheet necessitating its 
     replacement.

          During 1989, work on the locomotive continued while the team, now 
     led by Robin Becker, began the writing of a complete restoration plan, 
     a work project timeline, and gathering of cost estimates in order to 
     make informed future decisions.  Shop Services Co. of Iowa was called 
     out for evaluation and estimates but it was decided to turn the boiler 
     repair work over to a local shop, Fraser's Boiler Service of San Diego.

          By the end of 1990, the museum volunteers were starting to repair 
     some of the attachments, like the dynamo and the reverser.  The 
     leadership of the locomotive restoration project passed to Larry 
     Williams, and it was decided that the boiler should be removed from the 
     frame and sent to the shop in San Diego.  While it was away the team 
     could more easily complete the frame, running gear, drive lines, and 
     cab repairs.  By the end of 1991 the steam pipes were out and the 
     boiler was loosened from its saddle and the frame.  
     
          The S.D. Railroad Museum had received a supply of machine shop 
     equipment by donation from I.H./Solar Co. in San Diego but to this point 
     had not placed it in service.  The Steam Team was most fortunate to get 
     a retired machinist as a volunteer who many years ago had worked in the 
     roundhouse shop of the San Diego and Arizona Railway and even worked on 
     this same #2353 locomotive.  With the guidance of Vernon "Smitty" Smith, 
     the machine shop was set up in early 1992 and is rescuing such critical 
     parts as drive boxes, valve stems, and a thousand other parts.

	  In July, 1992 the museum crew lifted the boiler with their large 
     rail-crane and set it onto a truck trailer.  As soon as the boiler was 
     gone, the restoration of the frame began.  The axle binders were removed, 
     the shoes and wedges loosened, and the frame jacked up two feet.  All of 
     the springs and hangers were taken out for work in the machine shop.

          Once the frame was lifted, the pilot truck was rolled out for 
     dismantling and repairs.  The team found that many of the parts of the 
     pilot had come off another locomotive -- the S.P. #2363.  In fact, they 
     found that the boiler and some of the axles, drive boxes, and springs 
     had also come off the wrecked #2363.

          The records are quite incomplete, but it appears that in 1915 both 
     the #2353 and the #2363 were involved in crashes.  The Bayshore shops of
     the Southern Pacific apparently scrapped the #2363 and used many of the 
     parts on our #2353 to return it to service in early 1916.

          At this writing the work on the boiler is progressing rapidly. The 
     smokebox has been removed, the front flue sheet taken out and the new one 
     being created, and the firebox being welded.  Meanwhile, at the Campo 
     yards the team has completed work on the frame and is looking forward to 
     having it sitting back on restored pilot truck, drive boxes, and renewed 
     suspension by the beginning of 1993.
     
                      **** SP #2353 SPECIFICATIONS ****

	         BUILDER-----------------Baldwin, Philadelphia, PA.
	         CLASS-------------------T-31 T-63 22/28 162-S
	         DATE BUILT/DELIVERED----August/October 1912
		 WEIGHT(light/loaded)----182,880/208,000 lbs.
		 WEIGHT ON DRIVERS-------162,000 lbs.
		 TRACTIVE EFFORT---------36,570 lbs. (38,400)
		 DRIVER DIAMETER---------63 inches
		 CYLINDER BORE/STROKE----22/28 inches
		 BOILER PRESSURE---------200 psi (210)
		 TENDER CLASS------------120-C-1, Vanderbuilt
		 TENDER FUEL CAPACITY----4,000 gallons
		 TENDER WATER CAPACITY---12,000 gallons
		 TENDER WEIGHT(loaded)---221,900 lbs.

                 Numbers in ( ) indicate results after a
		 feedwater heater was added in January 1927.

     If you are interested in becoming involved with the restoration of
     this locomotive, we welcome you to come out to Campo and lend a hand.
     If you are unable to assist in this manner, monetary donations are
     also gladly accepted, mainly to help fund the rebuilding of the boiler.

     Donations can be sent to:   San Diego Railroad Museum
				 1050 Kettner Blvd.
				 San Diego, CA  92101

				 Please indicate "Project #2353" on your check

     Also, if anyone can provide ideas on the best way to clean out a
     tender's fuel bunker (with the EPA in mind), please respond to me.  In
     particular, anyone involved in the SP #2479 project, please contact me.

     Randy Houk     rh@loral.cts.com     619 674-5100 x-4756