Reefsteamers 15CA 2056 Boiler Flue Fund Appeal

[John Ashworth]

See photo at http://www.friendsoftherail.com/phpBB2/ ... 40&t=13698

Dear Reefsteamers and Friends of Steam,

Reefsteamers is launching a fund-raising appeal to restore the Class 15CA No.2056 steam locomotive back into operation. Only with your support will Reefsteamers be able to achieve this goal.

A product of American Locomotive Company (ALCO), the Class 15CA 4-8-2 ‘mountain’ type locomotive No.2056 was built in 1926 for the South African Railways. The retired locomotive was acquired by Reefsteamers in 2005 and restored to operable condition in early 2007. After several Reefsteamers trips, she was experiencing issues with the boiler. The failures were traced to poor welding on the safe-ended small tubes. ‘Safe-ending’ refers to a boiler repair process where the worn or corroded section of a boiler tube is cut off and another section is welded on, meaning there is now an extra annular welded joint in the tube. The joints become a potential weak spot in future operation, especially if they weren’t welded 100% correctly.

To remedy this issue, all the small boiler tubes were replaced with brand new items. This was quite a project and was done just before our long-distance Drakensberg Explorer Tour of 2007. The locomotive ran in regular service for about a year, until the same problem was experienced on her flue tubes. The flue tubes are the bigger diameter ‘pipes’ that also retain the superheater elements. Due to the poor safe-end welding on the flues, 15CA No.2056 was stopped from operating by the boiler inspector until ALL the flue tubes are replaced.

Due to lack of funds it has not been possible to purchase replacement flue tubes until now.

Reefsteamers have been able to negotiate a substantial discount with the supplier of the tubes. To take advantage of this generous offer, Reefsteamers needs to order the tubes and pay off the amount in the next six months. Reefsteamers does not have the funds available for this purchase and we are appealing to all lovers of steam to donate to this appeal to allow Reefsteamers to return 15CA No.2056 bark to service, so once again the bark of a 15CA can be heard climbing out of Magaliesburg.

APPEAL TARGET:
R 100,000

WORK TO BE DONE:
Below, is the list of the work that needs to be done to return Class 15CA No.2056 back to service. All of the labour will be supplied by Reefsteamers volunteers. The appeal funds are to be used specifically for the purchase of new boiler flues, the related certified welding and the boiler certification costs.

n Replacement of all flue tubes,

n Testing of all the super heater elements and re-fitment when ready,

n The coded welding necessary and full boiler recertification,

n Removal of the old tender bogies, refurbishment and replacement of new roller bearing bogies,
(We already have the bogies available and waiting to be refurbished)

n Platework repairs on the tender,

n Two new injector water shutoff valves to be fitted,
(Ball Type with PFTE seals, after the successful modernisation
of similar valves on our Class 12AR No.1535 Locomotive.)

n Driver Wheel Flange Profiles to be corrected, (With our rebuilt 1921 Wheel Lathe!)

n A thorough rub-down and total repainting of the loco and tender.


DONATION OPTIONS:
1). R 50,000 Donation - Naming rights on the locomotive for the next five years.
i.e. : We will operate the locomotive with the name board of your choice.

2). R 6,000 Donation. The donor’s name will be inscribed on a plaque to be displayed on the
locomotive and the donor will be entitled to two free tickets on 15CA 2056’s first revenue train trip.

3). R 1,200 Donation.
The donor’s name will be inscribed on a plaque to be displayed on the locomotive.

4). Smaller donations are also very much appreciated. It all adds up!

5). Donations can be paid in six-monthly instalments or in one lump sum.

Please email fundappeal@reefsteamers.com for payment details. It is quite important to
follow the instructions, so your payment goes to the right account and can be readily traced later on.

For overseas donations, we have both UK and Swiss bank accounts available.

This appeal has been endorsed by the Board of Directors of Reefsteamers Association NPC.
(Registration number 1995/002580/08)

Lee Gates
Stubbornly unrepentant ferro-equinologist !
Steam Power – It’s the Wheel Thing!

Reefsteamers Main Website = http://www.reefsteamers.com
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