Dr. Robert Schoen, board president, gives an update on the status of finishing the restoration of 786.
The SP 786 was completed by the American Locomotive Company’s Brooks Works of Dunkirk, New York in August of 1916. The locomotive was one of the group of 20 Southern Pacific Mk-5 class 2-8-2 Mikados (numbers 775 to 794). SP 786 was placed in service on the Houston & Texas Central subsidiary of the SP in September of 1916.
The locomotive received several upgrades throughout its career, including: Original extended smokebox shortened in the 1920’s, boiler pressure upgraded from 200 to 210 psi at Houston in 1930, installation of a feedwater heater and superheaters at Houston in 1941, and a brand new tender in 1942.
SP 786 was retired from service and donated to the City of Austin in March of 1956. It was placed on display near the firehouse on Trinity between 4th and 5th streets. It would remain there for 34 years. In 1989 the SP 786 was leased to the newly-formed Austin Steam Train Association and was removed from display the following year.
Restoration of the locomotive began in June of 1990 at the Westinghouse Motor Co. shops in Georgetown, Texas. A team of both professional and volunteer crews completed the intense restoration in a relatively brief amount of time. For three days in December 1991 the operational SP 786 and one coach car were at the center of a celebratory festival in downtown Austin. The first passenger excursion pulled by the restored SP 786 arrived in Burnet on July 25, 1992.
After seven years of reliable service, SP 786 was temporarily sidelined in July 1999 following the discovery of cracks in a key component of the locomotive. This discovery sidelined the SP 786 for a repair which turned into a complete rails-to-stack rebuild which continues to this day.
Ways to support us
Donate to the SP 786 restoration - www.austinsteamtrain.org/dona...
Volunteer - www.austinsteamtrain.org/abou...
Ride - www.austinsteamtrain.org/make...
0:00 Intro & History
1:02 Discovery of Cracks
2:41 Recasting Cylinder Casting
3:28 Boiler Work
3:52 Reinstalling Casting
4:22 Shop Building
5:31 Work Without a Shop
6:23 Driving Boxes, Shoes, & Wedges
9:59 Commitment to the Restoration
13 июл 2024