Locomotive 924 is a six-coupled, former Northern Pacific locomotive. It is held in the collection of the Northwest Railway Museum and beginning in November 2014 rehabilitation work has been underway. The objective is to return the 924 to its former glory and operate it on the Museum's railway between Snoqualmie Falls and North Bend.
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924 ready for insulation removal
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Urethane foam was used to seal weak
areas until the removal project was
ready to begin.
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Since the fateful day last November when the locomotive was pushed into the Conservation and Restoration Center, the boiler interior has been stripped of
tubes and scale, the Form 4 engineering package begun (regulatory requirement for operating a steam locomotive), new
firebox side sheets fabricated and welded in place, a new all riveted tender
cistern fabricated, the tender frame rehabilitated for service, and tank installed on the frame.
However, a major hurdle for the completion of the boiler work remained the locomotive's jacketing and insulation. In order to
complete the Form 4 process, the exterior of the boiler had to be
stripped for visual inspection, and the final ultrasonic thickness data
collected.
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Director Anderson and
Curator Pappas wore
elaborate protective
equipment.
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Preliminary testing determined that the insulating material was a form
of asbestos, commonly used for locomotive boiler insulation, but now found to
be harmful to human respiratory systems, causing malignant
cancers, formation of plaques that inhibit lung function, and a host of other
nasty, potentially life-ending conditions. Needless to say, the work of removing this
material needed to be performed in a safe manner for everyone involved. Hiring
a remediation contractor is quite expensive, and it was the suggestion of
volunteer Zeb Darrah to obtain the necessary training and certification to
legally conduct the remediation in house. He recommended several
potential training programs, and did the majority of the preliminary fact
finding for the legalities of doing this work in house. In preparation
for this museum director Richard Anderson and curator Efstathios Pappas
received training from Argus Pacific, a private firm that specializes in hazardous material handling training.
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Edwin from Global Asbestos
Contractors checks verifies
the entry door seal on the
containment structure.
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In early August, remediation work began working with Global Asbestos Abatement, a
licensed asbestos contractor. By partnering
with this firm, valuable advice and experience was available to the team,
but perhaps more importantly the necessary equipment to complete the job safely and effectively.
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A double-wall containment structure
was built over locomotive 924.
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Over the course of three days, the mandated double wall containment was
constructed of polyethylene sheeting, and taped so as to be air tight to a
minimum of -.018 inches of mercury with HEPA negative air machines running.
A three stage decontamination chamber was built and attached to the front of the
enclosure, and pre-abatement samples taken so as to demonstrate a clean and
safe working environment, and provide comparison for the post abatement
samples. All work conducted in the enclosure was accomplished using full
face respirators with external supplied air, full coverage Tyvek suits, as well as
appropriate personal protective gear such as hearing protection, gloves, etc.
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Insulation is sprayed with water prior
to removal to reduce the likelihood
that fibers will be introduced to the
atmosphere.
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The
removal of the jacket and insulation took approximately a day and a half to
remove and safely bag for disposal. Although the original jacket was in
very poor shape, the reason for involving trained museum professionals in the
actual remediation was highlighted in the data collected that will be useful as
rehabilitation of the locomotive continues. Hardware such as boiler band
brackets, washout plug ferrules, and other assorted hardware was removed,
cleaned and saved for reuse. In addition, various samples of trim
treatments, riveting of jacket panels, etc were also saved, and will allow the
team to match the original methods of construction as closely as possible.
Illustrating how this benefits the Museum was a discovery made on the inner surface of
the jacket located just beneath the hydrostatic lubricator bracket: an
uncorroded patch of the original American Iron boiler jacket surface.
Samples such as these are rare because the oxide finish of both Russian and
American Iron was extremely prone to corrosion and loss if not kept continuously
oiled. Curator Pappas noted the extremely oil soaked appearance of the
jacket and insulation in this area due to frequent overfilling and leakage of
the hydrostat over many decades of service, and was particularly mindful of the
potential presence of an unadulterated sample.
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Clean boiler!
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Following the removal of the material, the arduous process of
cleaning all surfaces of the locomotive and containment began. The next
three days were required to assure the successful completion of the job.
The surface of the boiler was rough due to surface corrosion, and
provided an ideal surface for asbestos fibers to be trapped and potentially
endanger individuals working on the locomotive in the future. To avoid
this possibility, all flaky rust was removed with a chipping hammer and wire
brushed while moistened to clean the surface. More aggressive methods
such as needle gunning and wire wheeling are usually not employed as these can
raise the concentration of fibers in the containment to unsafe levels, even
with full face mask protection. After this step, all surfaces of the
locomotive and containment were vacuumed using a HEPA vaccum cleaner, and all
debris double bagged and removed from the containment. Although this may
sound like a relatively simple matter, the work in full protective gear on a
hot summer day can be exhausting!
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After the insulation was double bagged
and removed, the enclosure room was
cleaned and locked down. An air
sample was collected during a two
hour interval to verify that there was
no airborne fibers prior to removal of
the containment.
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Once everything was cleaned, a final wash down with water was
conducted over every surface. The water was then collected below the
engine, and pumped through approved water filters to remove any asbestos micro
fibers. All of the secondary inner walls of the containment were sprayed
with a fixative called Lockdown, taken down, rolled, and double bagged for
removal. Then all primary surfaces were also sprayed with lockdown and
clearance air samples taken. This last step is critical to assure the
safety of anyone in the shop, as once the containment is breached, any
contamination will remain. After the samples were examined by a third
party local laboratory, air quality was found to be ideal, with the lowest
presence of asbestos recordable!
Although a great deal of time and
effort was expended to conduct this remediation, the money saved, and
opportunities for artifact care and documentation were worth the effort.
With this work completed, it is time to finish the boiler work and
proceed to the running gear. Look for more updates soon as Snoqualmie
rings with the sounds of heavy boiler work again! Until then, we hope to
see you all in Snoqualmie.
It was a beautiful day in historic downtown Snoqualmie. The temperature was in the low 70s and there was not a cloud in the sky. More than 125 people gathered before the Snoqualmie Depot's distinctive octagonal turret to hear a dedication by Museum Board President Dennis Snook. Surrounded by historic reenactors dressed in their late 19th Century finery, President Snook spoke of the Depot's construction in 1890, how it was completed in 90 days, and cost just $4,200. Constructed by the firm of Anderson and Scott, the Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway commissioned this unusually elaborate depot designed in the late Queen Anne style. 
City of Snoqualmie Councilmember Bob Jeans presented a proclamation from Snoqualmie Mayor Matt Larson acknowledging the Depot's birthday, its importance to the community's past, present, and future, and declaring Sunday, August 16, 2015 as Snoqualmie Depot Day. The success of the Depot as the centerpiece of historic downtown Snoqualmie has been a cornerstone of the redevelopment of the district and the City of Snoqualmie has been an important partner with the Museum.
