OHCR #1293

September 17 , 2007

Eastbound Ohio Central #1293 passes a westbound W&LE freight at the west end of Gambrinus Yard on the outskirts of Canton, Ohio. The Timken Company is to the left of our train and the former Luntz Iron & Metal automobile and freight car scrap yard called Plant 62 is located to the right.

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Leaving the W&LE’s abandoned Canton Yard, Ohio Central #1293 approaches the diamonds at WANDLE, site of the former PRR tower of the same name in downtown Canton, Ohio. These former PRR main line tracks between New York and Chicago have been downgraded, and are now owned and operated by Norfolk Southern.

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Ohio Central #1293 approaches the East Tuscarawas Avenue grade crossing in Canton, Ohio, site of the block-long passenger station/main office of the Connotton Valley narrow gauge railway and, later, the standard gauge W&LE. The station was razed in 1938 after the cessation of all W&LE passenger service, and has been a vacant lot ever since.

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Built for: Canadian Pacific Railway Company as 1293
Sale: 12/1963 to Monadnock, Steamtown & Northern Amusements Corp., Inc. at North Walpole, NH
Transfer of corporate assets: 1964 to F. Nelson Blount
Transfer of corporate assets: April 1965 to Green Mountain Railroad Corporation
Sale: 07/1973 to Steamtown Foundation at Bellows Falls, VT; moved to Scranton, PA in September 1984

Although they were among the last steam locomotives purchased by the Canadian Pacific, the class G-5 bore more than a passing resemblance to other CP 4-6-2's built as early as 1905. Combining the reliability of an old and proven design with the efficiency of latter day steam technology, the G-5's were instantly successful, and found favor over virtually all of the CP system.

Six of the G-5's are still around today.
No. 1201 is preserved at the National Museum of Canada, in Ottawa.
No. 1246 is on display at the Danbury Railway Museum, in Danbury, CT.
No.'s 1238 & 1286 are privately owned by Jack Showalter and are stored in Staunton, VA.
No.'s 1278 & 1293 are at the Ohio Central's Morgan Run Shops
1278 stored pending future restoration (see 1278) and 1293 stored serviceable.

1293 was run at Steamtown in Bellows Falls, VT in the late 1970's having been restored for Vermont's Bicentennial. She ran from Riverside to Rutland and Riverside to Chester, VT for Steamtown operations and last saw service in 1980. At the end of 1979, she pulled a five car train painted in matching black and silver for a month of movie work on the CNR near Montreal filming "Train to Terror" for Astro Films.

This 4-6-2 was moved to Scranton, PA with the rest of the Steamtown collection in September 1984 where she sat dormant until 1996, when the Ohio Central purchased her. She received a 13-month restoration and was returned to service in the fall of 1997.

She debuted at Sugarcreek, OH, on Thursday, September 18, 1997 and after six Sugarcreek to Baltic roundtrip excursions, starred pulling mainline varnish for "SteamFest '97". She has had zero over-the-road failures since.

OVERHAUL PICTURES
#1293 - 15 Year Federal Inspection

	Working on two Steamers! Here you can see 4-6-0 #1551 in the foreground with 4-6-2 #1293 behind her. Both engines had all their boiler tubes and flues removed so that they can be inspected for new Federal Regulations that come into play in 2002.
	Here is a rare view of all the tubes and flues removed from the boiler of the #1551. This view is from inside the smokebox.
	Here is the same view inside the boiler of the #1293 with the tubes and flues removed. This also was taken from within the smokebox.
	The Water pump off of the #1293. Our machinist has completely disassembled it and plans on renewing more than half of the components. You can see all the parts that are usually located inside that pump laying on the cart next to the cast body.
	Bill Goslin works on the fireman's side running board skirting
	Here Jason Johnson works on chipping at a weld repair that he just made on the engineer's side of the smokebox
	Grant Geist works on marking the boiler into one-foot square sections so that boiler plate thickness can be checked using an ultrasound meter.
	Here is a close-up of Grant drawing grid lines on the firebox
Updated January 5, 2002	The left side of the locomotive. As you can see the boiler is getting a fresh coat of high-tech high-heat paint. All of the ultrasound testing has been completed on the exterior of the boiler.
	Inside the boiler. This picture was taken from inside the firebox looking forward. The inside of the boiler has been cleaned down to bare metal and coated with a special paint to with-stand the high temperatures of the boiler.
	Grant takes thickness measurements of the rear flue sheet. He is using a D-meter that uses ultrasonic waves to measure the thickness of the steel.
	The firebox - with no fire and no firebrick in place. The tubes you see running up and down help circulate water through the boiler and around the firebox. The holes you see in the front will receive tubes that remove smoke and gases from the firebox to the smokebox and out the stack.
Updated February 12, 2002	Here is a shot from a top the boiler looking forward to the stack, throttle and boiler check valves.
	A rare view under the boiler looking forward at the first driving wheel axle. Above that (red primer) you can see the recently installed waste sheet (part of the frame that supports the boiler.) This was removed to ultrasound between it and the boiler and then it was cleaned, inspected, primed and reinstalled with newly machined bolts.
	Volunteer Crew Member Ron Weaver works on the water pump for the 1293. He is cleaning up the gasket surfaces before the pump is reassembled.
	The machine shop section of the shop. From Left to Right, Josh is working on the water pump, Reno is cleaning some parts for the water pump and our machinist, Scott Czigans, is turning a new liner for the water pump. This Water pump is getting a complete first class over-haul, as you can see be the number of guys working on it here.
Re-Tubing the Boiler	The flues that will go into the 1293. The 1293 needs 32 five and a half inch diameter flues. The rest of the flues you see in the pile are for 4-6-0 #1551.
	The new tubes are brought in the shop. They are very heavy, at 20 feet in length and nearly a quarter of an inch thick these flues need several guys to carry them in and put them in the saw to be cut to length. Here you see several of the volunteers lifting the flue on a wonderful Ohio day!
	Here Gary and Jason use an air powered motor to "roll" the tubes in place. The tool they are using expands the tube into the sheet of the boiler causing a steam-tight seal.
	Here is another view of Gary and Jason "rolling" flues.
	The flues i n the front tube sheet need to be rolled with an air motor with the assistance of a torque converter. This is the red box you see. It helps you get more power out of you air motor and help you make a tighter seal. Here you see CMO Tim Sposato (left) and Jason Johnson (right) running the motor as Greg Shultz and Gary work inside the smokebox.
	Almost finished! Here is a view inside the boiler looking back at the firebox. You can see almost all of the tubes have been installed and everything is looking great. You can see Jason and Gary working away fitting the tubes and flues one-by-one
Updated April 23, 2002	The 1293 sits awaiting a match to be thrown into her firebox. Detailing of paint has yet to be finished.
	Now a fire roars in her firebox. This is the first time we have had her under steam in nearly 4 years. She is in Great condition and ready to run.
	Wwe are blowing her down to get rid of sediment laying in the boiler. We are going over all the rebuilt systems on her, tweaking her to get everything just right.
	Here we are blowing out the throttle, superheater header and steam chest. No valves are in place, this allows steam to escape right from the steam chest without obstruction.