WRC Projects

Ex-SNCF steam locomotive No. 141 R 568 (2-8-2) made its first public excursion pulling the Swiss Classic Train on December 12 and 13, 2009. The overall excursion operated a round trip from Zürich Main Station to Brig, Switzerland and was divided into two segments: Zürich to Bern and Bern to Brig. The Zürich-Bern segment was handled by the steam locomotive, while the Bern-Brig segment was handled by BLS No. 205, an Ae 6/8 electric locomotive.

WRC team members John Rimmasch and Mike Lewis were on-site to assist with the steam locomotive’s operation from the locomotive shed in Schaffhausen to Bern, and back again. The operating crews (engineer and fireman) were selected members of the 141 R 1244 group based out of Brugg, Switzerland.

The WRC team arrived in Schaffhausen Thursday afternoon shortly after the fire was lit. The remainder of Thursday was spent preparing the locomotive for the two day trip. Also based at the Schaffhausen shed is the “Post, Telegraph, and Telecommunication” (PTT) car which has been converted to a crew car, parts and supplies car, and miniature workshop to support the operation of the steam locomotive. The car was loaded with supplies for the trip including tools, extra parts, lubrication products, food for the crew, and other sundry items.

The 568 made yard movements on Friday, December 11 in order to receive coal. The locomotive and PTT car moved to a freight track free of cantenary wires north of the shed. The coal was delivered and loaded soon after. Before the end of the day, the locomotive and PTT car returned to the shed to be ready for Saturday’s trip to Bern.

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The locomotive and PTT car departed Saturday morning at 7:20 am from Schaffhausen, making a deadhead trip to Zürich where it would meet the Swiss Classic Train arriving from Basel. Once the train was put together, it was backed into Zürich Main Station on Track 12 for loading the passengers.

The train arrived in Bern without any incident. The steam locomotive and PTT car were separated from the train, and classic BLS Ae 6/8 electric No. 205  then took over to take the train over the remainder of the route from Bern to Brig. The steam locomotive and PTT car then made switching moves out of Bern and journeyed about 20 miles north to the small town of Lyss where it would remain overnight at the facility used by the Pacific 01 202 Club, which operates a former Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft 4-6-2. Shortly after the arrival, the 141 R 568 was coaled, watered, and serviced in preparation for the return trip to Zürich.

A night photo session was set up with lights powered by the PTT car for several photographers who had been chasing the 141 R 568 all day. Several night pictures captured by Mike Lewis are included above.

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On Sunday morning, the locomotive steamed up and went back to Zolikofen to meet the Swiss Classic Train arriving from Brig. The train was under way back to Zürich once more when an unexpected stop was made at Olten. The locomotive crew had been unable to maintain steam for some time, and upon opening the smoke box it was discovered that the feed water system had been leaking, thus filling the smoke box with a mixture of wet cinder mud and restricting the draft. Although the train was stopped for an hour to clean out the smokebox, the time was utilized well to also take on water and service other parts of the locomotive. This meant that no further stops were required until reaching Zürich, resulting in an arrival time only 20 minutes behind schedule.

Despite this problem, the locomotive still performed very well. Once leaving the Swiss Classic Train in Zürich, the locomotive was watered and serviced once more for the return trip to Schaffhausen with the PTT car.

The locomotive will remain in storage over the winter season, and several projects are being planned for its wintertime maintenance. Updates will be posted here as progress is made on these projects.

A special thanks goes to Sigi Liechti, Fredy Gfeller, Philipp Zaugg, Roland Ravelli, and others of the 141 R 1244 group, as well as Urias von Meyenberg of William Cook Rail, and volunteers Marc and Daniel Baumgartner for their help, hard work, and dedication in making this trip possible.

Wasatch Railroad Contractors has information on a total of eleven (11) narrow gauge locomotives being offered for sale in the Philippines, five (5) steam locomotives and six (6) diesel locomotives. These locomotives were all part of a 3-foot narrow gauge rail network operated by a sugar company. The company has since decided to remove and liquidate the railroad.

The steam locomotives are all Baldwin-built, build dates ranging from 1919 to 1926. One locomotive has a 0-6-2 wheel configuration, while the remaining four are 0-6-0.

The diesel locomotives are all of the 0-6-0 type, three of them built by Plymouth in the United States between 1961 and 1967, the other three originating from Japan in 1970.

More detailed information and specifications can be found in our File Library under “Sales Brochures”, or simply click the links below to download the appropriate files.

Note: WRC has not performed any type of detailed inspection on any of these locomotives. WRC does not guarantee any compliance to applicable U.S. regulations. The locomotives are being sold as is.

Interested parties should download the documents listed below and follow the instructions. We welcome any questions you may have about the equipment.

Documents:

• Instructions for Bidders
• Brief Overview – Steam and Diesel
• Steam Overview with additional pictures
• Diesel Overview with additional pictures

(Adobe Reader or similar PDF viewer required to view documents.)

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At the end of October, No. 141 R 568 was steamed up and operated locally in Schaffhausen, Switzerland to test new piston rings that had been installed in the piston valves. CEO John Rimmasch and an assistant mechanic, Levi Mueller, made the trip to ensure all went well with the locomotive.

That said, the Swiss Classic Train and the 141 R 568 will be engaged in its first public excursion, handling one part of a two part trip from Zürich to Brig and return. The 141 R 568 will handle the portion between Zürich and Bern, while a classic electric Ae 6/8 will take the train from Bern to Brig over the Lötschberg mountain line.

It has been made known to us that space is still available on this train. The all-inclusive price for train tickets and hotel stay in Brigg is CHF 230 (about US$230, but will depend on exchange rates at the time of purchase.)

There is still time to book a trip. Please download this brochure for complete details and contact information. [Update: The brochure file has been compressed to a smaller file size. If there are any problems viewing or downloading the file, please contact us.]

The excellent black and white photographs above were taken by Thomas von Meyenburg, father of Urias von Meyenburg who assists in caring for the maintenance of the locomotive in Schaffhausen.

Throughout this year WRC has been building a new boiler for a German-built narrow gauge locomotive that is now here in the United States. The original boiler was shipped to Cheyenne, WY late 2007 for evaluation. At that point, it was determined that the best option would be to build a new ASME Code boiler for less money than it would take to repair and modify the existing boiler.

Throughout the year we have been working on this project in parallel with our many other projects. We are happy to say that the boiler is mostly assembled and we look forward to having it completed soon.

Seriously considering a new boiler for your locomotive? We’d love to chat with you about it, just contact us.

Work is progressing quite well on our prototype Cagney Class D boiler. We have been able to assemble many of the major components, which includes the boiler barrel, smoke box, front tube sheet, wrapper sheets, firebox, mud ring, and back head. At this point, we still have the staybolts and tubes to install.

If you will notice in the picture of the smoke box, the pattern for tube arrangement is not the same as in original Class D boilers. This arrangement provides for a total of 26 tubes and will make a considerable increase in the overall heating surface area of the boiler.

Welds joining the wrapper sheets and back head will be polished smooth in the final product.

The prototype boiler still requires the installation of tubes, staybolts, and a few other items, as well as heat treatment, hydrostatic tests, and final inspection.

Once the prototype boiler is completed, designs for the boiler will be finalized and production on duplicate boilers will commence.