July 2024

What’s new with the 5057? In terms of progress, not much has changed. We are still waiting for an opening to get the locomotive into the Pend Oreille Valley Railroad (POVA) shop at Usk, WA to continue the restoration work and we have an updated cost estimate to complete it.

A new Chief Mechanical Officer, Myles Keogh, took over management of the POVA shop in 2020. In March 2023, we met with him and other members of the POVA team for 1 1/2 hours to review the work we have planned for the 5057. The key conclusion from that meeting was that the original 2012 cost estimate of $40,000 was significantly under bid. The new estimate is $150,000, which includes $26,000 for an industrial standard “top of the line” paint job, Once this work is done, the final product will be a clean, non-operational locomotive to be displayed at the South Cle Elum Rail Yard, eventually within an exhibit hall.

Restoration work at POVA will include:

• removal of the fuel tank to steam clean the residual fuel oils, then seal and reinstall it
• draining and flushing out all oils from the prime mover and mechanical systems
• cleaning/bead blasting all exterior lower surfaces (below the frame) and the interior of engine compartment to remove residual toxic materials, then painting with rust-inhibiting coatings
• repairing the electrical system for the lighting
• repairing the air brake systems to be operational for interchange and transport
• repairing or, if too badly damaged by rust, replacing exterior sheet metal
• repairing the hood doors and replacing latches as needed
• restoring the cab interior to near-original condition
• repainting the entire locomotive

We have been staying in regular communication with staff at POVA about scheduling time for the 5057 in the shop. In early 2021, we scheduled a time slot between July and September 2023 for POVA to work on the 5057. Before that could occur, POVA received a large contract for rebuilding locomotives from one of their major customers. We discussed this situation with them and agreed that the 5057 work was a lower priority and the work could be done as shop space is available while they complete this large contract. POVA is currently designing an expansion of the shop to create more capacity, but that will not help the situation in the near-term. In the meantime, we continue to be persistently patient and check in with Myles Keogh on a quarterly basis to monitor the status of activities at POVA.

CRF currently has $84,000 raised for the 5057. We have suspended active fundraising until we can get the locomotive in the shop to show some fresh progress. In addition to raising funds to finish the restoration, we also still need to raise funds for moving the locomotive to the South Cle Elum Rail Yard and improvements there to display it.

Cascade Rail Foundation Vice President Mark Borleske discusses a topic with POVA Chief Mechanical Officer Myles Keogh next to the 5057 in March 2023. Photo by Robert Darby.

Most of the sheet metal repair on the cab exterior was completed in 2016. Photo by Robert Darby.