Rumors About Locomotive Shop Work

[Dick Cowles]

I'd be a little cautious about the rumors appearing on the Gote about the scheduling of locomotive work at the C&TS shops.

When 463? There has been a consistent pattern over the years that, even when there is little work left to complete on a given locomotive before returning it to service, the elapsed time necessary stretches out once the season starts, simply because everyone is preoccupied with operating requirements having a higher priority. So nothing new in the fact that 463's completion date is hard to predict. Certainly 463 is not needed to cover the schedule since all four K-36's are in service. However, there are some uses for which 463 would be especially well-suited this season, so I wouldn't be surprised to see an effort to wrap up the remaining tasks (which according to my information are fairly minor, but obviously necessary).

About 484. Don't know why the rumor of doing 484's boiler this winter. At the end of last season 484 had used up 1,093 days under steam out of its FRA-mandated limit of !,472 days. At a typical 130 days under steam each season for each of the four K-36's, 484 would not reach it limit until late in the 2014. If 484's boiler rebuild was done right by the Chama Shop back in the winter of 2003-04 there should be no reason to do its boiler until the winter of 2013-14 at the earliest. Of course, since HRM now has overall responsibility for operations at the C&TS, such future scheduling decisions will be for HRM and the Commission to decide.

[John Cole]

Thanks for the information Dick. It would appear that another board is just guessing, and having the hard facts about when the 84's boiler time runs out is most helpful.

When is the next boiler due for its inspection?

[Dick Cowles]

Most likely 487 would be the next loco requiring a boiler rebuild following 484. 487 had a boiler rebuild completed in late-May 2004 by the Antonito shop (a month later than the 484 done in Chama) and by the end of the 2011 season had been under steam for 1,054 days, 39 steam days fewer than 484. Odds are that the usage of the four k-36 locos is likely to continue the pattern experienced in the past several years, so 487 should be able to run all the way through the 2014 season before needing to have its boiler done during the 2014-15 off-season. This is a further reason why 484 ought to be done in the 2013-14 off-season, otherwise the shop crews would have to do two boilers during the 2014-15 winter.

[Dick Cowles]

As said in previous posts in this thread, decisions about when to rebuild the boilers of 484 and 488 are up to the Commission (which has to come up with the money) and HRM (which manages such shop work).

Back in January the assumptions about future locomotive usage were increased to adjust for anticipated new, additional trains by HRM. For instance the total "days under steam" for all C&TS locomotives was projected at 640 days, as compared to the approximately 500 days the locos were under steam in 2011 (a 28% increase in loco usage). On this basis, if usage is spread equally among the C&TS locos (as usually occurs), 484 would get through the 2012 and 2013 seasons and most of the 2014 season before reaching the 1,472 day limit mandated by the FRA under the Part 230, Form 4, regulations. Furthermore, 487 would get through all three of those seasons before hitting the 1,472 day limit. Obviously, waiting until the 2014-15 off-season to do both would unnecessarily overload the shop. So best to do one boiler rebuild per off-season. This also makes sense when one considers that 488's boiler is likely to reach its 1,472 limit toward the end of the 2015 season.

Since there is some risk that one or more of the K-36's could begin to experience boiler problems before reaching the 1,472-day limit, the Commission and HRM could decide that accelerating the schedule would be best. That becomes a question of funding availability, other shop priorities such as running gear rebuilds, cylinders, appliances, etc., and the actual condition of the boilers themselves -- none of these factors are fixed and immutable except the 1,472-day limit.

Because neither Colorado nor NM appropriated any monies for locomotive work for fiscal 2012-13, even if the Commission and HRM wanted to do either 484's or 487's boiler in advance this winter (i.e., two seasons sooner than mandated under FRA rules), the Commission might not be able to afford it. Fortunately, NM appropriated enough money for track and boiler work for fiscal 2011-12 that those monies might prove sufficient, but that's up to the Commission to determine how best to allocate such funding.

Whatever the outcome, the good news is that the K-36 fleet is in damn good shape and the return of 463 to service will provide further support for new and innovative services by HRM.