New England Steam Corporation is pleased to announce a signed contract with Millinocket Fabrication & Machine of Millinocket, Maine to construct a replacement tender body for Maine Central 470.
Considerable discussion between NESCo and MF&M over the past year has determined the best method to achieve a modern but nearly exact copy of the original tender tank. Manufacturing technology has been considerably upgraded since the age of steam, so there will be welded fabrication inside the cistern that will vastly extend its service life over that of the original. However, as part of NESCo’s mission of preserving not just the locomotive but the skills required to maintain it, hot riveting in the old-fashioned method will be employed by NESCo volunteers to complete all of the external riveting once the fabricated tender is delivered to Washington Junction yard. Original tender doors, grab irons, ladders, and certain fixtures will be removed from the original tender and applied to the new body, which will sit on the original Commonwealth frame and trucks.
Maine Central 470 was not built with a stoker, but one was added by the Maine Central during its career. Current plans are to hand-fire the locomotive (as it was in its as-built configuration) for at least its first few years of operation until the stoker can be fully restored. Allowances have been built into the new tender to match the Maine Central’s original modifications, allowing NESCo to retrofit the stoker motor and mechanism after the tray and screw have been completely rebuilt. The original stoker motor is currently being rebuilt by NESCo Director Robert DeWachter.
Funding for rebuilding the tender came from NESCo members and many private individuals around the United States and Canada. Major funding was also sourced from the Freeman Foundation, the Emery Historical Trust, the Mystic Valley Railway Society, the Deupree Family Foundation, and the Jacobs Family Foundation.
MF&M plans to have the tender body completed in 12 weeks from the first cutting of steel. NESCo is proud to support a Maine company, keeping the funding for this restoration project within the state of Maine.