Durango, Colorado
September 24th, 1944
Mr. R. McLean
Burnham, Colorado
Dear Sir:
In reply to your letter of Sept. 22nd in reference to the time that has expired on engine 346.
Your statement that I did not notify you that the engine was returned to you for three weeks is explained to be incorrect by the fact that the engine was returned to the Rio Grande by the R.G. Southern on July 16th. Please refer to my telegram of that same date notifying you, Mr. Bagstetter, Mr. Rice, Mr. Thompson, Mr. Carpenter and Mr. Tively of that fact. My report of joint inspection followed immediately.
During the ten days between July 16th and 226th, when you were here, Mr. Cumming was here and said that he thought you intended to have us renew the flues here. However, I did not consider I had the authority to begin work on class 4 F without having been instructed to do so by you. Since the Durango shop hasn’t done anything but light repair work for fifteen or more years I didn’t know whether the company wanted to do this sort of work here or not. I did know this boilermaker did not and does not want it here since he has always done only light repair work and laborers work for a few hours on nights until I managed to get him working days.
I explained to you and to mr. Bagstetter when I was in Denver why I placed the date of Oct. 31st on the engine. That reason being that I didn’t know when I would get the wheels, flues and dome, which I had sent to Burnham for repairs. But at that time Mr. Rice told Mr. Bagstetter and I that the repairs were completed and were being sent down here then.
Before leaving Durango on vacation I stressed the fact to this boilermaker that he must have the boiler scaled ready to go on with the repairs when the parts came from Burnham. When I returned the boiler hadn’t been touched. Had he done as I told him to do he would have found the interior of the boiler pitted a week sooner. This is typical of the lack of co-operation I get from him. To check on his type of work I refer you to the boilermakers who have been here this month. It would have been unnecessary to have has the expense of these extra boilermakers if Schilthius hadn’t refused to buck rivets, saying that back injuries he sustained in a collision with a Rio Grande Motorway Bus has disabled him to a great extent.
In reference to your paragraph about the new flues. I don’t recall requesting new flues, but did follow your instruction and sent to Burnham shops the entire set of flues out of the engine. When they were returned we found most of them defective and not usable. You will recall marking some of them yourself Sept. 13th and telling Schilthius to throw out the bad orders. He said 114 were bad and refused to continue putting them in without your O.K. I wired you to send more flues, and that is when you sent the boilermaker foreman Klipka down to inspect them. He instructed us to weld 37 of the 114 and said when he went back through Alamosa he would send 40 more flues, which I am receiving on the extra West this morning.
I surely agree, to my regret, we are taking too much time. As I see the causes of the unnecessary and expensive delay is that the boilermaker did not follow my instruction and scale the boiler when I told him to, and the defective flues. If they had arrived in Durango in condition to put in the first time it would, as I am sure you agree, have speeded up things considerably.
The boilermaker did want to quit in the middle of the day to go fishing. He was not permitted to do so, of course.
Some of the men resent doing heavy work here. Once they get used to the idea we will operate satisfactorily. Since Schilthius isn’t agreeable to pitching in and putting out heavy work, and since he has asked you for a transfer, I am convinced another man who would work only for our Company, which is job enough form one man without outside wirk, would be more satisfactory for our purpose here.
Our stock rush is on and has been for two weeks. However we will do everything possible to get the engine our on the 30th.
Yours truly,
W.B. Heath
P.S.
Telegram sent to Burnham Shops 9/25/44. “Inspector Harms is here today and examined engine 346 flues. Found safe and weld defective. He suggests you examine flue roller mandrel for being our of center as nearly all welds failed to fuse on one side. Also suggests that daily test be made by bending flues at weld.” I am sending you sample of test Mr. Harmes made on flues out of the 346 this date on 116.
CC W.H. Bagstetter - A.E. Rice
