Hey,
I spent the afternoon toiling under the hot afternoon Reno sun, then had a few brews to
cool off, which put me in the perfect mood to sound off. And what better subject to
sound off on than 483 and “professional asbestos removal”. I refer to John West’s recent
posting regarding progress on the 483, in which he mentioned that preparation had been
completed on 483 and 492 for professional asbestos removal.
I’m a friend of the 483. Actually, to be more precise, the 483 is a friend of mine. I
learned to fire and to run on that engine in the mid ‘70’s under the watchful tutelage of
John Oldberg and Rich Braden. I’m also no stranger to asbestos, having spent the last
thirty years or so as a marine steam engineer. It pains me to think that the Friends are
poised to waste a considerable amount of money on professional asbestos removal. If the
Friends have not learned yet, they soon will, that running an antique tourist railroad is an
incredibly expensive proposition, with the thinnest of profit margins. They don’t have
money to throw away on the asbestos abatement hoax. I don’t dispute that asbestos is
hazardous, but let’s use some common sense. Asbestos becomes hazardous when the
fibers become airborne and are subjet to injestion into the respiratory system via the nose
or mouth. If the boiler lagging on the 483 is thoroughly hosed down and soaked before
removal, airborne particulate and fibers will be kept to a minimum, and if the men
performing the work are wearing proper particle masks, exposure will be minimal.
But what about the removed asbestos? No doubt the “professionals” will bag up the
residue and send it off to Missouri to be buried safely underground. Well why not bury it
right there in the railroad yard in Chama?
When I think back to the 70’s, prior to the landmark Johns-Manville asbestos lawsuit, I
know that John Oldberg, Rich Braden, Gary Getman, Bernie Watts, John Coker, Doug
Chaney, many others, and myself are dead already from asbestosis. We used to pulverize
solid asbestos blocks into powder, then add water to make a mud to apply to the boiler
backhead and areas around the staybolts. But, we might be OK, because the asbestos
fibers may not have been able to attach themselves to our already blackened and atrophied
lungs which we acquired while working in clouds of coal dust, either kicking down coal
into the grizzly pit at the coal tipple, or standing on top of the tender while 8 tons of coal
comes helling down out of the tipple chute into the tender, or breathing in the sulphurous
gas from the ashes while cleaning out the remnants of the previous night’s fire prior to
hooking up to the morning train, or from breathing in the billious clouds of black smoke
that wafted back into the cab while drifting down the east or west sides on a hot
afternoon.
You Friends (of the C&TS and of the 483) are involved in dangerous and hazardous
work, and unless conditions have changed in the past 25 years, you’re not doing it in the
hopes of becoming rich or because of the swell medical insurance benefits. Use common
sense methods of protecting your health, and try not to get buried under the bullshit
surrounding the asbestos issue.
Good luck with the 483. I look forward to seeing it run again soon.
