Re: Plans for C&T 483

As a member of the Friends team that has been working on 483's cosmetic restoration these past three years, I can safely say that all of us on the team would dearly love to see her run again. This is a significant part of our motivation to work on her. We want what is there to be preserved, stopping further deterioration, while making her look nice to visitors. And we are repairing small items as we have the resources to mend/replace: for example, new cab seats, and a replacement pilot beam fabricated from wood so we have something to mount her pilot on. One item we are presently considering is replacing the stanchions that hold hand rails in place. They come in several slightly different lengths depending on their position along the boiler, and only a handful of the originals are left. We cobbled together temporary replacements from cut lengths of old flue tubes just so we could get the hand rails back up.

I have heard many rumors, but not being an expert in these things, I cannot testify to the present condition of her major components: boiler, frame, running gear, etc... Someone like Earl I sure could weigh in with good information here. From my own experience, I can say that the 'accessories' we have been putting back on her are mostly, if not all, worn out parts taken off the other K36's. But, they look nice with the rust removed and a new coat of paint, and make her look more like her old self.

Though we appreciate her historical significance to the D&RGW and C&TS, we recognize her complete restoration would be one of the most expensive. So, for practical reasons, 497 might get rebuilt before 483. Whatever the future holds, decay has been interrupted and she looks pretty good now. She will look even better next year when we get some paint on the tender (which is about half hers) we got brought out of the swamp several weeks ago.
Rob Brigham
FOTC&T 483 Team