Re: 168 Repairs.

I am the Director of the Nevada State Railroad Museum.... at Boulder, and was at the Victorian Roundup as crew on Eureka... I have a long history of working on steam, but will be the first to tell you that I an not a qualified steam guy... I am a museum administrator... a historian but when it comes to steam, only a helper... I fired Eureka out of Antonito one day... I tossed wood on several runs... I can "attend" the engine while in the yard...

Working with Earl and George as engineers while working the east side was a graduate education on running a locomotive (and told me I wasn't qualified) as they worked throttle and johnson bar as Eureka slipped then caught up when working with Glenbrook... 2 crews, with no history of working together, with limited experiance, working on a mountain railroad.

What the 168 crew did when the excentric strap broke was old school railroading... understanding the issue, making a field repair and bringing the locomotive home was old school railroading at its best... the emergency repairs the next day were equally a demonstration of steam railroad repair and mainteneance skills in our brave new world.

The photos posted are great.... the railroading was better...

Randy Hees

Director, Nevada State Railroad Museum, Boulder City, retired
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