The R. W. H. Foundation is undertaking the rehabilitation to operation of a 50 ton, class B (two-truck) Climax, construction number (S/N) 1692, out-shopped in December of 1928 as a standard gauge locomotive. Originally built for the Elk River Coal and Lumber Company of Swandale, WV as their #3, the engine went to the Clinchfield Coal Company, also in Swandale, in 1958, but did not operate there. Sometime later in 1958 S/N 1692 went to the W. M. Ritter Lumber Company, also in Swandale. In 1962 the engine was acquired by the Carroll Park and Western Railway in Bloomsburg, PA where it was re-gauged to 48". Finally, sometime in 1972, S/N 1692 was acquired by Roaring Camp and brought to Felton, CA [Thompson, Dennis Blake; Richard Dunn; Steve Hauff (2006). The Climax Locomotive. Arlington, WA. Oso Publishing]. After being in the Roaring Camp collection for more than 40 years, the locomotive was donated to the newly formed RWH Foundation with the intention that the locomotive be rebuilt to operating condition.

Work began on April 26, 2019 when Phil Reader and I spent the first day of a three-day work weekend cleaning up the yard around the locomotive. The goal was to have the trucks removed and the frame set on shop trucks. By Sunday, with the help of Roaring Camp’s venerable Tom Shreve and engine house mechanic Steve Mello, we accomplished our goal. I returned in June and October to tear down the trucks and begin the design effort for the new truck parts. After the trucks were out from under the locomotive, the engine was placed on 3 foot gauge shop trucks and moved to a new location on the Roaring Camp premises in August of 2019. In order for the foundation to begin accepting volunteers to work on the locomotive, it was important for the engine to be moved to an area separate from the Roaring Camp Railroads shop in order to make sure that the foundation had its own space to work on the engine.

The greatest mechanical challenge to this project is re-gauging the trucks to 36". The re-gauge from standard to 48" was accomplished by simply pushing in the wheels on the axles. The wheels could be pushed in further to 36", but that would create a very large bending moment where the axle leaves the outside hub of the wheel. This bending moment could lead to axle failure. For this reason, the decision was made to re-gauge the trucks by fabricating new bolsters and spring boards from steel plate and structural shapes, and new axles from 4140 steel round bar. Other new truck components will include arch bars, ring and pinion gears, ring gear carriers, journal, lineshaft and carrier bearings, and brake rigging.

The original boiler for #5 was sent to Dixon Boiler Works in Los Angeles, CA sometime in 1978 to have a new boiler fabricated. The plan was for the boiler to be worked on as fill-in work as money was made available. Unfortunately with the unexpected passing of Roaring Camp's founder Norman Clark in 1985 and Dixon owner Richard Dixon in the 1990's the boiler was never completed and the original and fabricated components were scrapped. In the late 1990's, Tom Shreve traveled to the Sumpter Valley Railroad to inspect a Climax boiler that was sitting unused. The boiler spent the end of its operating career as a stationary steam supply and is in very good condition. A deal was struck to trade Westside Lumber Company coffin (tank) car #5 and another Westside flat car for the boiler. Eventually the flues will be removed from the boiler and a complete survey will be made to determine what repairs, if any, are needed to operate the boiler at its original design pressure of 200psi.

This restoration began steeped in controversy. To some, the idea of removing historic fabric (original materials and components) and not striving to restore the locomotive to its original configuration using the materials and techniques of the original constructors defies the very nature of what a museum should set out to do. The Climax will not be a museum piece. It will be an operating steam locomotive with a hard and specific job to do. The object of the work is better described as rehabilitation to service. The engine will emerge from the construction process into a new chapter in its long life. Along the way there will be engineering and fabrication problems to solve which will undoubtedly raise some spirited debate. Personally, I look forward to those moments of disagreement as I have found they almost always lead to novel solutions.