The funding source at that time requested an independent audit of the work yet to be done before additional funds were to be released.

So, has an audit been done or is one pending?

I think the reference should have been to "empirical equations". These are equations derived from experience or experiment. FEA, like so much modern computing, is no better that the assumptions. If an FEA model was to be used to determine stress in boilers, the model would have to be verified before it could be believed. Railroads are either the oldest or second oldest technology in current use. That gives them lots of experience to draw from. This is why codes and standards work so well in railroading. Very little has to be invented new if designers and engineers will just study the history of their industry. Locomotive boiler calculations are set in stone by the FRA and have been proven to be adequate by time. I doubt there will any changes in them anytime soon.

Finite element analysis is a wonderful tool and so are more modern engineering formulas that more accurately model the stress that a structure can take. A cautionary note is that these new methods are geared more and more to vessels with a finite life span and lower design margins so that manufacturers can compete on a more level global playing field. It is my opinion that these methods may not be the best to use when designing, repairing, and building boilers for machines that may still be operating a century from now.

The "cookbook" method referred to is not a bad thing for steam locomotives. The originals were built to these standards and they have withstood the hardest test of all - time. Put simply - it works. Given the service restored and replicated locomotives will see, and given the unpredictable and inconsistent care that they have historically received at the end of steam and over the past 50 years, it is really not a bad idea to have conservatism built into them.

I am reminded of a recent failure of roller bearings on a steam locomotive. I actually saw the design work and it was very thorough and thoughtful. It took into account all the direct, indirect, and compound loads and seemed to have an acceptable design margin. It didn't. Obviously the steam locomotive had some tricks up its sleeve that were quite unanticipated and the bearings failed after minimal service. You only have to look to Acela to see the trouble you can get into using computer models that are untested in actual service.

We recently saw a failure in a "code" boiler after 400 hours of service. While people may be very happy about getting a brand new cheap boiler, the folks who inherit it may not be so ecstatic in 25 years. I believe some consideration must be given to not setting booby traps for future generations in our zeal to get something running at the lowest possible cost. As with anything you will pay now or pay later and typically the interest on later payments is pretty high. We must decide if we are really in the preservation business or do we just want to play today and the heck with the future.

Linn Moedingers very instructive posting raised another interesting lesson it seems to me that all can benefit from courtesy of the sad 1361 saga.
That lesson is that there is no substitute for experience-- and that despite all the truly amazing tools that modern technology has produced in recent years, if you're going to restore one of these magnificient steam machines to life, you darn better sure have a seasoned PROVEN professional in charge, and not be dependent soley on the new gadgets!!!
IMHO-Ross Rowland

that's why I said (but who am I?) that some place or someone with a pROVEN track record should have been given the 1361 project. Strasburg comes to mind. But there is a guy, his names on the tip of my tounge....I think he's from New Jersey, that brought one or two,or THREE mainline steamers back to life, in a short time, that saw service for service for several years with great results......

for the record, Starfire Engineering also did the new form 4 work on the C&TS. They were hired according to the then commission chairman because they showed up at the Antonito office and were nice. The only steam locomotive work that I was able to find was in Iowawith the Boon Senic or something like that.

Robby

I know of an engineering professor educated in the states but a Mexican national that would tell his students on both sides of the border the even thou you input what you believe is the data into a calculator or computer you still need to know if the answer is in the right ball park or even explainable.

To prove that times have change fifteen years ago a civil Engineering professor was asked in a static’s class what a monkey wrench was. After a quick poll on 2 out of 40 knew what monkey wrench was. The world of engineering has changed dramatically since the end of steam. The language and tolls of the engineer have changed but the basic technology of the steam locomotive has not and using the KISS principle in engineering has never been more important.

Robby

Outside of a very few places, such as, but not limited to, Strasburg, very few places have experience maintaining steam locomotives in a mechanically and economically sustainable manner. Otherwise, everybody who had that experience became unemployed no later than the 1950's.

Even those old veterans that are gone or long since done-had shops full of machines and tools that are gone (do you really think anybody took a water soaked hammer to an acetylene heated-red hot piece of steel for weeks to fashion a new backhead)? worked under fewer restrictions. There was no thought to conserving original fabric-everything was expendible. Any service was designed to last months, maybe years, not decades.

There's way to much second-guessing here and too little appreciation for the difficulties involved in dragging a machine from the outdoors after decades and trying to get 'er runnin', especially from people who provided no talent, time or treasure.

I would respectfully disagree with Superheaters point regarding current day mechanical capabilities.
Fortunately for all of us steam lovers the nation is blessed with a number of well equipped and well staffed specialty shops that are quite capable of complete steam locomotive rebuilds and as a matter of fact have recently been so engaged. Added to these are the several handsfulls of "inhouse" shops that do little or no "outside" work but keep thier own steam operations running smoothly year after year.
So I would opine that there were (and are) more than sufficient people and places available to have done the 1361 project right from the get-go, unfortunately they weren't selected!
IMHO-Ross Rowland