Restoration Update: A New Firepan for Mt. Tamalpais Engine No. 9 and Progress with Pilot/Cowcatcher
- Friends of No. 9
- Jun 17, 2024
- 2 min read
The heart of a steam engine is inside the boiler where a roaring 1800º flame burns furiously, working to turn cold water into the high pressure steam that can move a 36-ton locomotive. Beneath the boiler is the firepan where the flame lives, burning and breathing as hard or as little as the engine crew wants.
Don Millerick spent weeks puzzling over the corroded, deformed firepan remains of Mt. Tamalpais & Muir Woods Engine No. 9, trying to figure out what the original looked like. It was a unique one-of-a-kind piece built in the Mill Valley workshop of the scenic railway, a larger unit than the stock firepan built by Heisler Locomotive, so there was nothing to compare it to.
Don was not on the project in 2020 when we removed the asbestos and a firepan full of ash. With the help of some photos Don worked with the pieces until it made sense. He test-fit the new parts and after painting they were riveted together.
Out on Tomales Bay, boatbuilder Jeremy Fisher-Smith test-fit the wooden parts of No. 9’s new pilot or “cowcatcher”. It’s a beautiful thing to see.
We are so lucky to have such extraordinary help on this project — from all corners.
Thank you!
Fred Runner
President
Friends of No. 9, Inc.
A Nonprofit Corporation
The distorted remains of No. 9’s firepan.
Don Millerick holds a remanent in its original place, showing how the firepan was attached to the bottom of the boiler, and illustrate where new metal will go.
Back from the paint shop, Don Millerick and Rick Beach show how the original firepan dampers will be attached. No. 9’s original fuel burner, all polished up, is at the far side of the firepan in the newly built mount.
Boatbuilder Jeremy Fisher-Smith's test fits the wooden parts of No. 9's new pilot. It will take almost 300 vintage parts to hold this 6 1/2-foot wide piece together.
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