FORMER OGR CEO - RETIRED posted:Oh my God...
All that new plumbing up on top of the boiler indicates that they have removed the Wilson Blowdown Sludge Separator system! That was the excellent boiler blow down system that Alco used which did a great job of keeping the boiler clean while moving over the road. The 800s, 3900 Challengers, and the Big Boys all had these sludge removers on them.
This same Ed Dickens-inspired "improvement and simplification" was done to to 844 a few years ago, which resulted in worst case of boiler sludge, scale and crap build-up in the boiler that I have ever seen! Better get your pictures on Day 1, before this thing dies from the boiler becoming totally plugged with sludge.
What will you say when it makes it to Day 2?