In November 2011, the Bilfinger Berger boiler returned to the Railroad Museum. The boiler bottom has now been replaced, and the bootjack plate (the transition from the standing boiler to the long boiler) has also been renewed. The engineer checks the quality of the work – fits like a glove!
A few months later, in April 2012, the running gear is also completely overhauled and has survived its journey on a flat car from Pila to Kranichstein well. Using a crane from the Meister company in Darmstadt, it is put back on its own wheels and then placed on the workshop track of the locomotive shed, protected from the weather.
Meanwhile, work continues on other parts of the Zuckersusi. Unfortunately, the buffer rods were also affected in the rear-end collision and are therefore being replaced (below).
Trainees from the Darmstadt International Federation (IB), with whom we have already worked very successfully on other projects, will support us in refurbishing the cab.
The cab was disassembled into two parts in the IB workshop and placed on a trestle (bottom left). At the planning board on the right, Mr. Dilling, training manager at the IB, and our workshop manager Stephan Hoffmann discuss the next steps. After straightening, the individual parts of the driver’s cab are not to be welded, but riveted according to the historical model. A total of 760 rivets will have to be set. This makes the cab an ideal training piece for teaching the old craft technique.
