1

Engine 103: Restoration 1998
20th Century, Circa 1998
Westfield Heritage Village, Rockton, Ontario, Canada


Credits:
Charles Doubrough

2

In the mid eighties, the financial viability of Westfield was deeply in question. The City was very seriously considering the option of closing the museum and in fact did mothball Westfield for nearly five years. At that time there was an initiative put forward to move the 103 again, this time down to the Museum of Steam and Technology in Hamilton's east end. It was close enough to being a done deal that a process of disassembly was begun on the 103 in preparation for a move.

3

Don't start what you can't finish.
20th Century, Circa 1988
Westfield Heritage Village, Rockton, Ontario, Canada


4

Cab controls removed in the eighties
20th Century, Circa 1988
Westfield Heritage Village, Rockton, Ontario, Canada


5

The relocation plan somehow came off the rails and was aborted. Whether this was due to changes in management at Westfield and at Steam and Tech, or perhaps because of financial constraints is uncertain now, but at the time there were some hard feelings on the subject. Like it or not, the 103 was at Westfield to stay and began to fall deeper into disrepair during the dark years of the closure of the museum.

6

103 during museum closure
20th Century, Circa 1989
Westfield Heritage Village, Rockton, Ontario, Canada


7

When Westfield Volunteers successfully agitated City Hall to hand over management of Westfield to the Hamilton Region Conservation Authority in 1989, the museum re-opened with a new business model and began renovating historic buildings on site. By 1993, the need for a serious intervention on behalf of the 103 had placed it in the restoration queue. At that time, a long slow process was started that led to the restoration of the engine, once again spear-headed by the efforts of Charles Doubrough.

8

Bob Green discusses joining the 103 Restoration Team
6 June 2008
Westfield Heritage Village, Rockton, Ontario, Canada
TEXT ATTACHMENT


Credits:
Katherine Murphy

9

Bob Green, Restoration Group volunteer, interview summary.

Bob Green used to work with diesel locomotives at STELCO in Hamilton. He had always shared an interest in trains with his brother. He was reading in the Dundas Star Journal when he saw an ad requesting volunteers for a locomotive restoration project at Westfield. He attended the meeting along with about twenty people and decided to take part in the restoration. He ended up being part of the original core of volunteers who did the heavy work of disassembling the locomotive and assessing what needed to be done. It was looking to be a bigger job than anyone had imagined. In the first few years it was a very daunting task to take on restoring the 103.

10

In 1997 a small group of volunteers got together to initiate a refurbishment of the 103 for static display. It looked to be a big job. The initial expectation was that the project would take three years but as work began it became obvious that a more invasive, rigorous job would be required to undo the deeply penetrating corrosion that had damaged the cab, the boiler jacket, and, in particular, the locomotive's coal tender.

11

Engine 103: Restoration 2000
21st Century, Circa 2000s
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada


Credits:
Charles Doubrough

12

Darcy Baker discusses organizing the 103 Restoration project
16 June 2008
Westfield Heritage Village, Rockton, Ontario, Canada
TEXT ATTACHMENT


Credits:
Katherine Murphy

13

Darcy Baker, Conservation Authority Staff Person in the Restoration Group, interview summary.

The roles that the volunteers took on in the project were based on personal experience and expertise. There were metal workers, pipe fitters, researchers and in Darcy's case, younger men with the physical strength to do the hard labour of the restoration. As the only Conservation Authority staff person actively involved, he also took on the role of liaison between the Authority and the Restoration Group.

14

Engine 103: Restoration 1998
20th Century, Circa 1998
Westfield Heritage Village, Rockton, Ontario, Canada


Credits:
Charles Doubrough