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Sunday, February 9. 2014
Steam Department Update 02-08-2014 Posted by Nigel Bennett
in Steam Department at
16:17
Comments (3) Steam Department Update 02-08-2014
Back again after a week’s gap. Last weekend was the worst yet. Saturday working was cancelled on February 1st as the forecast suggested so much snow. In retrospect that may have been overkill as we did work yesterday when more snow fell than actually arrived the previous week ….. the forecast just did not seem as bad!!.
I have been out at the museum more this week as I take on the role of museum Treasurer. The museum site is an incredible Winter wonderland. Dave and the B&G team have done a great job keeping the roads open. He was saying yesterday that the plough truck has run about 220 miles so far this season simply clearing on site. However each working day we have to dig our way into the shop, clear drifts to get to equipment like the compressor and any idea of moving equipment or getting at boxcars or containers is a joke. There are considerable drifts or barriers of ploughed snow everywhere you look.
Anyway, Phil and Tom braved the elements last Sunday and did some work on 428.
This Saturday I was heavily involved in the Board meeting and some follow on Treasurer activities so was not very productive in the shop. However, there was a good turn out and substantial progress.
On 1630:
The major step forward was reaching general agreement of the plan for painting. This does not sounds much but is actually rather complicated. We have two (or effectively three) methods of painting different areas. Large parts of the loco will be sprayed. However, there are substantial areas that are so confined and irregular in shape that it seems impossible that a decent finish could be achieved with a sprayer. So brush painting seems logical for these. (The third category is areas in so deep and covered in grease that the logical approach seems to be leave well alone, for example the leading truck frame). The whole process is complicated by the fact that, while everything is painted black, it is expected that the two painting methods, using different materials, will show shade differences. So we do not want the two methods used directly next to one another.
The final plan is that the wheels and frames will be brush painted while the upper works (cab, boiler, tender) will be sprayed. The wheels were a particularly tough choice. There is no doubt that 4 and 5 could be sprayed. Also 3 could be sprayed, but would require several moves of the loco to get at all the spokes. However, 1 and 2, heavily concealed behind connecting rods, cross heads and slide bars would be a near impossible target for spraying. (The picture below of #1 is taken looking vertically down behind the slide bars so imagine getting at this with a substantial sprayer!). So all will be brush painted as the likelihood is that a shade difference would be very obvious if we sprayed just the ones we could.
With this done progress started to become visible.
Jim had brought in a much more powerful pressure washer. He and Jerry did a further degreasing run on the frames, wheels, and everything that was not in the leave well alone category.
Following this preparation much of the lower part of the locomotive is now assessed as ready to be primed once dry or requiring just a small amount of wire brushing to allow priming. (A key part of the need to agree how each area is to be painted was that the spray epoxy does not require a primer while the brush applied finish does).
Substantial areas were dry by afternoon. So painting began with priming the wheels. While Jim did most of the work, our General Manager came by the shop and spotted the need to fill in a gap. It is a rarity to seem Jamie at work in the Steam Shop so we have recorded this event as our ceremonial first painting on 1630.
By end of day three wheels were primed. The ability to start painting created a lot of enthusiasm. I received the picture below from Jim. By Sunday several of the wheels are finished with the black top coat.
On the superstructure, part of the preparation for spraying is removal of pipes that will create shadows when spraying. One of these is the steam supply for the air pump that runs from the governor high up on the fireman’s side of the firebox.
Collin needed to re-lag this anyway so he and Paul managed to release a union and remove it. As with lots of things on an old steam engine, one thing leads to another. It was obvious that moisture trapped in the lagging had caused some corrosion on the steel pipe. After thorough wire brushing and hammer testing no obvious failures were found but it was clearly not in good condition so the decision was made to have a replacement fabricated. In matters like this we want to avoid any doubt and there is currently time to have the replacement made before the season.
Jason and Phil worked on the manifold for the stoker. The casting was damaged and Dennis fixed this some time ago. The threaded holes into which fit the steam connections had to be recut and then the steam connections fitted. By end of day the manifold was ready to refit.
As a “British” fireman who has never seen a stoker in operation I learned something. The stoker on 1630 is not operational at present as the screw drive in the tender needs work. So I had assumed that the steam manifold (which controls the jets fire the coal around the box from the distribution plate) was simply decorative at this time. It seems this is not so. If the fireman is feeling tired he can put coal onto the distribution plate manually and then use the steam to fire it up to the front of the firebox. You live and learn!.
I did my penance for spending most of the day out of the shop by crawling into the firebox to test fit a sample of the new fire brick. Although I spent days in there when fitting tubes, fitting the fire hole door casting has made this a whole new experience. What used to be a simple exercise is now more like getting toothpaste into a tube for one of my build. Anyway the conclusion after Jason and Phil had put in a few more of the arch bricks is that the shorter F5 bricks, that are readily available, cause only a marginal lift in the arch bricks so should be usable.
On the Shay, Phil took advantage of the degreasing set up for #1630 and did a thorough job on the truck. Hopefully, once dry and examined, this will also start to see new paint applied.
On #428 quite a lot was happening:
Dennis started the long job of building up the axle boxes. The first step, on which he was working yesterday, is to build up the damaged areas that will be behind the plates which will be added to the box castings. Once built up, these areas will need to be finally ground to shape so that there is a solid surface to which the plates will be mounted;
Mike
was back after his trip to Arizona and restarted work on the air pump. Not much visible progress today. The first big step was to locate the many
substantial parts of this 3 dimensional jigsaw and work out exactly how they
must fit together. What fits where is only part of the challenge. It is immediately clear that it would be very easy to assembly a lot of it and then discover that a key part should have been fitted earlier in the sequence!.
Jane was hard at work on the frame binders that join the frame at the bottom of each axle box guide. Dennis has done a good deal of repair work on these and they now need to be cleaned off, ground smooth and then machined to fit accurately into the frames.
In the shop in general:
It was a worrying day on the planer. Mike, Bob and Ed worked on preparing it for a further test of the hydraulic drive system while Jane completed painting the machine. Unfortunately a second attempt to start the hydraulic pump caused a blow in the gasket that failed last time, although we are now confident that the surfaces are flat after surface grinding. This leaves us with a puzzle. Documentation of this machine is distinctly limited. We know it should operate at a high pressure (suggested around 1200psi). The key question is whether this seal is failing at a pressure at which it should not or if some blockage or error in assembly is causing pressure to build substantially above the intended level. Needless to say there is no tapping that would allow us to fit a gauge.
So back on the job and a lot was achieved in the day. I am off to Mexico for a week so will miss next weekend but look forward to seeing a lot more paint when I get back
Nigel
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Comments
Sun, 02-21-2021 21:12
Hi Ethan The 428 has been worked on recently but the focus now is on the maintenance and repair on the 1630 and the Shay. This Spring we will [...]
Sun, 02-21-2021 15:10
How is the UP 428 Steam locomotive engine is most done being fixed. OK Roger.
Sun, 02-21-2021 13:18
Hello Max The answer is Yes, the Dover will be used along with our other Pullman cars only in special event operations. When not in use [...]
Sun, 02-21-2021 12:30
Hello Jim We will be operating the Dover this year depending upon its mechanical condition. I hope to use the car in display venue as well as in [...]
Sun, 02-21-2021 12:24
Hello Kirk Hello, Yes the Dover is now in great shape. There are a couple of little projects to accomplish when the weather changes. I am [...]
Sat, 02-20-2021 18:55
Will the DOVER STRAIT be operational for Museum trips
Sat, 02-20-2021 17:06
I’m really impressed with the wonderful job your volunteers are doing to restore this historic passenger car. Once the restoration is complete, does [...]
Sat, 02-20-2021 14:02
It is great to see the work that Bob Hunter and Gene Macowiak started in the 1990’s. Great work done in finishing the two bedrooms and the buffet [...]
Fri, 02-19-2021 18:41
Very good article. I definitely love this website. Continue the good work!
Tue, 02-02-2021 10:15
I know it is wintertime, and the Virus is making getting people in to do work is difficult, so in a few months, when it's warmer, would someone please [...]
Sun, 01-31-2021 14:37
Hello Jack Thank you very much We in the coach dept are working very hard to have these trains restored Thanks Roger
Sat, 01-30-2021 18:45
pre oiler is a great idea saves lots of wear and tear on engines. a pat on the back for the diesel crew