Steam Department Update January 2015

There is nothing like hunkering down for a big Winter storm to create time to update the blog!.  There was a very good turnout at the steam shop yesterday (and I suspect a nil turnout today judging by the white out that can be seen on the webcams!!).  As we reach the end of January a lot has been done in the steam shop so far this Winter ….. and there remains a lot to be done before May!.

Obviously the absolute priority is #1630 and getting her ready for the new season.  While she was out of service the critical focus was on rebuilding the axle boxes on the trailing axle and the 15 year boiler inspection.  Known or suspected issues were addressed during this time but we did not do a complete “tear-down” of areas that were within tolerances and had given no indication of problems.

So, for some years to come our Winter program will include the annual maintenance items and a program of inspection and remediation where required of some other areas each year.

The annual inspection work has progressed steadily.  This is essentially in four stages:

Work in preparation for hydrostatic testing;

Hydrostatic testing;

Internal inspection after hydro testing; and

Testing under steam.

The large majority of the inspection work is now done.  Among other task:

annual check of all the tell-tale holes in the stay bolts is now complete (sounds simple until you realize just how many of the darn things there are!).  Jerry has made major progress developing a technique with small cutting heads on a Dremel tool that has proved very effective at removing obstructions from the tell-tale holes;

drawbar was removed and inspected along with the pins that secure locomotive to tender;

gauge glasses and water column have all been removed, cleaned or replaced and then refitted;

main and auxiliary air reservoirs have been removed, hammer and hydro tested then refitted.  This weekend the ES air tank was repainted and complete.  One of the nuisance items is that the inevitable damage to paintwork when removing and testing means the tanks must be repainted every year;

Air tank back in place

arch tubes have been thickness tested;

wash out plugs have all been removed, inspected and, this weekend, refitted.

 We now have to test the gauges and finish checking of the arch tubes and we will be ready to carry out the hydrostatic test when the weather permits.

The other areas where major work is taking place this Winter include:

The rods of number 4 and 5 axles where some knocking was detected during the running season;

Couplers where some issues were apparent with smooth coupling and releasing;

Flexible stays below the footplate, which were due for periodic inspection;

The air filter system which needs regular cleaning but is mounted in such a way as to make this extremely difficult;

Replacement of the steam feed line to the air compressor which was found to be significantly corroded;

Work is being done to make the mechanical stoker operational although this is not targeted for 2015 completion.

In the normal way when dealing with and elderly steam locomotive none of these has proved as simple as initially hoped!.

The rods between #4 and #5 axles have been removed and the dimensions carefully checked.  The clear issue is excess wear in the FS #5 rod bearing.  Material has been obtained and a new brass bearing will be machined and fitted to the rod.  The other peculiarity is the disk that sits behind the securing nut and forms the outer face of the ES #5 rod bearing.  The peculiarity is that it differs from the other similar disks and bears the number of a long gone Frisco mikado!.  It is suspected that the difference can lead to steel on steel contact where the original pattern would always bear brass on brass.  It may be that this was why this bearing was always the one that had a tendency to run warm.  Dennis can add brass that will then be machined to match the original #1630 parts.

Stock for new rod bearing

This shows the stock ready for machining the new rod bearing and, on the bench behind this, the disk that will be built up then machined to better match the original #1630 pattern.

An intensive inspection of the couplers has indicated no cracking of any of the large parts but some damaged internal parts that go a long way to explaining tricky operation.  The good thing is that these are standard couplers so spares should not be an issue.  The trouble is that removing the couplers has led to detection of more work needed on the draw gear.

Under the tender significant wear was found in the mechanism that provides “shock absorption” when backing onto or pushing a train.  While not an immediate concern with the weight of trains handled at IRM, it was decided to give this area a thorough overhaul. 

The following pictures show the work involved in detail

Normal view of the coupler

This is what you are used to seeing

The drawgear assembly in place

Behind this, under the tender, the coupler is backed by this assembly.  The coupler is attached to the cage assembly by a substantial pin that is inserted or removed from below and held in place by the bolt that can be seen at center in this picture.

Shock absorber assembly in place

Looking further back (actually toward the front of the tender) you can see the cage and, substantially hidden above it, the outer edges of the shock absorber.

Coupler removed

First the bolt is removed, the pin dropped and this allows the coupler to be removed.  Here you can see the hole thru which the pin fits to secure the coupler to the drawgear.  The pin is actually a substantial rectangular block with rounded ends.

Cage for the shock absober

Having removed and separated the cage and shock absorber the empty cage clearly shows how the pin secures this to the coupler.

Remains of old shock absorber

And here we have the “problem child”.  The heavy frame of the shock absorber still has the massive springs in the wider part of the casting.  Information suggests that these huge springs are compressed about an inch when fitted and you do not touch these without special equipment!.  The empty end of the casting is the location of the smaller springs that were removed in many pieces.

Dennis will build up the mountings under the tender where there is significant wear.  Meanwhile there is a lot of discussion on how to deal with the shock absorber.  The original unit has two groups of springs, one fairly substantial and one VERY large.  The clear intent seems to be that the smaller ones provide an initial softening of the impact while the big ones take the load after these are compressed.  In our case, the smaller springs were smashed to pieces and clearly had been for a long time.  Two avenues are being investigated for repairs.  A source has been identified that could produce replacement for the broken springs while the original manufacturer is still in business and does produce modern equivalent units that are still used in freight cars (as those fitted to #1630 were in 1920).  Initial feedback from the spring supplier is interesting, suggesting that the (1918) design is defective as the smaller springs would have a very short life and be likely to fracture pretty quickly in exactly the way that had happened on #1630!.  We have no idea if the design was changed but it does suggest that, if a modern equivalent can be installed without major modification to the tender, this would be the best solution.

The flexible stays hidden under the footplate behind the stoker riser have all been inspected cleaned and recapped.  A good deal of rust damage was found in the footplate supports.  It is interesting that much of the corrosion stems from modifications made to fit the stoker, probably in the late 1930’s.  The center of the cab floor has to be raised to provide space for the coal delivery to the stoker.  To provide a level floor to the cab raised sections were installed on both sides of the cab sitting on top of the original floor to provide a surface about 3 inches higher.  This created a double skin in which a lot of corrosion has occurred.  Much of this has been repaired and the remaining action will be to rebuild the center section around the stoker delivery pipes.  This places a lot of pressure on getting the hydro done as soon as possible.  We do not want to re-install the stoker delivery pipes until we are satisfied that the flexi caps have passed hydro testing.  But we have a lot of work on rebuilding the cab floor that requires these pipes to be back in place!.

Great improvement under the footplate

After a great deal of work this weekend the area under the ES footplate is clean and partly reassembled.  Here you can see the fabrication that sits below the grate shakers and converts the rotation of the shafts in the cab floor to a back and fore movement of rods attached to the grates.

The air filter site behind the compressor under the smokebox and on top of the main frame.  It is basically a large cartridge filter where you release a bolt securing the housing, drop the housing and cartridge, then re-install with a new or cleaned cartridge.  Simple!, except that it was mounted so that the housing has insufficient space above the main frame to allow it to be dropped.  We know that 2 years ago we did manage to get it off but this year a large number of us in 4 hours work could not find a way of doing so.  Eventually we decided to cut the bar on which it is mounted and modify it to have bolts that can be released to remove the whole filter. Interesting.  When cutting the bar it was apparent that we were following the line of a previous cut and weld.  So it seems that this is not a new problem!.

The stoker motor is now in the shop awaiting attention when essential work for this season has been done.  Last weekend a few of us opened the cylinders, applied lots of oil and then tried turning it with substantial bars.  Actually, while it took a good deal of effort to get initial movement, once it started to move and oil spread on the bores and rings, it now moves very smoothly and easily.

As time permits some work continues on the other projects.

On the Shay,

Collin worked on lapping the valves on the turret.  It was lucky that this was started now!.  On close examination of the valve heads during lapping cracks were discovered.  It looks very much as if some clever person, finding that the valves did not close to their satisfaction, tried to get a better seal by using a pipe wrench on the valve stems!!.  New valve heads are required but at least we have the drawings and the material has been ordered for machining.

Turret valves for rebuilding

Phil has made considerable progress applying and enhancing the technique that Jerry developed on #1630 for clearing blocked tell-tales.  Thru his efforts a substantial number of stays previously assessed as requiring replacement (due to inability to achieve the minimum length of tell-tale) have been cleared well beyond the required length.  The plan is now to work on this over the next few weeks and then assess what stays there are that are still not clear to the required depth and must therefore be viewed as broken.  The critical factor will be whether we can avoid removing the motor (and potentially lifting the boiler).  Wish us luck!.

On #428

Stu and his team have started riveting the cab.  In two Saturdays they have set about 30 rivets replacing the temporary bolts that have been holding the cab together since the new plate work was fitted.  Once the cab is riveted (and the new footplate floor fitted) it will be possible to replace the cab on the locomotive.

Dennis has put in a lot of work building up parts of the brake and spring rigging as well as the axle box keeps to make good years of wear.  These will now be machined to bring them back to original dimensions.

Parts built up with weld ready for machining

Many new parts are being machined.  These are new pins for the rigging.

New pins for the brake rigging

So.  A lot of progress has been made but there remains a lot to be done to ensure that #1630 is ready for running in May.  We will be hard at work each weekend and some weekdays.  We are always looking for new people willing to get their hands dirty!.

Let’s hope we do not get many storms like the one today.  I suspect that it will be a couple of days before it is practical to get back to Union!.

Nigel