Steam Department

Well, I am glad to say that the continuing atrocious weather seems to have increased the determination of the steam shop volunteers.  We had an excellent turnout on Saturday and made good progress on some items that have been holding us up for a while.

On 1630:

One large team focused on preparing the cab for spray painting.

The edges of the cab sides where there were signs of blistering in the paint were all needle chipped.  This revealed a few areas where Dennis will need to make good some holes and cracks.  Nothing too major but we do want to get this thoroughly sound before we paint;

Removing unsound paint

The arm rests were removed from the window frames … and identified another job.  The wooden base of one of them looks more like sponge than timber.  That will need to be remade;

A section of the inner cab lining on the fireman’s side proved to be corroded thru.  This was cut out, the rust and scale removed from between the inner and outer sheets and the whole area primed.  Dennis can now weld in a new section of sheet metal;

Rick cuts the bad area from the cab

The cab sides were rubbed down ready for painting.

Cab side substantial progress

A big area of concern has been preparing the frames and wheels for painting.  Ideally it would have good to have blasted the grease and oil from these using the high powered steam cleaner.  Unfortunately the extreme weather is against this.  There are serious doubts around the practicality of using the steam cleaner in the shop and the obvious concern over how long it would be before there is any chance of moving outside again.

Jim, Jerry and Vince decided to try the liquid degreaser that was obtained for the Shay truck.  This proved very successful.

Jim and Vince degreasing

One or two passes with subsequent washing off using a small pressure washer took large areas of the frames and wheels back to bare primer that we had never seen before.  We are unclear whether these areas were not previously painted black or if the top coat was so badly adhered that it came straight off with the grease.  However, it is certainly clear that the method is getting back to a sound and grease free surface.

and Jerry then removes the grease

Hopefully a second session next weekend, with a more powerful pressure washer to do the final washing off, will bring much of the lower part of the locomotive to a suitable condition for painting.

Jason finished testing all the cab gauges and also trained Phil in this operation.

Jason sets the gauges

One of the gauge faces is much worn.  It raises a question of how it was originally painted.  All the black lettering is indented, even the fine detail of the maker’s name.

I wonder how this was done

On the Shay:

Eric and his Dad worked steadily thru the job of fitting the long bolts thru the frame and truck pivot casting.  By end of day, all six of the bolts were properly fitted.  Nuts are noticeable by their absence !.  Tom did not make it to Union because of the weather but a telephone discussion indicated that supplies of 1 inch nuts were likely to be in the container.  Ah Yes!.  That thing sitting out behind the 3 foot snow drift at 10 degrees in a gale !.  Nuts will be for another day;

The bolster was turned over and Eddie cleaned the other face to allow it to be primed.

Eddie prepares the last face of the bolster

In the shop in general:

Stu and Bob finished painting the planer, which Phil and Jane had progressed over the last week.  Unfortunately it was not possible to reassemble the valve block and test the machine.  The distorted face of the valve block has been surface ground to ensure that it will seal but was in Tom’s car in Chicago.

They then worked on rebuilding the lubricator for another of the machines.

Phil has now made a big difference to the storage area and is planning what to do with the adjacent areas..

So overall a pretty successful day.

Nigel

What a year!.  Another Saturday somewhat disrupted by the Winter weather.  There was a reasonable turn out at the shop but a lot of people left at lunchtime as the rate of snowfall increased.  For those of us that stuck it out, the snow did cease by evening and the slither down US20 to the expressway was what we are becoming used to.

It was definitely a day for work inside the shop and the absence of some key people and parts meant that testing of the paint sprayer could not proceed.  However work progressed in a number of other areas.

On 1630:

Brian did a great job in cleaning out the rust scale from the tender tank.  The treatment applied a few years ago has not proved successful and a layer of rusty metal has largely scaled off the bottom of the tank.  During the test steaming we had some issues with blockage of the water flow to the injectors.  From Brian’s handiwork it is clear why this happened.  As the rust and muck lifts it tends to be drawn forward to gather in the area from which the water is being drawn by the injectors.  After several hours of work in the tank he had extracted a couple of gallons of rusty debris.  This was a foul job.  We can use the ducted fan to circulate air but you still have to work in clouds of rusty dust;

The reverser reservoir is now back in place so that the valves can be moved using air pressure;

Small reservoir back in place

Jim continued the job of masking the lettering and this is now largely complete.  After all this effort we are wondering if we should stay with blue lettering !;

Lettering masked ready to paint

Matt primed the area of the engineer’s side walkway that was cleaned off last week;

On the Shay:

Phil is progressing well with the bolster for the truck.  With the lugs for the springs now completed, it has been primed and now painted on one side at least.  Now we just have to turn it over and do the other side, once it is dry.

The bolster part painted

We made good progress on the bolts that fit thru the frame and truck pivot casting.  We had been working on the misapprehension that these simply secured the pivot into the frame.  Jeff reminded us that some of them also secure the large fabricated draw bar that runs down to the wooden front beam and on which the coupler is mounted.  Having made that connection, we found that new bolts were acquired a few years back and stored with the drawbar.  Each hole needs to be cleaned and reamed slightly to allow the bolts to be fitted.  However, with the parts in hand I was able to fit the first of them by end of day.  Looking at the front of the frame member, the bolts in the 4 outer holes secure the drawbar while the 2 in the middle (which are currently occupied by locating pegs) only secure the pivot casting to the beam.  The drawbar fabrication has a recess that fits around the nuts of the two center bolts.  The first of the new bolts is in place in the lower left hole and the holes for the remaining five can now be reamed to allow the bolts to be fitted.

First bolt fitted

In the shop in general, some significant reorganization was achieved:

With the swager gone, we were able to relocate the air pump for #428 so that it can now be worked on while allowing free access thru the door.  (It does not look like free access in the picture but the forklift is actually standing in the exit with a pallet of parts ready to drive out to the boxcar ……. Once there is not 6 inches of snow and ice in the way !!);

Work area and way out

Phil did a great job sorting and cleaning the steel stock storage area.

So overall a successful day despite the weather.

Nigel

A rather more normal weekend allowing quite a lot to be done in the Steam shop on Saturday.

All credit to the team that made it to the shop.  The main roads were fine but the local roads toward the site were rather icy in places and the museum site is a nightmare.  Although the air temperature was above freezing, the ground is still frozen.  So, despite efforts by B&G, large areas, including all the roads and walkways around the shop were thickly covered in smooth wet ice!.  The team cautiously slithered their way from cars to the shop and stayed inside !.

I spent the morning at the Board meeting but the team got to work and a lot was achieved.

On 1630:

By the time I got back to the shop the small air tank was already back in place on the locomotive.  So we are now able to power the reverser with compressed air to allow the measurements of the piston valve rings to be made;

Eddie and his sister made good progress in preparing the walkways for painting.  Jane is setting up to prime these next weekend;

The paint sprayer has arrived but unfortunately the correct nozzle for the material we have to spray was not available until next week.  Anyway, we have the machine and will hopefully be able to do the first test run next weekend;

We are hoping to avoid having to reapply all the main lettering so Jim was hard at work masking the cab lettering;

Jim masking the lettering

Phil and Jane removed the blower ring from the smokebox so that Dennis can start on fitting the new plate work for the spark arresting system;

Phil at work in the smokebox

Phil and Jane remove the blower

The pressure hose for the injector overflow / cab wash down (what I as a Brit would call the slacker pipe) arrived and was fitted;

New cab wash hose in place

Jim and Jane primed the first of the main air tanks;

Eric loosened the nuts on the smokebox front and hand rail.  We are preparing to add more gasket material to this joint as the seal was not as good as we would like during the test run;

Jason and Collin finished cleaning and reassembling the steam regulator for the air pump.  Jason decided not to refit it but rather to duct tape the pipes to which it is fitted.  Having produced this nice clean brass regulator he seems a bit sensitive about it being in place when people are spraying paint around it!.

On the Shay there was quite a bit of activity:

Phil finished caulking the rivets, both below and inside the smokebox.  This was a lot of work but the result is a very neat job.  Well done Phil.  Another big benefit to completing this is that the rest of us can now work around the shop without our teeth suddenly starting to rattle in our heads as he uses the air hammer;

Result of much hard work by Phil

Jason and Eric made good progress on reaming and threading the holes for the crown stays that are being replaced and were able to test fit some of the new stays.

With no further swaging planned for some years, I finally took down the swaging machine for storage.  This will allow much easier access thru the doors at the South end of the shop.  The machine and the mounting timbers were marked with paint to provide a clear pattern for reassembly when next required and then it was taken down for storage.

Swager marked for disassembly

With a bit more reorganization we will be able to fully use the door again.

and the space is clear

So a good day of progress.  Hopefully if the weather remains moderate we can get the painting under way next weekend.

Nigel