Good progress this weekend.
On Saturday, we did a final check of #1630 at 125% of
operating pressure (225psi) to satisfy ourselves that all significant leaks had
been resolved. In addition, the valve
chambers were thoroughly washed to remove residues from the honing and
lubricated in preparation for fitting the valves.
On Sunday we carried out the hydro test under FRA review. This was successful and we can now proceed
thru the next stages toward steaming.
The boiler must now be opened and internally inspected to ensure that
nothing has been loosened or displaced by the pressure test. Critical internal parts such as the dry pipe
must be ultrasonically tested. After this
is done, the boiler can be resealed, hydro tested at operating pressure and the stays hammer tested. Once this is
complete, we can fire the boiler for steam test.
Our current plan would be to steam test Memorial Day
week. We have reasonable hope of having
her in steam for Memorial Day weekend but, at this point, it is not clear if we
will be ready for service or on live display / under test.
Also on Sunday, in conjunction with the FRA inspectors, we
were able to inspect the interior of the boiler of Shay #5 using their high
resolution video camera. This proved very
interesting and effective. It very
clearly showed some areas where we had not been effective in removing all of
the sand blasting material used to clean the interior of the boiler!. It also located and allowed removal of a
strange lump of material from the bottom of one firebox water leg. This was apparently a piece of slag from removal
of a stay some years ago. Overall this
demonstrated that we had good visibility and saw no indication of significant
wastage or damage in the boiler.
So, a successful weekend, enabling a lot of work in
the next few weeks. We have to hope that
it progresses without significant setbacks toward steaming at the end of the
month.
So wish us luck and
DON’T FORGET TO JOIN US AT THE STEAM DEPARTMENT BENFIT AT
SAN FILIPO ON JUNE 26th.
TICKETS NOW AVAILABLE
http://www.irm.org/events/steamdeptbenefit.html
Nigel
Comments
Fri, 03-29-2024 21:26
We're slackers and spend more time working on the equipment in the shop than keeping all you readers updated. We'll work on it, but I'm sure updates [...]
Thu, 03-14-2024 08:02
What happened to the Department Blog? It's been over 2 years and I still regularly check for updates, but nothing comes...
Mon, 12-27-2021 16:28
Happy New Year to all the Departments at the Illinois railway Museum! Thanks for all the good work you do in railroad preservation. Ted Miles, [...]
Wed, 10-13-2021 13:33
Was the CB&Q 1309 every transported to IRM?I’ve been reading old issues of Rail&Wire and the car was mentioned several times.
Mon, 06-07-2021 22:40
I was wondering if in the model layout display what scale would you guys be using and would you be displaying model train history as well? Just [...]
Wed, 06-02-2021 17:27
Nice to see 428's cab back on. Looking forward to when it is operable!
Tue, 06-01-2021 16:47
I hope the work will continue on the UP #428. Now that they are the museum's connection to the national railroad network; she would be very [...]
Sat, 04-17-2021 23:07
What is the status of 126, the Milwaukee Buffet car that is in S. Dakota? Any guess on when or if it will get to IRM?
Wed, 04-14-2021 21:09
Perhaps it is time to scrap the remains of the c, B & Q 7128 to make room for the Villa Real. Ted miles, IRM member
Wed, 04-14-2021 15:26
Hi IRM my name is Jason and I was wonder If you guys would be willing to save a CN Dash8-40cm they are currently being retired by CN and being [...]
Fri, 04-09-2021 19:56
Bear in mind that the Nebraska Zephyr is an articulated train set, so cars cannot be inserted at will. Although cars and/or a second engine could be [...]
Wed, 03-31-2021 11:37
I believe Silver Pony is currently on the back burner, and has been put into storage in one of the barns. The car needs a lot of work done to it's [...]