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Friday, April 19. 2019Steam Department April Update
The absence of posts is a clear sign of progress, or so I will keep telling myself.
It has been a busy month in the shop. Work has primarily focused on the beginning of the end of 1630’s annual inspection.  1630’s arch tube caps were reinstalled.  The boiler pressure gauges were calibrated and installed.  And the brake gauges were calibrated and installed. Here Ken and Ray can be seen using a dead weight tester to check the gauges ‘calibration.  Here is a picture showing the internal workings of a “double spring” gauge. Pressure gauges contain a curved bourdon tube. As pressure increases, the tube straightens, moving the needle. In a double spring gauge, there are two bourdon tubes. The difference in tension between the two tubes holds the needle steady, whereas in single-tube gauges the needle tends to bounce as the locomotive travels down the tracks.  Joey and Conn inspected and cleaned the pilot truck journal boxes.  And I lapped valves, and then lapped more valves, and then lapped yet more valves. In this case, I am lapping a gated check valve on the line from the injector into the boiler. Our concerted efforts over the past month paid off, and I am excited to report that last weekend 1630 passed its federal hydrotest, which is the first of three major steps towards entering service each year (those being the hydrotest, an internal inspection, and a steam test). It is not enough to have a working locomotive, however. You need to have people who know how to run it. A few weekends back, the steam department held a training class on locomotive firing and train handling for all of our operating crew members. Steam Department Assistant Curator Jason Maxwell and experienced steam locomotive operator Ken Ristow lectured on locomotive firing, while Ray Weart and Phil Hehn addressed air brake and train handling.  Ken, ever helpful, brought pretty pictures to help explain things  He also brought a homebuilt demonstrator to illustrate how sight glasses reflect conditions in the boiler  Trainings such as this are critical to passing on knowledge of steam railroading and, ultimately, to the continued operation of steam locomotives at IRM. It was heartening to be one of the oldest members of the audience. Although many of our efforts recently have focused on 1630, work on other projects has also continued.  Ben continued to machine parts of 428’s spring rigging.  While Phil, running the museum’s horizontal boring mill, continued to machine the tops of 428’s axle boxes.  Meanwhile, final prep work on the auxiliary tender was completed, and it was primed for painting. As of this post, the first coat of black was being applied.  With the warmer weather, Jeff has also resumed work on the Bay City crane, which he expects to have back in operation shortly. Other exciting projects have also been in the works, so stay tuned for an update about everyone’s favorite Union Pacific consolidation. |
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Comments
Mon, 09-08-2025 08:22
Good job on the Burlington Nortern 9976. OK.
Tue, 08-12-2025 12:56
No new news that I have heard of thus far.
Tue, 08-12-2025 12:53
I'll also be doing another update on it soon. Keep en eye out for that.
Tue, 08-12-2025 12:47
A little work was done to it for Diesel Days this year. You'll see photos floating around for the temporary short term job that was done to make it [...]
Wed, 08-06-2025 13:01
Is steam car CN 15444 going to be coming to museum several times it was to be moved to muesum
Sat, 07-19-2025 18:56
Yeah, sadly it's still there as of 7/19/2025
Thu, 06-12-2025 19:14
Its been 14 years guys, where is the unit? Like really? Did you guys misplace it? Or are repairs taking that long? At this point be might we will have [...]
Wed, 04-09-2025 17:40
Jamie Thanks for the update. She's gonna shine like every thing else you guys do! Smeds
Thu, 03-06-2025 16:28
Yes, there is a wye. Those two have been MU'ed on diesel days a year or two ago.
Wed, 03-05-2025 14:04
7009 number boards look good. Is there a way to turn a locomotive around at IRM? In case you ever had a mind to connect 7009 and 6847?
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...