Illinois Railway Museum Blog

I am posting the following update provided by Brian     Nigel

Hello everyone.  My name is Brian Davies.  Some readers out there know me.  For those who don't, I am the project manager on our J. Neils Lumber/ Klickitat Log and Lumber shay number 5.  I have been in charge of this project for about the past 12 months.  Nigel has been doing a great job of bringing you all the news from the Steam Shop, but at my first anniversary as project manager I felt perhaps it was time to introduce myself and give an overview of what we have accomplished in the last 12 months on the shay, and what still needs to be done to return the shay to service.

The locomotive was withdrawn from service after the 1999 operating season for general maintenance and to bring it up to the standards required by the Federal Railroad Administration in their required 1472 service day inspection.

A great amount of work has been performed on the locomotive in approximately the past 12 months.  This includes:

-Front truck repairs finished except for a few minor tasks.

Truck largely complete

-Drawbar and auxiliary drawbars between locomotive and water tender cleaned and inspected for cracks.  Main drawbar was sent out for stress relieving heat soak.

Cleaning the drawbar and drive

-Water tender interior cleaned to remove scale and rust in preparation for painting to reduce future corrosion.  The cleaning process is almost complete.

-One bad rear foot board removed for measuring and renewal.

-Several brake beams cleaned, inspected, and painted.

-Upper braces on rear sand boxes reapplied.

-Water tender deck drain pipe repaired.  This pipe had split, likely due to water damage, many years ago.

-Handrail on front of locomotive repaired.

-All staybolts inspected.

-Staybolt holes all opened up to proper depth.

-Approximately 12 staybolts removed, their holes reamed and tapped, and new bolts inserted.

-Heads completely formed over on six bolts, and head on one side of each of the other six bolts formed over.

New stay heads formed on the backhead

-Tube and flue holes in front and rear tube sheets deburred, and radius added to their edges.

-All rivets in boiler inspected.

-All boiler braces inspected.

-Boiler interior cleaned to remove as much of the remaining sand from earlier sandblasting as possible.

-Finished application of Apexior boiler paint inside boiler.

-Copper ferrules cut and installed in every tube and flue hole in front and rear tube sheets, and ferrules deburred.

Expanding ferrules into the sheet

-All boiler tubes and flues cut to size, installed in boiler, flat rolled, ground to length, and belled over where necessary.

New tubes installed

-Main turret valve disc replaced and valve in the process of being lapped to make it steam tight.

-Boiler plug holes cleaned and inspected, boiler plugs cleaned and inspected, and most boiler plugs installed in preparation for hydrostatic testing of the boiler.

-Throttle body, throttle spool valve, and associated hardware brought out of storage.

-Boiler steam pressure gauge cleaned, inspected, and calibrated.

-Main air reservoir stripped of paint, ultrasonically thickness tested, and primed.

-Auxiliary air reservoir stripped of paint, ultrasonically thickness tested, and primed.

-New smokebox bottom fit to bottom of smokebox and partially welded in place.

As you can see, a very significant amount of work has been done on the shay in the past 12 months.  Excitingly for all of us in the Steam Shop, the return to operation of this locomotive is very much in sight, and is a goal that is well on its way toward being completed.  Our current goal is an attempt to have the shay reenter service next summer.  As long as no new major problems are discovered as we finish our work, this is a very attainable goal.  The tasks still to be done this fall, winter, and spring are:

-Finish lapping main turret valve and boiler check valves to make them seal tightly.

-Finish forming over six remaining staybolt ends.

-Lap and install throttle body and valve in boiler.

-Finish forming of tube ends, then hydrostatically test boiler.

-Insulate boiler and reinstall sheet metal jacket.

-Drill and ream holes in the new smokebox bottom to rivet it onto the locomotive.  Then welding of the new piece will be completed.

-Install superheater units into the boiler and reinstall the interior parts of the smokebox.

-Reattach all steam and water piping on locomotive boiler and in the cab.

-Clean and inspect all air brake parts, reinstall, and test.

-Finish cleaning interior of water tender and paint the interior.

-Put front truck back under locomotive.

-Install new front pilot beam and footboards, and one rear footboard.

-Repaint locomotive and tender.

I think it is exciting to realize that the list of what still needs to be done on the locomotive is far shorter than the list showing the amount of work we have accomplished in the past 12 months! The shop is excited to see this locomotive return to service and we are determined to make that happen.  We are lucky that the locomotive still has some money in its restricted fund, and this amount is enough to keep us working on the locomotive for now.   However, we sure could use some more money to help us with our goal of trying to get the locomotive back into service next year.  We currently have one of our shop volunteers doing paid work on the locomotive two to three days a week, generally doing a lot of the nasty and unglamorous work that the volunteers are usually happy to pass of to someone else.  It would be great to be able to keep him working on the locomotive through the winter.  Having someone working a few days during the week every week really helps us make progress!  In addition, we still need to purchase a new front pilot beam, and paint for the exterior of the locomotive and interior of the water tank.  In my estimation, an additional $15,000.00 in the locomotive's restricted fund should ensure we have enough money to accomplish our goal of bringing the shay back into service next year.  This is to finish buying the materials mentioned above and to continue having someone forging ahead working on the locomotive during the week.   We could complete the locomotive with less money, but this will extend the time it will take to finish the project.  And looking into the future, we will need money for yearly maintenance on the locomotive as we strive to inspect and repair it in a manner that best insures its continued mechanical wellbeing and operation for the next 15 years.  Additionally, in 15 years it will be time again to perform a 1472 service day inspection on the locomotive, and this will again require money for new flues, insulation, and whatever else we find we will need at that time.  So please, if you're a lover of logging locomotives, of steam locomotives in general, or just don't like seeing us poor shop volunteers beg, please consider a donation specifically to the Shay 5 restricted fund.  Happily, the shay is now available for receiving donations on the IRM Online Store at www.IRM.org.  No amount is too small.  Of course, no amount is too large!  All donations are extremely appreciated by all of us in the Steam Shop, and every dollar donated to the shay will go directly to ensuring its return to operation and continued operation at IRM.