Illinois Railway Museum Blog

Unfortunately not the update that I was hoping to be able to write 24 hours ago!.

The steam team has worked steadily thru a record cold February and made good progress, primarily on the Winter work on 1630.  The work on the boiler was completed and the objective is to carry out an initial hydro test as soon as possible to ensure that nothing leaks on the backhead where it would be hidden by the refitting of the stoker and footplate.  We really need some above freezing temperatures to safely run the heater that brings the water up to a suitable temperature for the pressure test.  This has held us up for a week or so but the forecast suggests a “warm” day Tuesday so everything was planned.  The tender was filled last weekend to allow the water to reach at least shop temperature.  On Saturday the pipework was set up and a start made on filling the boiler.

Unfortunately this revealed that one stay seems to have broken during the process of clearing the tell-tale hole.  A steady stream of water was apparent as we filled the boiler.  With this stay plugged, we were able to fill the boiler and prove that this is the only stay in this condition.  However, we now have a stay to replace.  This was something that was not in the plan.

By end of day, Dennis had cut out the cab floor under the engineer’s area, the end of the stay in the firebox was ground flush and the stay cap had been removed.  This proved rather reluctant and took a couple of attempts, otherwise we might have got the stay out.  Anyway, we are now ready to remove it next week.

Replacing a flexible stay is something we did several times during the overhaul and can be done in a couple of weeks, provided we do not hit anything abnormal.  However, it is additional work and means that the target of running Memorial weekend is now in some danger.

In parallel with the boiler work a lot of other work has progressed.

Dennis has put in many hours of work building up the yolk and other parts of the tender draw gear support mechanism.  We should be receiving a rebuilt draw gear unit shortly and then the work can begin on making any modifications required to fit this under the tender.

Building up the yolk

A new pin has been machined for the front coupler pocket.  The original was heavily worn.  Once new bushes are machined and the support plate, that Dennis has rebuilt, is in place we should have a coupler that sits horizontal rather than sagging as it has in recent years!.

The air tanks are now refitted.  This has been a big job as we have fitted new Teflon seals to the ball joints of the tanks.  It sounds simple but replacing the very worn seals that have been there for many years can slightly alter the fit of the pipes.  There is very little flexibility in large diameter steel pipes!.  So in some cases we have had to cut and rethread the pipes to make the correct fit.

The new bush for the connecting rod is now complete and in place in the rod.

Machining the new bearing

Dennis built up the brass on the securing disk.  (My mistake.  I said last month that the odd one came from a Mikado.  Actually it is from a consolidation).  Once that is machined we will have all the parts to reassemble the running gear. 

However, the first steps at refitting suggest that, with the new bearing in place, clearance will be very tight and it may be necessary to remove and adjust the axle box shoes.  Measurements that Jason has made indicate that the shoes are marginally thick and will need to be adjusted at some point.  It may be that point is now!.

Test fitting the rod

Work has been proceeding on the replacement of the gland packing on the air operated power reverser mechanism.

Working on the reverser

After a lot of effort the broken bolt in the smokebox front ring was successfully removed and a new one is in process of being fitted.  John Heid joined us and was rapidly at work on this.

Driving out the bolt

When the work on 1630 has relied more on welding and machining, people have been able to do some work in other areas.

Progress has accelerated on the Shay.

The big determinant of how quickly the Shay can be brought into service is whether we can clear the tell-tale holes on all stays behind the frames and motor brackets from inside the firebox.  If all the tell-tales can be cleared to the required depth, we then need just to replace a number of stays in other areas that have been identified as bad and can then move quickly to re-tubing the boiler.  If any stays need to be replaced behind the motor bracket, then we have a substantial project to remove and refit the motor in order to replace them.

Several people have been working on this as time permits but Phil is now working on the stays 3 days each week and making good progress.  A lot of stays have been cleared so far.  We all wait with bated breath to see if any prove beyond clearance in the critical areas.  We should know within weeks now if we can avoid removing the motor.

Various work has been progressed to allow reassembly to move forward if the stay work is successful.

JD has been locating and preparing the various parts of the running boards.

Brian removed the equalizer air tank and cleaned it in preparation for hammer and hydro testing.

Preparing the equalizer tank

(Brian’s comment on this photograph was very fair!.  “You could at least have taken a before shot to show just how much muck I had to remove”).  Located under the cab floor, behind the engineer’s footstep this tank gets buried is everything thrown up by the wheels.  Good job Brian!.

On 428

The riveting team, led by Stu, has put in several days on the cab.  There are a LARGE number of small rivets to be placed but they are progressing and the number of temporary bolts showing on the cab is steadily reducing.

Stu prepares the hole

Once it is at temperature the rivet is struck on the anvil to dislodge any scale and then put into the hole.

A rivet is readied

The bucker holds the head of the rivet in position as Stu uses the air hammer to form the other end of the rivet inside the cab.

Bucking the rivet

Although the basic method is the same, these are far smaller rivets than we had to use on 1630.  Rather than fighting to ensure that the rivet is formed while still malleable, the risk with these is more that they can easily be over hammered and have unsightly deformed heads.

More rivets, less bolts

The process of Dennis building up with weld and Eric then machining to final dimensions has proceeded steadily thru the many components of the spring rigging.  With this now largely complete, work has now started on machining the valve rods.

Mike returned this week after being out of state for some weeks and work restarted on the planer in preparation for the axle box work.

So March looks to be a busy and critical month.  Wish us luck!.  And if you fancy getting your hands dirty ………!!