Entries by Nigel Bennett

It was a crazy week in the steam department.  Passing the hydro test last weekend opened up a mass of new work on 1630, while the 60th anniversary event provided a great opportunity to operate as well as many demands for moving equipment in preparation.  Luckily Brian Davies has been visiting from Florida so we have had steam department capability on site every day.

On 1630 many tasks are now under way and the critical ones have been progressing quite rapidly:

·         After the hydro test, the dome cover was removed,. the water was drained and the boiler ventilated.  This enabled the second important FRA inspection.  When a boiler has been subject to excess pressure (such as the 125% operating required for the hydro) it must be internally inspected to assure that it has suffered no ill effects, such as loosened braces.  By Friday it was dry and the inspection was undertaken when the inspector was on site to check Leviathan.  Everything was as it should be.  So we are now cleared to move forward to steam test.  One key thing to note is that you will see reference to pressure or hydro testing in the next couple of weeks as we finish beading the tube ends.  From here on it will always be at no more than the 180 psi operating pressure and just to ensure that we have not created any seepage at the tube ends.  We have proved the basic integrity of the boiler and it must not be over pressured, else we would need to do a further internal inspection.

·         During the week, Jerry had re-installed the support bars and grates on the engineer's side so she now has a complete and operating grate system again.  Yours truly comes in on Friday and wonders why we now have air pipes snaking up the cab steps and thru the cab instead of neatly thru the ash pan as they were before.  (Because the grates normally separate the ash pan from the firebox dummy !)

·         The dome lid was replaced on Saturday to enable testing of tubes as they are beaded.  Unfortunately some work is required on the throttle body so that could not be refitted and the lid will need to come off at a later point to refit this.

·         Jane was hard at work painting parts ready for installation.  All the bands that will hold the cladding sheets in place are now done.  Now if only we can get her the paint for the air tanks we can get those fitted again !.

Bands for cladding ready for use

·         Beading the tube ends has proceeded well. As shown later, beading requires the 1/4 inch projection of the tube to be rolled over tightly against the sheet.  In the front not all the tubes are beaded.  The super heater flues and the small tubes beside and immediately below them are beaded to provide additional longitudinal bracing to the tube sheets.  In the rear, everything is beaded to protect the seam between tube and tube sheet from the direct flame burn.

Progress was maybe not quite as fast as we had hoped but the weather conspired against us !.  Brian Davies has done most of the work but has now trained Brian Krause in the technique, which makes describing who did what complicated !!.

During the week Brian D beaded all the required tubes in the front tube sheet.  On a couple of evening he apologized for not moving as fast as he had hoped.  When I worked in the shop Friday I fully understood.  At 90+ degrees and high humidity, doing anything physical was tough.  How he did as much as he did I can barely imagine.

Front tube sheet beaded

In the picture above you can see the distinction between the tubes higher up, that have a smooth rounded profile overlapping the seam between tube and tube sheet, and those lower down, where the tube is simply expanded into place.  This is the effect of beading.

On Saturday and Sunday Brian K worked on the firebox tubes during breaks from the 60th anniversary operation.  On Sunday I observed the process and took the photographs below.

At the start, the end of the tube is expanded into the sheet and, if necessary, reduced to a projection of 1/4 inch.  The specially shaped tool in the air hammer has a small extension outside the tube and a longer one inside.

Beading - starting point

Having started to hammer the edge of the tube is rolled outward.

Beading -starting to form

Working steadily around the whole circumference of the tube, Brian forms the rounded profile all around the tube end.

Beading- nearly there

A little tidying up to ensure it is smooth all around, the rolled edge is tight against the tube sheet and another one is done.

Beading - Final smoothing

·         The other major piece of work now under way is lagging the firebox in the cab.  This apparently simple task is going to be a censored nightmare !.  First blocks of insulation have to be secured all over the surface of the firebox.  This varies from fairly large intact blocks on the lower sides, thru pieces that have to be laboriously cut to fit around stay caps higher on the sides to irregularly cut pieces, that will need to be squeezed into narrow spaces between fittings and pipes, high up on the top.  The material is an unpleasant mix of fiber and silicates that is very brittle when cut.  So getting it located and intact is a most unpleasant challenge.  Once areas are in place we then have the fun of squeezing pieces of sheet metal between the pipes and into a position where they can be secured.  This will have to be done as soon as possible since the exposed blocks of carefully located insulation are very fragile and will tend to break up on contact until they are covered.

Bob Milhaupt, who was a regular volunteer until he moved to Michigan, visited for the weekend and worked steadily at this job.  By Sunday the insulation was in place well up both sides of the firebox.  Dennis repaired one of the cladding sheets that had to be cut to remove it so we have the metal ready to install as soon as we can cover the top of the firebox.

ES Beading in progress

FS lagging well under way

·         Another activity related to the lagging was identifying the route of some pipes that have been disconnected or replaced so that we are sure they are in the correct place before lagging is put over them.

·         On Saturday the firebox door casting was lifted out of the tender so that work could begin on preparing this for fitting.  Rick managed to safely remove a couple of badly burned bolts that secure the distribution plate and all the loose fire clay.  David made good progress in removing accumulated rust in preparation for repainting.  Once the beading is complete in the firebox this casting can be re-installed.  (You can still get into the firebox with the door casting in place but it will be a LOT more difficult).

·         Another major stream of work started with Jeff bringing in from the boxcar the various pieces of sheet metal and mesh that form the table plate and spark arrestor around the blast pipe in the smokebox.  As you may imagine this is a harsh environment so the whole construction needs to be assessed to determine which pieces can be reused and which replaced.  So Dennis needs to start on this to ensure that we have it ready once the blast pipe is installed.

In other areas within the shop:

·         Phil and Cameron worked with Tom on machining the bolster for the Shay;

·         Tom continued machining shoes for the axle boxes on 428.

There was a lot of work outside in support of the 60th anniversary:

·         3007 and the Centennial were moved out of barn 9 for display.  This is a very time consuming exercise as a lot of equipment that does not move often had to be moved to enable this.  A number of people were involved in lubricating the equipment so that it could be safely moved and then assisting in the switching.  When you move pieces that are normally static great care is required as stiffness may make them much more prone to derailment.

3007 in the sun

·         It was great to see steam in operation with both 126 and Leviathan on site.  While Leviathan was fully crewed, the department provided crews for 126 thru the weekend.  This was a great opportunity to get some operating experience ahead of 1630 coming into service.  I thoroughly enjoyed a short spell firing 126.  However, when spreading a few part shovels of coal around her firebox, you became rather aware that the box on 1630, that you had just crawled out of, will present some rather different challenges !.

126 runs on the trolley loop

·         We observed the FRA inspection of Leviathan on Friday which was useful as it confirmed what the inspectors will want to see in the steam testing of 1630.

·         On Friday, 126 provided a chastening example of the exposures in operating a steam engine.  The piston rod worked loose and detached from the crosshead when switching.  This allowed the piston to be fired forward, smashing the front cylinder head casting.  Luckily Barney had a spare on another locomotive in process of restoration so, with lot of driving over night to fetch it from Indiana, she was repaired and back in service on Saturday.  But it certainly highlights how easily major damage can occur to a steam engine.  Repairing something similar on 1630 would be huge.

Damage to the cylinder head

Repaired and ready to go

So a lot of progress.  Much more must happen to enable the steam test but the objective is now in sight.

Nigel

It was a week of very hard work leading to a huge milestone.

As described last week, we had reached the frustrating point of chasing leaks around the tube ends and a small check list of other minor issues requiring correction in order to get the boiler fit for the formal hydro test.

Brian Davies is staying at Union for three weeks to help with the work and he put in long hours with some of us who were able to spend a day at Union during the week.  Several important tasks were achieved.  With Jason, he was able to largely complete the cleaning and checking of the air brake valves.

However the key focus was the boiler.  As the number of leaking tubes decreased, they became more frustrating and more inclined to cause an adjacent tube to leak when you rolled them.  The final session on Saturday had many of us involved during the  day and lasted until 11 at night but by the end, we were down to one super heater flue that has a small leak around it that we expect will seal itself when the boiler is fully heated, although it drips very slowly under hydro pressure.

Brian and Jason examine for tiny leaks

Then carefully fix what you have found!

So, Brian, Jim and I were back in the shop at 8:30 on Sunday, unfortunately not to assist with the last day of Thomas but to meet with the FRA inspector for the formal hydro test.  I am glad to say that the old lady passed !.  Aside from the tube end and a few drips from tri-cocks and blow down valves she held pressure very well with no sign of leakage.

So Saturday was rather a frustrating day.  Very little on 1630, aside from the tubes, could be worked on until the hydro was completed.

Cameron and Phil worked with Tom on the bolster for the Shay.

Cameron and Phil set up to machine the bolster

Richard and Ed continued to work on preparing the cladding for lagging in the cab.

Bob finally received a suitable breaker to link the planer into the supply panel.  So he was able to continue work on running power to the planer.

However on Sunday, after the test, a great deal of work opened up.

The tubes can now be beaded so, in preparation for that, I spent quite a while in the smokebox grinding tube ends to the exact 1/4 inch required to form  good bead.  Later Brian took over and, by the time that I left, we were close to the point where he can bead all flues and tubes in the smokebox that are to be beaded.  Ideally we want to get this done in the next couple of days so that the beaded tubes can be tested for leaks by Wednesday.

On Wednesday we hope to take off the dome cover, drain the boiler and start drying it out so that the inspector can carry out the internal inspection on Friday.  This is a Federal requirement.  When a boiler has been over pressured, as it is for the formal hydro test, it must be inspected to ensure that nothing internal, such as the brace attachments, has been damaged or loosened.  After this, any pressure testing is strictly limited to boiler pressure (180 psi).  If any pressure beyond this is applied a further internal inspection is required.

Beading of the smokebox end is essential before a lot of work starting with refitting the super heater elements and then moving on to the rest of the smokebox equipment can be undertaken.

In the cab, work will now start on lagging the firebox and fitting the cladding so that all the controls can be finally refitted.  With the hydro complete, we can now start covering the boiler again.  Up until today, none of this could be started as a clear view of all the surfaces of the boiler was required for the inspection.

In the firebox, Jerry applied the protective paint to the patch and rivets below where the grates will fit.  Once this is dry, the grates that have been removed while we worked on the patch, will be refitted.

One key thing about the milestone today is that, while she may currently look less complete than she did in 2011, we have actually passed the key inspection step for which we were preparing in Spring 2011 when we hit the problem with the firebox.

So overall a very successful week.  While not too much visible has changed, but we have removed the barrier to a whole lot of tasks that will make 1630 look much more like an operating locomotive again in the next month.

Nigel