Entries by Nigel Bennett

A busy weekend as I had a normal day Saturday at the steam shop then spent Sunday in the diesel shop.  A lot of work was done in the steam shop on Saturday.  Unfortunately a new priority meant that far less of it than we had hoped went toward #1630.

During this summer there is to be a major redevelopment of the road on the West side of the site. So alongside the steam shop. This means that one of the major areas of storage for the shop must be sorted and relocated. Certainly not before time as it is a considerable mess !.  However we had been putting this off to progress the locomotive.  Unfortunately time ran out and B&G are now starting work in the area.  So several of us spent most of the day working with B&G to identify and move the useful material while they disposed of the rubbish. This is likely to be a significant effort over the next couple of weeks,

A lot of heavy parts for #938 before move

None the less, by the time a thunderstorm stopped work at around 6, a substantial progress had been made.  A significant area at the South end has been cleared of parts for #938 which have now been put onto new pallets and moved to the area by the Bay City crane.

Much space created by end of day

Big space where the #938 parts were

Unfortunately looming in the background are the saddle tank and cab of the Navy 0-4-0.  These are really awkward items that will have to be moved in the next weeks.

Other crews kept work moving on #1630:

·         Collin, Phil and Richard worked on fitting the wires around the boiler that will be used to secure the lagging.  They made excellent progress and most of the wires on the barrel are now in place.  It is good to see work progressing on steps that will clearly lead to her starting to look like a working locomotive again;

Wires to support lagging in place on much of the barrel

·         Jane finished wire brushing and painting the last of the cladding sheets.  This is another important enabling step toward being able to install the lagging, and cladding over it, once the first hydro testing is done;

·         Eric worked steadily at grinding excess material from the tube ends.  Those that are to be beaded must have a fairly accurate 1/4 inch projection all around.  Some have a significant excess in places so this is a job that will keep Eric and others busy for several weeks;

A lot of flues now ground to final profile

·         The main activity was the preparation for riveting the patch.  A group of us, led by Tom and Mike worked into the evening practicing and testing the roles in passing a rivet into the firebox, getting it safely into the hole and applying the bucker.  Mike and Tom have spent a good deal of time during the week setting up the timber staging in the firebox to hold the bucker at the correct level so that it can be accurately applied to the rivet immediately it is in place.  After a number of practice passes the process seems to be working smoothly.  Hopefully next weekend will see some rivets actually set into place.

Sunday in the diesel shop Roger and Jarod introduced me to the many tasks involved in starting the locomotives up for the season.  An interesting morning learning the delights of inspecting brushes on motors and generators, pumping large quantities of oil  thru the prime mover before it can be safely cranked and many other tasks.  30 minutes lying in a confined space squeezed under a traction motor, to get at the brushes there, certainly convinced me that steam are not the only group in desperate need of an inspection pit.  Thanks guys for an interesting day.

Nigel

It was one of those days when a lot of effort was required to overcome unplanned events.  However, the key objective was achieved.

The main objective was to hydro test and then fit the last super heater flue.  By 9:30 we had the Sullair running and linked up to drive the test pump and were nearly ready for the test ....... when the Sullair started spluttering and died !.  After about 30 minutes trying to understand what was clearly some sort of fuel supply problem, we decided to cut our losses and use the house air to test the flue, although this would not have the power to test the elements at 1000 psi.  Good plan, aside from the fact that the house air compressor, which had been running earlier, would not restart as air was drawn !!.

Luckily Bob Olson was able to lend us the track department compressor and, by late morning, the hydro testing could begin.  Many thanks Bob.

During the day teams worked on the errant compressors.  After some hours trying to trace a stream of tiny air bubbles, that appeared in the fuel filter, Jerry, Ed and others found and replaced a small brass union nut in the fuel line which had developed a crack, needless to say out of sight at the back !.  Richard and others worked thru the control mechanism of the house air compressor.  This seems to have been a case of pure bloody mindedness as the pressure switch worked perfectly well after having been opened, examined, adjusted and found to have no apparent sign of any problem !.

Maybe it was an air compressor vacation day as the operating streetcar also suffered a compressor problem.

So, while teams sorted out the air compressors, the rest of us got back to 1630:

·         The flue was successfully pressure tested;

·         We then tested the two super heater elements that failed last year and have been repaired.  Both passed the pressure test at 1000 psi.  The ball ended mating surfaces, that will be installed into the header, were all cleaned and polished.  Dennis completed a couple of additional repairs were to the protective sheets and the elements are now all ready for fitting once the tubes are proved to be water tight;

Element protector sheet now complete

·         Eric fitted the copper ferrules for the flue and we then loaded the last flue into position.  It was then trimmed to length and rolled into first the rear and then the front tube sheet with no significant problems.  ALL THE TUBES ARE NOW ROLLED INTO BOTH SHEETS AND READY FOR TESTING .......... !!.  With over 180 small tubes and 16 large ones, all 17 feet in length, we have now re-installed significantly more than a half mile of tube.

A full set of tubes in place

 In celebration of this event there was a major clear out of the firebox and smokebox, which no longer look like storage racks for tube fitting tools ...... but that was after the picture!.

·         Ed has been continuing the job of cleaning and inspecting fittings from the backhead.  One assembly formed of 2 inch heavy pipe and valves, that controls the blower, looked suspect due to pitting in the pipe.  We took advantage of having the hydro test system working to pressure test it.  This detected a bit of seepage thru the pipe, which also did not sound good when hammer tested.  So we decided to make a replacement.  Ed, Dennis and Richard were well thru this by end of day;

·         The main focus now is on the riveting:

o   Jerry and Mike worked with Dennis to plan and fabricate a steel structure to brace the bucker inside the firebox.  There is a considerable trade off here as the frame must brace a very substantial air hammer but must also be man handled onto the footplate and thru the fire hole door into position.  There was considerable cussing as this was done but it is now in place;

Bucking frame in position

The bracing is designed to support the bucker both front to back (for the rivets in the front of the box) and side to side, when the plate nearest the camera is removed.

o   We also set up and tested the furnace to heat one of the rivets.  Tom had obtained a heat indicating stick (this is wiped on the hot rivet and turns liquid at the required temperature).  This seemed to indicate that the small furnace can successfully get a rivet of the required size evenly to the target temperature (although it had cooled substantially by the time I took the picture!);

Rivet test heated (and cooled)

o   So the next stage should be to get together the team that will do the riveting and practice the process to ensure that everything can be done smoothly and quickly before we do it with hot rivets.

So we have reached one major milestone.  While focusing on the riveting, so that we can get the boiler water tight and carry out the first tests, we will now work on a whole bunch of new tasks to start fitting as many parts as we can ahead of the initial hydro test.

Work in other areas (aside from the errant air compressors) was limited.  However, Mark provided an update on recent work on the CNW #6323 wrecker:

·         Andy repaired the lower radiator piping and cleaned out cinders and coal from under the deck plates.  Since she was converted from steam in 1961, those have been there a while!.

·         Bill worked on freeing the outriggers;

·         Nick helped in clearing rigging from the idler car so that the deck can be replaced;

·         Mike made a new door and doorway;

·         Phil crawled into the depths to change grease fittings in areas that no one else could get into;

·         Tom has been working on getting a custom spring made for the boom dog pawl (which stops the boom from lowering unless released).

Unfortunately Mark's inspection under the wrecker reveals 2 axles from 1925 and 2 from 1960.  The wheels on the 1960 axles are good but those from 1925 are cracked to varying extents.  So a search for replacements is now under way.

Nigel

It was a productive day at the steam shop leading to a fairly short update.  We were able to do what we planned to with no significant setbacks, which is always a good thing to be able to say !.

On 1630 the focus was on the tube fitting and the set up for riveting:

·         The remaining 6 super heater flues were expanded into the front tube sheet.  After the problem a couple of weeks back I was in the firebox watching very closely for any sign of movement.  But nothing happened.  They all rolled into the front sheet with no sign of a slide toward the front.  So what happened before .... I have no idea.

·         With those flues in place we moved on to the last 9 small tubes.  These were cut to length, ferrules checked and fitted where necessary, then the tubes were expanded into the rear sheet and rolled into the front.  After 180 we are getting quite good at this !.  So a big milestone, every small tube is now in place and ready for the water test.

Phil rolls the last small tube

·         The one remaining tube to be fitted is the large one that had to be cut out two weeks ago.  This is being safe ended and will be ready for pressure testing next weekend.  We prepared for this by filling the water tank in the back of the truck.  A week standing in the sun should have the water warm for use in testing next weekend.  If the test is successful, we should be able to fit that last tube immediately.

·         Mike, Tom and Dennis worked on fabricating a frame that will allow the bucker to be held firmly against each rivet as it is formed.  It looks as if we are getting close to the set up for fitting the rivets into the patch, which is the last major step before we can fill the boiler and ensure that the tubes are water tight. 

Repair riveting is about as difficult as it gets!.  When the boiler is made or subject of major repair it is riveted upside down or off the locomotive so you have full access to the mud ring.  In this case the trick is to ensure that everything can be placed and held in this fairly confined space.

Work area for bucking rivets

So the area has been cleared ready for riveting and the next stage will be to start setting up the fabricated frame to hold the bucker in place.

·         Dennis repaired the cinder protection plate on the last of the super heater elements.  These simple looking pieces of sheet are most important.  When the element is in place in the flue, the pipes bending up to the header are in the path of cinders being sucked thru the flue at great speed, so would be subject to extensive erosion.  The rough sheets, wrapped around the element  are "sacrifice plates" that suffer the erosion rather than the element itself.  The picture was taken prior to the repair and shows how a hole has been cut thru the protector by the abrasive effect of hot, fast moving, cinders.

Damage to element protector

·         Tom and Cameron worked on machining the guides required to drill the holes for the new firebox stays.

In other areas:

·         The tubes for the Shay were strapped into bundles and moved back to the boxcar, freeing up the space in the fabrication area;

·         Tom continued machining the wedges for #428

·         Stu worked with Phil and Cameron on sizing the rivets for the cab on #428.  This is a job that we will fit in when we have spare resources as it will allow the cab to be refitted freeing up a useful area for fabrication;

·         Stu also continued work on the control system of the planer;

·         .... and beside this we were able to assist the US Army (re-enactment version) with the odd bit of metal bashing to keep their tents upright!

So overall a good day's work.

On a less cheerful note, we talked to Rod, who visited Glen during the week.  He remains in the ICU at Rockford Memorial and was heavily sedated.  The prognosis remains unclear, particularly with regard to one leg which suffered major damage to the knee.  Our thoughts and prayers are with him.

Nigel