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Tuesday, September 22. 2015Shay UpdateI 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 The locomotive was withdrawn from service after the 1999 operating season for general maintenance and to bring it up to the standards required by the Federal Railroad Administration in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.
-Drawbar and auxiliary drawbars between locomotive and water tender cleaned and inspected for cracks. Main drawbar was sent out for stress relieving heat soak.
-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.
-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.
-All boiler tubes and flues cut to size, installed in boiler, flat rolled, ground to length, and belled over where necessary.
-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. Friday, September 11. 2015Steam Department Update Summer 2015
It has been an awfully long time!.
The Summer is always a bad time for blogging about the steam shop. Operating is very time consuming, leaving relatively little time for other work and after that, things rather got away from me.
So what is happening now in the steam shop?.
Everything is winterized and positioned in the shop for the off-season work program. However, the layout in the shop is unusual and this hopefully indicates a big change. #428 remains at the South end but next to her is #1630 with Shay #5 at the North end. In part this is because the (limited) planned work on #1630 this Winter is best done over the small area of deeper crawl space but mainly because it is hoped that #5 will be the first locomotive into steam in 2017!.
So, what is the status of the locomotives and plans for this Winter.
#1630
The decapod had a very successful running season after the incident in June with the broken truck Spring. Thereafter all planned running days were achieved with only very minor incidents. The most significant was probably the breakage of a lubricator line to the crosshead guide. Some rapid brazing by Brian meant that we only missed a couple of trips that day.
The valve and running gear work over the last couple of years seems to have much improved the locomotive. She is now probably stronger than at any time since she arrived from Eagle Pitcher. With other aspects of the running gear now better adjusted, the most obvious unwanted noise was from the rods on the fireman’s side. So the non-routine work for this Winter is primarily the replacement of the rod bearings of the drive axle on this side. The rods were removed promptly once she was in the shop and the bearings are now in the machine shop. Measurement has demonstrated that they are indeed worn beyond acceptable railroad standards. So replacements will be machined and fitted.
Aside from this the annual inspection is in progress. All the normal “fun” tasks are being progressed.
· gauges and safety valves are off for testing and setting;
· drawbars have been removed thoroughly cleaned, inspected for any cracks and will shortly go offsite for annealing;
· the locomotive has been resounding to the tapping and banging as we crawl all over the inside and outside of the firebox, clearing the telltale holes in the stays and then checking that they are clear to the required depth. Good progress. The outside is done and the inside is well advanced;
· cleaning and inspection of the smokebox and front tube-sheet is well advanced.
It is also planned to do some “improvement” work on a couple of the drive box wedges. One has had a distinctly questionable adjusting bolt for many years that makes adjustment awkward and another is believed to be just about at the limit of its adjustment. So the plan is to correct this over Winter.
Shay #5
Work on Shay #5 has progressed steadily and is now hopefully approaching the point where an intensive spell can be scheduled to get her to operating condition.
Major activity has included:
· Dennis welding the new smokebox bottom into place. Recently he was relaxing in his purpose-built hammock structure! to complete the grinding of the joint on the engineer’s side;
· Jerry has substantially completed the lagging and installation of the cladding is well under way;
· Substantial progress has been made on the next big step, which is installation of the blast pipe into the smokebox. On a Shay, that has had a rebuild of this scale, this is a 3 dimensional jigsaw started knowing that some of the pieces are missing!.
Obviously, as with any steam engine, the blast orifice must center below the petticoat of the chimney to ensure the most effective drafting. Also, it must bolt thru the floor of the smokebox and into the exhaust casting. However, unlike a rod driven loco, the exhaust casting of the Shay is not the top of the cylinder casting, firmly fixed into place, but a heavy casting that joins with some flexibility to the exhaust pipe and is bolted at several points to the smokebox. The game is that, once all the attachments are made, there is just about zero flexibility in how the exhaust casting must sit and attach to the exhaust pipe and blast pipe and, to ensure the smokebox is sealed as well as possible, all the mounting holes need to be a good fit. Since the smokebox bottom is entirely new (and the original was so rusted as to be useless as a template) the game is to juggle and test fit these heavy and awkward parts accurately into position so that the mounting hole scan be marked for drilling and cutting with a fair degree of accuracy. The acid test will come in a couple of weeks when we offer it up again and try to bolt everything into place!.
· The air pump was finally reassembled as well. Mike has thoroughly stripped and reconditioned this unit, so this should now be pretty much ready to go.
· A big exercise completed over recent weeks, by Dennis, is the fire-grates. This was not a planned exercise. #5 was an oil burner that was converted to coal on arrival at IRM. The original conversion, in the 1970’s, was less than satisfactory and part of the rebuild planned when she came out of service in 1998 was to fit a new and robust grate system. This was designed in advance and parts were obtained ready to fit, including the cast grates complete with rocking levers, that were produced by a supportive (and now defunct) local foundry. The finding that the tube-sheet required repair turned the overhaul from a 2-3 year job to nearly 20 years. The grate castings sat unused for more than 10 years and it was only when they were pulled out of storage, to build the new grate mechanism, that it was discovered the foundry had misread the drawings and cast the rocking levers facing the wrong way!!. Since they are cast iron, you cannot simply cut the levers of and weld the back facing the other way!. The solution for now has been to fabricate steel sections that can fit thru the grates and allow the levers to be attached in the correct configuration. Time will tell how well this will stand up to operation. It is hoped that it will allow at least a couple of years of service but there is no doubt that we will need to gather the money (estimate about $6,000) to have new grates cast correctly to the drawings. The good thing is that the grates that Dennis has modified are now exactly the shape that the design specified so, once we can get grates correctly cast to the pattern, it should be a routine maintenance activity to substitute them.
· There is still much to do, including:
o Rebuilding the front beam once the exhaust assembly is finally installed;
o Fitting the grate rocker assembly;
o Sealing /lining the inside of the water tank;
o Plus the myriad of once smaller tasks that are always involved in bringing a locomotive back into operation.
However, the expectation is that she will be ready to test in the Spring.
#428
Various work has continued on #428. The biggest has been work on the valves. It was decided to progress the valves while the experience of the work on #1630 was fresh in the mind. While the detail of these valves is earlier than #1630 and differs in some ways the basic structure is the same. Extensive measurement has been done to identify where it is necessary to build up the spiders and ends to allow them to be machined to critical dimensions. Based upon this, the plan is to repair and machine to specification and then get the valves reassembled.
#938
During the Summer, Phil and others continued the laborious task of removing rust and repainting. She now looks better than she has in many years and is now back into barn #9 following completion of repair work on the barn walls.
#2903
The commissioning of the renovated Santa Fe sign provided an unusual opportunity to see one of our large locomotives in the open. She was posed behind the sign along with the Warbonnet #92 for the dedication ceremony. Sadly, she aroused less than happy memories for one of our honored guests, a retired senior Santa Fe executive. As a young man, she was memorable for having barfed a large quantity of black gunk all over his good suit during a re-railing operation!. Oh well.
So we reach the end of another year. I am away to the UK for a couple of weeks. It will be a busy Winter but it promises to be an interesting New Year with the prospect of two running locomotives. Please consider supporting the Steam Department projects this year end.
Happy Christmas
Nigel
Friday, July 17. 2015Steam Department Update June 2015
June and July are normally quiet months for project work in the steam shop with many volunteers on vacation and the demands of operating and maintaining #1630 taking the time of those who are available. A cursory look into the shop would suggest 2015 is no different. After the insulation work, #428 and the Shay are now back in their familiar positions and #938 is back at the North end to continue the cosmetic / evaluation work.
However, the cursory look would miss some radical progress!!. Read on!.
#1630 has continued to run fairly well but with minor issues that take a lot of time during the non-running weekends. On the crewing side three trainees )including me!) have now qualified as firemen, which means that they can now operate with just one of our qualified engineers, so reducing the demand on our small pool of engineers. Unfortunately one engineer is now largely unavailable due to external demands so we are still on the edge for crew.
Mark got the Kohring crane back into operation and has subsequently done most of the coaling. This makes it a much quicker and less demanding operation than last year;
The new water softener system seems to be a big improvement. The daily production is much improved, in part due to a better flow rate and also because it will regenerate immediately the required volume is reached while the old one regenerated only at night;
At each “off” weekend we deal with the minor issues noted by crews during the previous weeks but two issues have proved “niggling” and have been addressed a couple of times.
The steam connection to the fireman’s injector starter valve has proved very reluctant to seal completely free of small leaks and will be reworked again this weekend; and
A small leak around the feed to the fireman’s sight glass reappeared a couple of weeks after it was last addressed and will be addressed again this weekend.
It all takes time and small groups of volunteers are to be seen Saturdays and sometimes during the week dealing with issues such as these as well as helping the crew with start-up and disposal activities. This is a big help as I can assure you that the full day of grate cleaning, lighting up, ash pan cleaning, greasing, then firing for the day before taking on water and shutting down is a VERY hard day’s work, particularly when temperature and humidity are high!.
The new roof insulation in the South shop was completed and the shop is back in use.
Sudden rapid progress on the new compressor shed, which is a big development funded from the annual benefit at San Filippo, has been made in the last few weeks:
The concrete slab was laid with the bolts to secure the large compressor set into it;
In the last week the building itself has been erected and the old door replaced by a solid wall that will significantly reduce heat loss in Winter;
The compressors were moved to the West side door to allow easy pick up by the fork lift when they are moved into their new location;
We now wait on the fitting of the roller doors before we can start the insulation;
The pressure will be to get everything operational before Winter. We have some significant riveting in prospect and a key expectation of the new compressor installation is that it will provide sufficient air to support riveting without the need to use the Sullair (mobile compressor). This will be a big bonus as Winter is ideal for a hot job like riveting but digging out the Sullair and starting it in sub-zero temperatures can be “fun”.
Now to the huge progress …….. Shay #5
On a walk around the shop she really does not look any different but, look into the smokebox area and, she is VERY different!. As discussed in the last blog, there are huge benefits in daily working to move large projects forward quickly.
Brian Davies, assisted by a number of the younger volunteers as available on a day by day basis, worked solidly for two weeks on the boiler. The effects are remarkable:
The tube and flue holes in both sheets were prepared (rough edges removed) and profiled;
Ferrules were expanded into all the holes;
Both small tubes and super heater flues were cut to length and installed in the tube sheets;
The ends of all tubes and flues were expanded into the tube sheets;
Work is now progressing on grinding excess material from the tube ends in preparation for beading.
So the Shay now has a fully tubed boiler and is being worked towards hydrostatic testing!. We now have some tasks, such as preparing all the tubes for beading and lapping the various valves that are required to seal the boiler for hydro, that can efficiently be carried out by weekend teams.
The tubing was much easier to carry out with the bottom of the smokebox missing. However subsequent work will be less affected by the smokebox bottom so the plan is to pull the front truck out shortly and start fitting the new bottom of the smokebox. This is actually a smaller task than the tube fitting but will have a much greater impact on the appearance of the locomotive.
The last couple of weeks have really confirmed our belief in the importance of at least periods of full time work to progress a major steam locomotive project. We attracted some donations from the appeal last month (final information next month) that will allow another intensive session later in the year. Having #5 running for 2016 now looks very realistic if we can continue this way.
On #428 riveting of the cab has continued and this is now well advanced.
Ed has worked steadily on the pipework including finding old photographs to help in the complex task of identifying how the various pipes were routed and what they did. Really tricky when you start from a pile of pipes of different sizes bent to follow complex paths but removed years ago by people no longer around ………… and the probability that some are likely missing and a few from other locos may have been included in the pile!. However, the cab pipework is now substantially complete.
A big barrier on #428 will be the availability of fabrication / welding time. Many hours of skilled fabrication and welding are required to fit the new cab floor, build up the axle boxes and rubbing plates on the wheels, etc. Over Winter this will still compete for time with any work on #1630 and the Shay as that moves toward running condition.
On a side note, I was one of the volunteers missing for a couple of weeks in June as I visited family in the UK. During that time I did a day of throttle pull (called footplate experience over there) on the Severn Valley Railway near Birmingham with my oldest son. They are a very welcoming group with a whole organization around footplate experience that is run frequently and includes time both driving and firing on a train running over a 15 mile line with family / guests riding all day. Anyone interested in steam throttle pull and recognizing the shortage of opportunities here might well consider it if you visit the UK.
Amazing how different a steam engine can be in the detail. We used a GWR Manor class 10 wheeler of 1930’s design.
Only just over half the power of #1630 but with 68 inch wheels and easily able to accelerate a 6 car train to line speed on a heavily graded line. Aside from the obvious attention to appearance the amazing thing was the simplification and standardization. Historically all substantial overhaul work was done by major works that also designed and built the locomotives. So even pipework is common to all locomotives in a class and many of the parts, even to the extent of the whole boiler, are interchangeable between classes. There is also a startling reduction in the amount of pipework when the boiler an fittings are all designed and made together. Generally one valve to control and shut off each unit where we have multiple shut offs. You get on the footplate and the immediate impression is “there’s nothing here. Where are all the controls?”.
Still a tremendous day highly recommended to anyone visiting the UK.
So a lot of progress and hopefully a lot more to come. Nigel
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Comments
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...
Mon, 12-27-2021 16:28
Happy New Year to all the Departments at the Illinois railway Museum! Thanks for all the good work you do in railroad preservation. Ted Miles, [...]
Wed, 10-13-2021 13:33
Was the CB&Q 1309 every transported to IRM?I’ve been reading old issues of Rail&Wire and the car was mentioned several times.
Mon, 06-07-2021 22:40
I was wondering if in the model layout display what scale would you guys be using and would you be displaying model train history as well? Just [...]
Wed, 06-02-2021 17:27
Nice to see 428's cab back on. Looking forward to when it is operable!
Tue, 06-01-2021 16:47
I hope the work will continue on the UP #428. Now that they are the museum's connection to the national railroad network; she would be very [...]
Sat, 04-17-2021 23:07
What is the status of 126, the Milwaukee Buffet car that is in S. Dakota? Any guess on when or if it will get to IRM?
Wed, 04-14-2021 21:09
Perhaps it is time to scrap the remains of the c, B & Q 7128 to make room for the Villa Real. Ted miles, IRM member
Wed, 04-14-2021 15:26
Hi IRM my name is Jason and I was wonder If you guys would be willing to save a CN Dash8-40cm they are currently being retired by CN and being [...]
Fri, 04-09-2021 19:56
Bear in mind that the Nebraska Zephyr is an articulated train set, so cars cannot be inserted at will. Although cars and/or a second engine could be [...]
Wed, 03-31-2021 11:37
I believe Silver Pony is currently on the back burner, and has been put into storage in one of the barns. The car needs a lot of work done to it's [...]