Steam Department

Oh well, we are into March.  You would not have guessed it at Union yesterday as we gingerly picked our way across thickly ice encrusted roads to get between the shop and the amenity block.  The day was then somewhat shortened by the development of a steady snow storm as darkness fell.  However, there was a reasonable turn out and steady progress continued.

On 1630 it was very much “more of the same”, which is exactly what we need at this point.

Painting continued on the frames and running gear.  Christian joined the team for the first time and, by afternoon, was fitted in between the frames and top coating the cylinder casting and adjacent areas.  There is a lot of variety in the steam shop.  As a new volunteer, you cannot be sure if you will be handling a paint brush or a 20 pound hammer!.

Christian paints the cylinder casting

Meanwhile Jerry worked between the frames ahead of the firebox.  So most of the lower areas of the locomotive have now received top coat and attention moved to the tender.  Jim and Jerry painted most of the tender frames during the day.  (The positioning of the bucket is unfortunate.  Honest, we are not painting it with driveway sealer!!).

Jim paints the tender frames

There are a few more weeks of work on the lower areas of locomotive and tender that will not be obvious unless you are standing next to the locomotive.  A number of pipes and the under sides of the walkways need to be cleaned, primed and painted.  In addition there is a major review and touch up exercise.  Whenever you shine lights and look from different angles you spot areas that are not fully covered.  So there will be a significant exercise of inspection, with a brush in hand, to touch up these spots and finish the job.

Dennis had welded some areas of the cab last week and identified further areas on the fireman’s side that needed grinding out and clamping so that he could weld.  I cleaned these up so they are now ready for welding.

This weekend Dennis was cutting the new mesh sections for the smokebox spark arrestor.

Jason located another steam heat gauge, very similar to the existing one.  He was able to exchange the face of this one with the damaged face of the existing gauge so we now have a good looking gauge to fit.

Dennis cuts the new mesh

Rick removed the sander discharge pipes as these would be in the way of spraying the cladding sheets of the boiler. He then wire brushed these ready for painting.

Rick prepares the sander lines

On 428:

Ed worked on the sander manifolds.  He showed me an interesting feature.  The inspection plugs of the sand channels are filled with lead.  Apparently this wears better under the force of steam driven sand than does iron or steel.  One of the plugs needs a new lead filling.

Ed works on the sander manifold

Dennis and Phil worked on one of the brake rods.

In other areas, a major milestone was reached last week on the planer.  I understand that, after much investigation and adjustment it is now effectively operational.  Critically, it was adjusted so that it now moves on the cutting stroke at an adjustable speed and then returns for the next cut at a surprising speed for such a large machine.  In addition, features that were not previously understood are now seen to operate.  For example, a small hydraulic cylinder actually lifts the cutting head at the end of the cutting stroke so that it is positively lifted above the work as the table returns.

The planer is working

All of this is second hand from the team as the machine was not operating this weekend.  A number of leaks were identified in operation so a couple of seals will be replaced and some connections remade to bring it to readiness for routine.

So a week of steady progress.  Now what we need is the Spring!.

Nigel

Welcome back to the IRM Steam Department skating rink. A few days of thaw during the week were a mixed blessing.  The snow mountains are a little reduced but not much of the water went away.  So it has now formed thick ice.  Blacktop roads around the site could be ploughed effectively and so dried out.  But the unmade roads around the shop now have an inch or more of solid ice.  Pauline’s passenger car shop blog has some great pictures of the conditions around the site.

There was a good turnout and most people sensibly kept to the shop once they had carefully slithered their way in.  Quite a lot of cleaning and painting had been done during the week and it was generally decided that we would have a “dust free” day so a lot of people concentrated on applying primer or topcoat to the lower regions of 1630.  Since we have no separate painting area or dust extraction we have to focus on cleaning and then paint all areas we have cleaned before making any dust anywhere in the shop.

With so many people involved it was difficult to keep track of the progress.  Indeed this is an interim update as I left early to go to the Soiree and I will wait to see what happened after I left.

The major focus was on the frames, both inside and out.  The confined space just behind the cylinders is probably the worst part.

Not an easy area to paint

Brian put in a lot of time in this area.  The trick, that he achieved pretty effectively, is to clamber into the space from the rear, carefully paint all around yourself and leave an exit so that you can clamber out without damaging your work.

Brian painting in a tricky place

Further back, just ahead of the firebox, there is rather more space.  Jerry is hard at work on the inside of the frames on the fireman’s side.  This gives a good indication of how fast things are moving.  The inside of the springs on the engineer’s side are now primed while the outside of the springs on the fireman’s side are already in topcoat.

Jerry at work just ahead of the firebox

Brian, Phil and I refitted the ends of the valve chambers that had been removed for measurement of valve rings for potential replacement in 2015.

Brian refitting the valve chamber ends

Later in the day, the ends and cover sheets were all fully fitted and the painters had already come by and primed the areas around them.

All back in place and primed

Jim was back at work on Sunday and sent me this picture.  The cylinder ends and all the section behind the pilot is now finished.

All back in place and primed

Jim was in early Saturday working on the engineer’s side.  Later in the day, the engineer’s side wheels, frames and motion are well in the way to completion

Engineer’s side largely complete

The fireman’s side is progressing well with much in topcoat and priming well under way.  The lubricator now looks really nice.  That was a lot of work.  A significant exercise now is quality control, i.e. looking at it from all angles and spotting any gaps.  There are so many projections, crevices and angles that this is no small exercise.

Fireman’s side well underway

Dennis worked with Jane on welding, particularly areas of the coal bunker that showed small leaks.

Jane degreased and pressure washed underneath the boiler of the Shay.

Stu, Bob and Mike worked with Rod on the planer.  When I left the hydraulics would move the table in one direction but were showing remarkable reluctance to push it back the other way.  Much analysis was continuing of old manuals and drawings to investigate possible reasons for this.

So a very productive day.

Nigel