Hi,
Today we finally got Mr. Lunkenheimer's three truck shay to operate as it
should.
You may recall we bought this months ago and on it's second steaming the
boiler failed. Jerry Hyde secured the new boiler and the necessary parts.
When we disassembled the old boiler to salvage the steam regulator (throttle)
we found it was corroded in place and some parts of it were broken. We then
delved deeper into the old boiler and found that there was a large
accumulation of very fine black material, much like finely ground carbon
black, in the boiler. If you put it in a class and stirred it up it looked
like India ink.
With the help of a veteran live steamer that happens to live next to I-10 in
a state with a long name, we put the boiler back together but had difficulty
getting the water glass in place. Didn't get it steamed up on that try. After
some problems getting the new steam valve properly seated, time for a test
run. On the second lap there appeared to be an explosion on the back
straightaway. The loco stopped immediately. I ran out and shut off the gas.
The waterglass had broken just above the bottom packing gland. Put in a new
glass and gently tightened the packing glands, and the thing broke right at
the packing nut. Had to order more glass from Jerry Hyde.
For the third try, I turned a brass rod so it was a snug slip fit to align
the two fittings. Had to sacrifice half of the bottom lock not to get the
fitting close enough in line to insert the glass. Another break! I
immediately inserted the guide rod and found that the top fitting was out of
alignment, it was angled out away from the boiler. Apparently it is slightly
off top dead center of the boiler and when the boiler built up pressure, the
long armed fitting was moving enough to break the glass. I decided to
slightly reorient the fitting using a long threaded rod to get it perfectly
in line. Installed the fourth, and last glass, last night.
Shortly after sunrise this morning, Lunk & I steamed the Shay up again.
Nothing happened during steamup. Safety popped and the throttle was opened,
away it went. After the first tender full of water, I added some cars and ran
at a higher pressure reading. All in all, ended the steaming day (after 6
hours) and everything held together. At one time there were 26 full size cars
behind the shay and it was doing it's thing. Man, a 26 beer car train looks
NEAT! Well, actually it was 24 beer cars with a coal car that is a coupler
conversion car and also carries some road supplies, and a work train caboose.
After a five hour break, I fired it up again this evening for an hour or so,
and no broken glass.
Maybe, just maybe, we finally got a runner.
Mr. Lunk was exhausted by the end of the day. He made many trips from the
steaming bay to his bench in the middle of the yard where he watches the
trains.
Some days are just better than others...............
Keep your steam up!
Mr. Lunkenheimer's associate
