April, 2013 Work Weekend

Several days of fantastic weather! It had been rainy earlier in the month along with the occasional freak snowfall, but not this weekend. There were times that a jacket wasn't necessary.

The recently acquired 4-wheel drive fork lift had a few discrepancies which had been noted at delivery. The two highest priority items were the foot brake not working (yikes!) and the other was the 4-wheel drive engagement mechanism was not working reliably.

Roger R's first assignment was to get the brakes working. The problem was traced to a gummed up master cylinder. There was evidence that the fork lift had not had its brake fluid changed in a long time. Since fork lifts often work in dusty environments, the dust had infiltrated the seals on the master cylinder and formed a concrete-like substance which kept the unit from working.

The second assignment was resolving the 4-wheel drive problem. Rex F and Roger R worked on this for quite a while but it isn't known if they came to a conclusion or resolution. There is evidence that a controller circuit board is not doing what it should.

Dave O. had arrived on Friday night with his son, Kendell and a trailer load of steel tubing and rail. The first task Saturday morning was to unload the trailer. Using the skid steer, Nathan V and Randy V were able to get all of the steel off the trailer and load it to the proper storage areas around the MCRR shop.

The main spring cleanup project around the shop was to get the locomotive fuel oil under control. During the previous season, we were able to collect a number of totes full of oil. Some of the oil was pumped into the two locomotive tenders but a good portion was awaiting use in the totes.

Before the transfer from the totes to the large storage tank could begin, the containment area had to be drained of the recent heavy rains. We have a submersible pump to empty the water but the drain hose had fallen off of the pump casing. Elsie B, Ryan F, and Matt W quickly repaired the hose connection and started the pump.

After getting the pump working, Elsie B, Ryan F, and Matt W spent a good portion of the day pumping the content of the totes into the large storage tank and moving the empty totes to various locations on our property.

How did that get up there?

Matt W stepped inside the shop to find Matt C and Kevin S having a chat about some unknown topic. We are sure it was important.

Meanwhile, Brian B continued his stenciling project on the DRGW boxcar. Last month he had copied most of the small lettering from the "good" side of the boxcar. This month, he dealt with the large lettering on the upper portions of the boxcar.

Kendell O, Wayne P, and Braden G cleaned up the drivers for No. 2. Having been buried in the mud for so many years gave the team a chance to get familiar with the pressure washer. Portions of the wheels were so encased in mud that some manual scraping was necessary.

Not pictured is the activity in the South Station and Museum "B."

Every North Pole Express, the coach windows are treated with translucent plastic to aid in the experience of travelling to the North Pole. Our summer travelers do not care much for the North Pole Express look, so the plastic needs to be removed. Jerry C and Mike N spent several hours peeling the plastic off the windows. Deb C was keeping the gift shop and M&E room under control and preparing them for the upcoming season.

The Midwest Old Threshers are kind enough to allow us to store much of our equipment in their Museum "B" while North Pole Express takes place. However, when the school tours start in the spring, we need to get our "rougher" rolling stock out of Museum "B" and into our South Station. Several switching crews moved the various pieces around to give Museum "B" the correct look.

-steam.airman

March, 2013 Work Weekend

Most of the MCRR Board of Directors visited a trade show in St. Louis for the upcoming "Midwest Haunted Rails." While the BoD members were at their trade show, the MCRR "mechanics" (also known as the "volunteers") worked on various projects in the shop.

No. 12 was the focal point for the weekend.

Last month, No. 12's single cylinder air compressor was disassembled and several problems were noted. Based on those problems we decided to install a cross-compound air compressor that had been rebuilt by "Shop Services," a commercial entity co-located with the MCRR many years ago. The air compressor had been stored at the south end of the shop and for years was more of a tripping hazard than a useful piece of equipment. (Perhaps it was simply awaiting the "right" locomotive?)

Last month the cross-compound compressor was moved to a position behind No. 12's cab. This month it was tested with shop compressed air and installed on the fireman's side of the locomotive.

Rex F. and Roger R. inspect, lubricate, and attempt to get the compressor working. Supervising the labor was Board member Chris P. The years of doing nothing caused some of the compressor's original lubrication to become sticky and in a few places, solid.

As Rex and Roger were working on the compressor, Elliot H. was preparing the side of the boiler for the installation. The boiler mounts were designed for the cross-compound compressor but had been adapted to the single cylinder compressor while at the GLRR. The brackets were removed, labeled, and stored with the other pieces which had been removed last month.

With the boiler mount ready and the compressor cleanly cycling on shop air, the staff used the overhead crane to move the compressor to its new location.

With little fuss, the cross-compound compressor was bolted in place on No. 12. That was the easy part!

Unlike the MCRR, whose track "layout" is in a relatively flat city park, the GLRR's track system is up a fairly steep mountain grade. The locomotive works hard to get to the top and then the operator spends most of the time applying the brakes on the way back down. Applying air brakes causes the compressor to cycle, which for a "normal" compressor installation causes excessive smoke box drafting, often snuffing out the fire or causing the boiler's pressure to become higher than desirable.

The GLRR had modified the compressor steam exhaust system on No. 12 to suit their operation. Instead of having the compressor vent through the smoke box, the steam was vented outside behind the smoke stack. Perfect for the wide open areas in Colorado but rather noisy for our operation in Mt. Pleasant. Have a "look and listen" at this video and you will know what is meant by "rather noisy." The snorting is quite prevalent as No. 12's compressor is cycling while the air brake system is demanding pressure.

Solution? Reroute the compressor's steam exhaust through the smoke box. The size of the smoke box becomes a better muffler and the locomotive gets loads of free boiler draft in the process! Rex F. disconnects the brackets holding the exhaust pipe to the smoke stack.

The running boards surrounding the air compressor had been tailored to fit the single cylinder air compressor. With a totally different shape, the new cross-compound compressor demanded modifications to the running board. Here, the running board is readied for a large section to be removed and replaced with a new section.

In order to route the compressor exhaust through the smoke box (as Baldwin intended!), the pass-through port had to prepared for use. After removing the plug, Griffin W. and Roger R. rethread the fitting to accept a 2 inch bushing.

The ongoing boiler shell cleaning project continued as the other mechanical work was taking place. Jeremy L. removes baked on dirt and grime from the front sand dome.

If the mechanical work on No. 12 wasn't enough, another group moved the boxcar from Museum "B" to the shop. The boxcar, before its acquisition by the MCRR had been partially restored, including a new paint job. Since the boxcar was in a static display, only one side was lettered. One of the spring projects is to get it lettered on both sides.

Getting the boxcar from the Museum building to the shop was more work than expected. Recent March snows caused a mess on the tracks connecting the two buildings. The crew spent more time digging the rails out than moving the car.

The Vulcan gasoline switcher proved to be the ideal locomotive to get the task done.

With the boxcar in the shop, Brian B. carefully traced the lettering onto onion-skin paper. The tracings were then transferred to hand carved stencils. The next step will be to place sticky paper on the unlettered side of the boxcar, trace the letters via the stencils onto the sticky paper, cut the letters out of the sticky paper, and finally apply paint.

The new routing for the steam exhaust and the air pressure connection was completed. The last major task was installing the air intake manifold to the cross-compound compressor. A manifold was easily located in the shops archives but the two flanges that connect the manifold to the compressor body were nowhere to be found. Griffin W. fabricates new flanges to complete the manifold's installation.

The forward portion of the running board insert was tack welded in place and the running board fitted to the side of the boiler.

Look carefully between the middle step and the running board and you can see the compressor's steam exhaust passing through the smoke box wall.

The steam exhaust and air pressure output pipes lead away from the air compressor to the existing piping on the locomotive.

Did you ever wonder what the inside of a boiler looks like? Matt W. climbed inside No. 12's boiler and took some spectacular pictures.

These two pictures are looking backwards towards the firebox. The firebox stays are quite vivid. The pipe along the top is the steam line for the accessories.

Looking forward towards the front flue sheet, the dry pipe is suspended from the top of the boiler. The eerie grey color is the result of our advanced boiler treatment. The treatment contains a polymer which coats the boiler's insides preventing rust.

-steam.airman

February, 2013 Work Weekend

We directed our efforts at No. 12, No. 14, No. 2 ( ! ), and some ground equipment. Somebody even swept the floor and cleaned the office!

After 4 1/2 years, the Case backhoe's batteries gave up. Oddly, this backhoe was built at a time when the manufacturer was experimenting with something other than a heavy-post battery or a side terminal battery. This one had a pair of top stud batteries of which no one in Mt Pleasant, except for the Case dealer, knew anything about. "We can order them..." We opted for converting the backhoe to the more common top post battery but that required getting some converter gadgets. A 30 minute job ended up taking several hours.

Roger R. removes and replaces the batteries while Elliot H. rests peacefully in the cab of the backhoe.

The workhorse No. 14 has been out of service for a while due to a finicky air compressor. This down time was put to good use with Chris P. installing a cab heater, which like a car, runs off of hot water from the engine's cooling system. The center shroud covering the transmission is being rebuilt, having finally fallen apart after several decade's use.

Oh...and Dave O. continued the investigation of the failing air compressor. There are no obvious leaks in the air brake system, so our attention has been focused on the air compressor and its regulator. There are signs the reed valves which control the compressor's pumping ability are not seating. Dave O. will bring the cylinder head to his workshop for repairs.

We disassembled No. 12's single stage steam powered air compressor. Roger R. and Rex F. unbolt the steam cylinder head attempt to lift it off with muscle power. That didn't work very well, so the over head crane was used to lift it up and away. Well, almost: a small connecting rod within the steam cylinder prevented the head from coming off. Using the appropriate service manual (yes, our office has service manuals for this old stuff!), we learned the rod has to be pushed out of a keyhole-like slot in order to remove the head.

With the steam cylinder head removed, the next step was to remove the steam cylinder. Brian B. joins the team (or annoys the team; you decide) and the steam cylinder was lifted clear.

Meanwhile, the cleaning of No. 12 started. Matt W. spent a few hours last month removing some surface rust on the connecting rods. This month he started cleaning the sheet metal and some of the other bits of piping on and around the locomotive.

There were a few places where pipes blocking the way required somebody with smaller hands and arms. Enter Elsie B.! She was able to get into the spaces that had been blocked from Matt.

There is a massive amount of real estate on No. 12. John G. (not shown) and Melissa B. cleaned the fireman's side of the locomotive.

The engineers were not satisfied with the steam throttle operation of No. 12. Last month, we removed the throttle valve and linkage with the intent of installing a genuine Baldwin spool valve and body.

Braden G. "laps" the spool valve into the valve body. Dave O. brought several pipes and flanges to adapt the Baldwin valve body to the dry pipe.

We expect to do ultra sound thickness testing of the dry pipe. The testing requires a locomotive mechanic to get inside the boiler and crawl along the top of the flue pipes taking periodic measurements. Matt W. and John G. slip into the steam dome to vie for the privilege of crawling on the flues. Several people were offered the job but graciously declined. ("Are you mad? I'm not going inside there!")

After taking No. 12's air compressor apart, we determined there were so many problems that installing our spare cross compound compressor was prudent. Overhauled long ago by "Shop Services," we extracted the compressor from its spot on the south wall of the shop. Matt C. gets a chance to use the newly acquired fork lift to move the parts that separated the compressor from the fork lift.

-steam.airman