Cliffside 110
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Update for July 1.......and counting.

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Update for July 1.......and counting.  Empty Update for July 1.......and counting.

Post by DaveLathrop57 Mon Jul 01, 2013 3:00 pm

Dave Dick sends us this update:

Here's an update on 110...


On Monday June 24th Jack and a helper broke loose and removed the branch pipes from the front end. It is now clear enough to remove the tubes. I got a little time on Saturday, so I went down to finish cleaning out both the the front end and the firebox. Boy what a mess! It was obvious that the engine was not well cared for during its last days of operation.


There was a sand and carbon mixture surrounding the blast pipe that is almost a cement like consistency. I was able to chip some of it away only to reveal water damage underneath. Looks like we will be replacing most of, if not the bottom half of the smoke box. We did the same with 17 though so that's nothing new. I also inspected the bottom half of the tube sheet. I didn't take any readings, but in looking at it I suspect that there has been some thinning at the base. The riveting is also well worn in this area. My next move would be to take UT readings at its base as well as on the crown and side sheets in the fire box.


In the fire box, Jack and crew had previously removed most of the firebrick. We finished cleaning the dirt and crap out of the bottom and discovered a small simple burner at the front end as well as the damper in the back. The damper was fairly small, so I suspect that she might have been somewhat starved for air, unless the fire door was also changed from the butterfly door from her coal burning days to a door that more resembles 17's. The base of the fire box is brick and will have to be removed as well. I also cleaned out that end of the tubes so that either a torch or a modern day tube cutter can be inserted to remove the tubes. Lots of soot!


Jack is friends with a boiler maker who's expertise is with riveted boilers. He is going to come look at the locomotive within the next couple of weeks. He has expressed an interest in the engine and would like to do any or all of the boiler work that needs to be done, including removing the tubes. Hey, if he's got the right equipment and the right price I'd say why not. He and his crew are also R stamp rated and come highly recommended. My plan is to have the tubes removed by the end of July.


While cleaning the fire box we found a beautiful little handmade hammer that was probably used for banging on staybolts or clearing clinkers. I'll send a picture when I can.


I'm not surprised about the bottom of the smokebox deterioration. Actually, it makes it very easy to justify removing the boiler from the frame and sending it to the boilermakers separately. Having the boiler off the frame makes tramming and all heavy running gear repairs much easier. We need to find out more about Jack's bhoilermaker, but if he's who I think he is he's familiar with old school riveter boilers and steam tractors, etc, so this won't be foreign to him.

On other fronts, there's work under way on grant applications, with the only holdup at the moment finding and gathering the supporting legal and financial documents necessary for submission. These are necessary for asking for any grant, so once we have it together, we can start pursuing several.

Dave

DaveLathrop57

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Join date : 2013-04-14
Location : North Carolina, USA

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Post by DaveLathrop57 Mon Jul 01, 2013 7:56 pm

And another update to the update: Matt is going to try to fit the manometer and perhaps a back pressure gage to 17 for this weekend's operating day. Let's hope he can get some good readings.

Dave

DaveLathrop57

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Post by DaveLathrop57 Sat Jul 06, 2013 11:16 pm

And one more.......Matt is dealing with a family illness and could not install the devices on 17 this month. He expects to have them in for the August operating day.

On another front, we have been in contact with a group in Australia facing an overhaul and working towards the same sustainability program we're working towards for 110. They are willing to share their experiences with us. I'm hoping for a correspondent from that operation on the forum, otherwise i'll just email questions and post any answers.

DaveLathrop57

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