315 Getting her FRA annual inspection

[Dave_Taylor]

Folks… I’m in Chama NM, on the C&T this week helping do the Annual FRA mandated inspection…

The Chama engine house is full right now with their regular over the winter work on their fleet of K-36’s

Right behind us (315) is D&RG K36 - 489

And beside her is D&RG K36 - 488
Tomorrow the FRA inspectors will be in Shop, and they will do the Annual Hydro test on Her.
When the hydro test is preformed the boiler has to be above 70 Deg F. And pressured tested full of water to 125% of the rating of the boiler. When they finish with 488 we will steal the heated water from her and then do the Hydro test on 315.

And beside us is D&RG K36 - 484

484 is under going her FRA Mandated flexible stay bolt cleaning and inspection. As you look at her firebox outer shell you see all those bumps, those are the Flexible stay bolts, they each have a threaded cap on them holding them into the ball socket, every one has to be opened up and cleaned and inspected.

My first job today was to re-pack the seals on the lower water glass blowdown valve.
One more thing that got checked off the list of to do’s…

This is the business end of our recently rebuilt generator. It cost the DRHS right at $10,000 to have it completely rewound and new bearings and such. I’ve excepted the task of re-wiring the complete loco and installing circuit breakers in the system to protect our expensive investment. I’ll get that done before opening day, but not this week.

I’ll try and keep a running details of this weeks actives for those of you stuck on the outside of the roundhouse…

If you have any particular question about what’s going on, ask and I’ll try to get you answers…

Living the RR Dream…
Stay tuned…

[Hines (Bill)]

Dave,
Is there a number of FRA boiler experts in the steam engine world, or do you just have to meet common boiler standards?

Just how many steam locomotives would there be in the USA/Canada to inspect each year?

[Dave_Taylor]

Here on the C&T there are 7 locos that would need “Annuals” each year (includes 315, which doesn’t belong to the C&T) and in Durango there are 7 more. The Georgetown Loop has 2, and I might be wrong about the Colorado RR Museum having 4. so about 20 in Colorado just in the Narrow Gage.

" Newly renovated engines continue to emerge. According to a Trains magazine survey, about 153 steam locomotives operate in the U.S. in a public venue at least one day each year. These locomotives are at least 2-foot gauge, have a history, or are a replica of historical significance."

I can’t speak for other RR’s, but the D&S and the C&T spread out the annuals across the year, to keep up the daily “Runnable” locos to meet the tourist run demand. And to spread the work through the maint. crew.

The Federal Railroad Admin. FRA, has specialized inspectors that are trained to do steam, they do their regular stuff also. The FRA has several “Regions” that cover all the USA. The Dallas region is responsible for New Mexico, except for Chama, which is in the Denver region. And they also cover the D&S. The two person team, today and tomorrow will do 3 Locos here on the C&T.

The HYDRO test has to be “Certified” by the FRA, they have the choice to observe or not, the rest of the “Annual” can just be a long list of “DO IT” things to be completed and signed off on and the form summited to the FRA. Before doing the Hydro test, you have to notify the FRA several weeks out, on the “Date and Location” and they will send a team. The Annual inspection is good for 12 months from the completion of the testing. You can have the hydro test first, and then complete the rest of the testing at a latter date, which is what we are doing this year.

Stay tuned…

[rmccown-admin (Bob McCown (Admin))]

Dave, you are definitely living your best life.

[Dave_Taylor]

Day 2…

Well a bit of a disappointing day… the FRA inspectors had some issues with the loco in Antonito and were 3 hrs late to Chama, we were ready at 9am, and then they were to do 488 first… well 488 had some issues, and then the high pressure pump decided to die…Argggggggg… well we didn’t get either test done today… they will bring over from Antonito a pump for tomorrow and start on 488 and then 315…

So an easy day doing piddly stuff and hurry up and wait…9 years in the Army got me trained for just that…

We got the draw bar dye penetrated and checked for cracks… All is just fine.

And the pin too…

I then re-installed the valve bonnet on the “Squirt Hose” valve.

For those that don’t know, the “Squirt hose” is a tap into the boiler injector line, and it gives you a hose to wash down things, like the deck, or the running boards, its hot steamy water washes stuff well, but you have to be under steam to use it.

I re checked on the valve I did yesterday all is fine… This is the engineers side “Sight Glass”. it shows what the water level is in the boiler. ALWAYS, ALWAYS, have water in that glass. the valved I repacked is the bottom one just below the cage ( with the red handle). It controls the lower water inlet to the glass. Never, never, ever leave it closed when the boiler is hot… NEVER…

With time to spare waiting I wandered around the shop, really interesting place to poke around… Found what to me was interesting stuff that most train guys never get to see…
Mentioned our generator yesterday, and in one corner I found some generator parts.
This is the “Turbin blade” assembly…

And this is the coils…

I have no idea what is wrong with these…but interesting…

This is one of the front cylinder heads off of 484… big thick heavy…those are 3/4"(18mm) bolt holes for comparison.

This is looking inside the smoke box of a K-37 # 492 it has started on what is to be a 4 year restoration to running.

The smoke box is just big enough for an ave. size guy to stand in bent over a bit.
The two big fat pipes are the “Branch Pipes” that feed the steam from the throttle box at the top back, down into the cylinder slide valves, and then to the pistons.
Notice the two different size boiler tubes in the front boiler sheet. The smaller ones are 2 1/4 " ( 56mm) and are standard fire tubes. The larger ones are 6" ( 155mm) and they hold the superheat tubes inside them.
I’ll try and get some better pictures tomorrow to better explain and show the super heaters and how they come into play…

And final for tonight… the front end of my sweetheart, celebrating her 129 birthday in a few weeks…

The smoke box door is open, so we can check for leaks when we do the hydro tomorrow…

Living the RR Dream
Stay tuned

[smcgill (Sean McGillicuddy)]

I still love the pic of you with black dust all over you …

[Dave_Taylor]

Day 3…

Well for you that don’t know, Chama NM, Home of the C&T railroad is at 7871 ft altitude ( 2420 Meters) and its just starting spring in the Rockies… this morning as I got up to start the day… 2 1/2 inches (65mm ) of fresh snow… what an oman to be.

The FRA people were an hour late getting over the 10,021ft (3083 M) Cumbres Pass with the new snow…

Fired up the high pressure water, and the troubles began… 315’s normal boiler pressure is 160 PSI ( Pounds Square Inch)… and for the annual we are required to pressure it up to 200 PSI… OH NO…!!! we immediatele discovered several stay bolts were leaking into the fire box…Each of the "Dimples you see is a stay bolt, that holds the internal “Fire Box” to the outside Boiler shell.

If you look closely, about 3/4 of the way back into the fire box, you can see the leaking stay bolts… not so good… while the boiler is under the 200 pounds of pressure, it is required to hammer tap each and every one of the stay bolts, if they ring when hit, they are sound, if they thunk, they are broken, and need to be replaced ( MAJOR JOB ). Stay bolts are drilled hollow through the center, and if they are broken or cracked in-between the boiler walls, they will weep out of the “Weep Hole”. Stay bolts that have come loose in their hole will weep around the peening of the bolt. The Good news is that all the leaks in the firebox are weeping around the peening, and tomorrow morning the head boiler guy on the C&T will use the air hammer and re-peen those leaking. SO we will better know our fate tomorrow.

The Annual inspection also requires an internal boiler inspection, Yes someone has to actually crawl into the inside of the boiler, On 315 the access is only thru the steam dome, so we have to remove the entire top of the dome for access… Lots of work for Dave today. I’ll cover what’s actually involved and show photos of the inside working of a steam loco… Lets go…

Here is the top of our steam dome… We have already removed the Whistle… it’s on top of the short pipe at the bottom. And I have removed the High Pressure (165psi ) safety valve from the pipe fitting on the top right. Still attached is the Low pressure (160psi) safety valve still attached on the top left. And the pipe just behind it is the “Monkey Tail”. I have no idea why it’s called that.

I’ve got all the junk off the top of the dome.

And I’ve put the safety covers on the openings… It’s really bad to drop something down into the boiler… BAD, BAD…

Were now able to lift the steam dome cover off… its about 1 inch (25mm) thick, 2 foot across and a foot tall… HEAVY… Thank God for the overhead…

Next up is removing the CAP, 10 - 3/4in (18mm) studs worked to 175 Pounds torque. And again thank God for the overhead lift.

And finally looking down inside… Notice the copper ring that is the gasket between the top and the body. 1/4 in ( 6mm) annealed copper that is squished down for the seal.

This is the top of the throttle itself. IN the center is the actual valve that the big pin in the middle pushes up on and opens the valve. We have to remove the entire valve assembly to gain access into the boiler.

I’ve pulled the keeper and the washer off the top and the actual valve out of the assembly. Notice that there are two seal faces, an upper and a lower face. Both faces MUST seal to prevent leakage.

The throttle body is held to the “Dry Pipe” ( the actual pipe that delivered the steam to the cylinders) with 4 large Bolts and nuts, with the bolt coming up from the bottom and the nuts on top… Remember… DROPING ANYTHING DOWN INTO THE BOILER IS BAD… So we take extra caution, all the tools that we reach into the dome with are secured with twine to prevent a disaster…

This is the throttle body after I got it removed from inside about 60 lbs ( 26Kilos) of cast iron… We Be Very careful with this… If we brake it…there are no more available… we would have to have molds made, and recast, and machine… VERY $$$$$.

This is the lever that lifts the throttle valve open…

And finally looking down into the inside of the steam dome.
Starting at the top center is the “Dry Pipe” where the throttle body attaches. And right below it is the “Bell Crank” that lifts the “Valve Pin” up to open the Valve, and the throttle rod that moves the bell crank. And the pipe sticking up at the 7 O’clock position is the Feed pipe for the turret valve that feeds all the loco’s accessory’s. And looking all the way down inside you see the actual boiler pipes.

And a wider angle view…

And finally for today work, we have to remove every boiler plug for inspection. Each Plug is unique, and fit only in its one hole… There are several sizes for different locations

And tomorrow we march on…

Hope your learning something and enjoying this process.

Stay tuned…

[Eric_Mueller]

@Dave_Taylor

Hope your learning something and enjoying this process.

Ummm…that is a true understatement! I thought I had a theoretical understanding about how these steel dragons worked. I have been disabused of that notion!

Eric

[David_Marconi_FOGCH (David Marconi CHHN)]

@Eric_Mueller

I have been disabused of that notion!

You and me both Eric. And thank you Dave for this walk through.

[Hines (Bill)]

Dave,

How often does a boiler need replacement and what is your most replaced item?

[Dave_Taylor]

The actual “Boiler” only needs to be replaced when it no longer passes the required tests for strength / thickness. Our boiler shell is the original from 1895. The D&RGW did replace the then 28 year old iron firebox with steel in 1923. They also strengthened the “Lap Seams” at that time, which allowed 315 to continue operating at 160PSI, while the rest of the C-18 class was down graded to 145 PSI. That one lap seam strengthening is what saved her from the scrap heap 3 times…

The tubes have to be “Removed and replaced” every 1472 fire days, or 15 years whichever comes first, it gets very expensive to keep a loco running, the DRHS spent nearly a half a million dollars for our recently completed 1472 ( yes we beg for donations to keep her running). For every annual inspection the glass tubes in the sight glasses must be replaced also, and can not be re-used…

There are no consumables generally when we run…

[JRad (Jon Radder)]

Thanks for the in-depth explanation and pictures.

Having been an overnight guest in Chama in a barely acceptable motel I’m curious as to that spot you are staying. Looks good!

[ctown2 (Craig Townsend)]

Wow. That’s a lot to get into the boiler. Who’s the lucky FRA fellow that gets to climb into the boiler? I’m guessing that’s a whole process as well with confined space entry, etc.

[Neil_Wiggins]

@Dave_Taylor

Hope your learning something and enjoying this process.

Fantastic post and pics Dave. Things I never thought I’d see or understand until now.

One thing I’m curious about - I’m thinking there must be a seal / gland for the throttle rod somewhere. Where does that fit, and how does it work?

Cheers
N

[Eric_Mueller]

With costs like that, it is no wonder there is little appetite here to bring any of the surviving steam engines back in steam.

Fascinating stuff!

Eric

[Korm (Korm Kormsen)]

and i always thought, steam engines were nothing more, than big teakettles…

[Dave_Taylor]

Day 3 tails…

We worked late into the afternoon prepping to the re-Hydroing… I drove the two hours west back home to Farmington from Chama… Long day, tired, and hungry is why no update yesterday… So I’ll fill you all in on yesterday…

It has been 3 years since we last used it, the “Dry Pipe” cover plate is missing and we presume it’s in the other tool trailer, still in Antonito. SO…This is what we have to do to pass the inspection… ( With the dome open and the throttle removed). The FRA sent into the boiler for inspection a skinny type with a Fiver optic camera and inspected the inside…We passed that one… BUT… We need to get the leaking stay bolts peened, which didn’t happen yesterday… and then do another 200PSI pressure test ( With the dome Closed ). It takes a two man team about two hours of work to pull the dome and the throttle out for internal inspections. So to speed up the re-inspection and pressure test, we cap the dry pipe, instead of replacing the throttle. With the missing “cap” I set out to machine up a replacement…

Ladled out the four bolt holes, and set to make oversize ( for ease of alignment ) holes.

And Cutting a rubber gasket for the seal faces…For the permeant seal we use an annealed copper gasket, we have two total right now. so we will save them for running, once compressed and used, you can’t re-use them, a one time piece.

Here you can see the bottom of the Throttle body, and the throttle valve on the right with the through hole for the throttle pin.

And installed…

I than re-intalled the dome cap with a new copper gasket, and started the process of 3 step torquing the bolts, When tightening these, we start with just finger tightening all down to cinch up. Then with a 3/4" ( 18mm) drive ratchet, we clinch down tight, alternating from 180 Deg on each bolt, until we get all the way around, the copper gasket is compressing, and then we go all around again, alternating back and forth. Next up we set the torque wrench to 150 pounds, and tighten back and forth all around, twice as the copper compresses, and then reset the wrench to 170 pounds, and retighten all again , and again till no more compression is happening.

And we had to re-install all 24 of the boiler plugs we removed for the internal inspection, so we can re-do the hydro testing.

When we re-hydro again, there is still the requirement for another internal boiler inspection. Which will require the dome off again, and if we pass all that, than we replace the throttle and the dome and the cap and the pop off valves a the whistle. We will have to do a re-set of the Pop off valves to be sure of their proper settings while under steam…

Were Not done yet, and it won’t happen this week…

Stay tuned…

[WaverlySouthern (Dan Hilyer)]

Dave, I have thoroughly enjoyed the adventures of the FRA inspection and learned quite a bit along the way. Thanks for your efforts to maintain part of our steam history and thanks for sharing.

[Pete_Lassen]

I worked for a Haz waste transporter company and we had vacuum/ pressure tank trailers and this sound a like like what we did when the pressure tests came due on them, Is lot less stuff and way less pressure , but still a big PITA! The trailer I brought to have it done took 3 tries to get it to hold full pressure , which I think was something like double the regular working pressure. First a lid gasket , then the pressure relief wouldn’t do its job and then the main discharge valve decided to leak, which meant emptying the trailer and replacing the valve. Not 100 year old equipment but the work and frustrations are similar

[Dave_Taylor]

Video of 168 and 425/315…

This just got posted, its from awhile back… Aerial view of when we double headed with 168 out of Chama… for this view I’m not in the cab so don’t blame me for popping off the safety, LOL!

CTSRR 168 & 425 Double Header.