MD Ramsey Wrote:
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> Yes, in the “bad old days” of the new Durango
> & Silverton, we were sometimes put in the position
> of having to do some things that were not best
> practice. I remember during one summer when we had
> 5 locomotives under steam and we needed every one
> of them, every day to handle the 4 trains (one
> usually a double header) and still have a
> locomotive for back-up. The 497 was due for a
> boiler wash and monthly inspection, having just
> arrived from Silverton on its last legal day. Our
> 5th locomotive was down for a major repair, so the
> 497 had to be available to pull a train the next
> day. We had to do the wash and the monthly
> inspection during the night and then have it under
> steam and ready for the next morning.
>
> As soon as the locomotive came in (around 6 PM),
> the fire was dropped at the ash pit and she was
> moved into the roundhouse. The blow-down diversion
> pipe was attached to the fireman’s side and we
> started blowing down the locomotive into the
> inspection pit. As the gauge neared zero (7 pm),
> we opened the pigtail and then started cooling off
> and removing the washout plugs on the back head,
> firebox corners and barrel of the boiler. As soon
> as the forward barrel plugs were removed, we
> inserted a hose with cold water (that was all we
> had) and let water run through the barrel to the
> mud ring. We took a 30” meal break, and then
> returned and pulled the belly plugs and started
> washing the boiler with high pressure cold water.
> Everything was still pretty warm. The boiler wash
> process was methodical, with constant washing from
> the forward portion of the barrel, and using
> various fittings to point the high-pressure spray
> at different locations (up, down forward, back).
> In the meantime, someone was using a “rake” to
> pull out the scale from the lowest plugs along the
> mud ring until the water started to run clear.
> This process of changing water direction was
> repeated at every plug location, including the
> back-head and belly. Another employee, usually me,
> worked the cab, starting with rattling the arch
> tubes with an air tube rattler that removed scale
> in preparation of the washers who also washed out
> the arch tubes. I would then remove all the gauge
> cocks and water class valves and water glasses.
> The gauges were all “punched” or drilled to
> assure that the opening for the water were clear
> and not obstructed with scale. The valve bodies
> were cleaned and inspected, seats lapped and valve
> stems re-packed as necessary. Air and steam gauges
> were tested on the dead weight tester to assure
> accuracy and replaced. The copper steam delivery
> line to the steam gauge was annealed and replaced.
> Once all the washing was done, all the boiler
> plugs were inspected and re-installed. On a normal
> day, this process would usually take an 8 hour
> shift to complete properly (depending on how many
> folks you had), with the following shift adding
> water and gradual firing the locomotive for return
> to service. On this evening, we completed the wash
> and monthly work by around 1 am. Adding water to
> the now cold boiler, took some more time and we
> had enough to start a fire around 2 am. We had
> steam enough to determine that all the plugs were
> sealed by 4 am and a full head of steam by 5 am.
> We had a big fire in the fire box and I remember
> hearing the boiler groan and creak as we rapidly
> brought the locomotive up to pressure. Hot to
> stone cold to hot again in less than 10
> hours……not a good practice, but in the case of
> a running railroad, a necessity. The only other
> option would be to refund several hundred reserved
> tickets and cancel the train for that day.
>
> Oh, and by the way, we were servicing, inspecting
> and repairing 4 other locomotives at the same time
> were doing all the above. Just another day on the
> narrow gauge!
>
> Mike Ramsey
With a K37's lack of flexible staybolts, I bet 497 did not like that at all....
I quite sure this happened a lot back in the old days. If a locomotive came in and needed it's boiler wash, and had to go out the next day, the third shift guys had a busy night.
Back in the spring of '52 before they sent a couple of engines from Salida down to help out. They must of have done a lot of this. They had 11 engines to cover the traffic, which according to the call sheets I have were:
2 engines west from Ala daily.
2 engines east from Durango daily.
2 engines west from Chama to Durango daily.
1 engine to Farmington daily.
3 engines in Chama doing hill turns and running east to Alamosa daily.
That leaves one spare engine.
Railroad shops had the added advantage of shop steam plants that could provide hot water to wash the boilers, as well as hot water to fill the boilers before fire up. they could also charge the boilers with steam before firing up, reducing the thermal shock and fire up time considerably.
The C&TS method of using a live engine to assist firing up a cold one is a great plan. Simply using another locomotive to supply steam to run the dead engine's injectors to fill the boiler, and heat the steel, is a great idea and saves considerable time.
