South Park Wrote:
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> What is the status of No.12 ?
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Well, according to the
Clear Creek Courant article linked above:
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Railstar and the Colorado Historical Society were forced to halt work on the No. 12 steam engine after the Federal Railroad Administration announced oversight in April. The FRA will oversee Loop operations this summer, and the agency is currently testing the No. 12's boiler.
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Interestingly, various NGDF posters identified issues with #12 back in September 2004, when the CHS purchased her. For example, back on September 24, 2004, someone using the handle "In the Know" posted this about #12:
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that Barnhart has had for sale. Closed this week. if my memory is right this rig came from Hawaii and has a recent, non FRA boiler and cobbled up throttle.
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Here's the link to that post in the NGDF archives:
Trottier just bought the Idaho Prairie.....
Also, back on March 27, 2005 John Braun posted this:
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Silverwood did not like the size of the 12 for their operation. It dwarfed the station and their cars. The original throttle was installed by them and when found inadequate the current one was installed. I just looked at it and its of the same design as the ball type but its a rotating disk. It is still not a conventional locomotive throttle.
If one had to guess the original problem was in the linkage. Silverwood did not get the original throttle with the engine in the old boiler.
The operating pressure of the boiler was never downgraded. The safety valves were still set at 195 - 200. Silverwood chose to run the engine at the lower pressures because there was no need for the 12's power.
The boiler has no structural alterations or changes. No replaced staybolts or tubes. Just as a quick note to the guy who wrote in and stated it had been off the frame twice since it was built. A handful of tubes were re-expanded in the front sheet in 2001. Not a bad idea after 17 years. Judging from the flange wear and wear on the running gear the engine was run a reasonable amount in Silverwood.I saw the chassis when it was up there after Stan Mathews did the rebuild on it. I was told about three years ago it had what would be equal to about 1 years full running in the 17 it was there by people at Silverwood who should know. Obviously no engine would work very hard at Silverwood.
The boiler is in remarkably good condition for its age. You can still see traces of mill scale on the stays when viewed through a washout. For the years the tubes are quite decent in appearance. They would be your biggest unknown because you just can't examine every one of them.
The boiler test showed no visible leaks in either stays or tubes and we had only very cold water at our disposal. The colder the water the more likely a leak will manifest itself.
The boiler was built for a specific purpose for Silverwood. It obviously meet the requirements of the State of Idaho and Silverwoods insurers. The State of Colorado in turn will recognize the vessel. The issue of the Feds is only academic. There are currently all welded boilers operating on locomotives in the states and other parts of the planet. As with some practices that were done with riveted boilers only time will tell of the longevity of the all welded boilers. My guess is some of us will be long dead.
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link to original post:
Re: #12 In Silver Plume?
I hope this helps explain things.
--
Chris Webster
[
www.speakeasy.org]
