Re: Stainless steel tender?

Quote
Kelly Anderson posted on RyPN on January 4, 2006
After 81 years of service, #90's original tender tank has finally reached retirement age. The tank received a major overhaul in 1979, including having the interior sand blasted and coated with epoxy, a treatment that has since become standard on all of our tenders. However, no coating is permanent, and even tough epoxy breaks down after a number of years, allowing corrosion to do its work in cracks and crevices. The sand blasting and coating process (done by a local water tank coating company) has also become very expensive in the last few years.

The combination of the tank springing a new leak every couple of weeks, with the wide spread low thickness readings found by our UT tester forced the decision to build a new tank. The high cost of sandblasting and epoxy coating, along with the complete lack of corrosion resistance of modern A-36 steel led to the decision to have the new tank built entirely out of 304 stainless steel.

We drew up plans for an all welded version of the current tank (which while original, has been extensively modified over the years), and sent them to a local fabricator who built the new one in about five weeks. Excellent workmanship is evident throughout, with virtually no evidence of distortion around the welds. The sides are each made of a single sheet of stainless 8' 1" by 22' 11". All of the internal bracing and baffles are in place, and also made of stainless.

The new tank is now being fitted to the tender frame, and having all of the appurtenances, trim, and 1,696 (for you rivet counters) cosmetic rivet heads applied. It is due to be finished next month to allow for #90's return to service late this winter.