Dirk Ramsey Wrote:
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> 318 was very worn out. The running gear was so
> sloppy that the spring hangers above the first
> driver had worn 4 nice hole into the first course
> of the boiler reducing the shell thickness to as
> little as 1/16 of an inch.The insurance inspector
> had us fillet weld the damaged area. With that
> damage I really do not think that it had another
> trip to Ouray in her
>
> During the brief time that we operated her at the
> CRRM we were never really successful in getting
> her to equalize. One reason was the the L4 spring
> was 2 inches shorter than the rest. That was
> replaced, but only helped a little
>
> The boiler was inspected as OK but no one ever
> noticed that bottom five rows of stay hole in the
> firebox side sheets had eroded away from around
> the stay bolts. On the last day that we ran her
> she started to crack from bolt hole to bolt hole.
>
> She was a easy to operate little locomotive. We
> fixed a lot of her problems before we ran her, and
> quite a bit has been done since. I do agree with
> John that a static display is her current future.
> If I had a shoe box of 20 dollar bills to donate,
> I would be inclined to dump it into the 223
>
> Dirk Ramsey
Dirko,
You remember when we put 6 guys on a 12' cheater bar and raised 318 up with a car jack with a broken tooth. Then rolled out the drivers?
318's boiler was ultrasounded. The lower part of the firebox was eroded away as well as the boiler "belly". The riveted area around the bottom of the steam dome was was also badly eroded due to the coal/cinders collecting under the jacket and producing sulphuric acid. You and I along with many others put TWO new fireboxes in her. Many people have said lets restore her to operational status. She needs an entire new boiler. There is a brand new disassembled cab stored in a boxcar waiting to be installed. Just thought I'd jog your memory.
Bill
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/11/2010 09:44PM by HighCommander.
