Re: More The Rest Of The Story

Urias,
No, I was not thinking of welded ends. The tubes are rolled in on both of our operating locomotives, and we have not had problems with them. They sometimes weep a little when cold but tighten up when hot. I don't know how John plans to do it when he starts putting tubes back in #19 next week though. We do intend to re-use the best tubes from #19 in #3 when we do the 15 year inspection in 2014, but as 19 burns oil and 3 burns wood there is less scouring than with coal burners. The 3's boiler is much shorter.

The 15 year inspection includes stay bolts, and ones that show signs of deterioration are replaced. However, when replacing stays the holes should be re-bored and tapped, and larger bolts used. This is because the threads deteriorate somewhat every time the bolts are removed. We have not done this in the past, and have not had problems though. If all stay bolts are replaced in this manner, it can only be done maybe twice before it becomes advisable to replace the firebox and wrapper sheets. We are lucky in that the stay bolts on our locomotives can be reached without lifting the boiler off the frame, though drilling the bottom row on the #3 could be a problem.

Reguards,
Jim