Back when I worked for the C&TS we had a program that had the engine crews assisting one day in the shop to get a feel for the maintenance side of the job. One of the days I was in the shop, a locomotive needed a boiler wash (I think it was 497). The fire was killed the night before, the boiler drained, and the boiler plugs on the firebox and boiler were removed. I was given the unenviable task of pulling the belly plug. To access the belly plug, one had to drop down into the inspection pit, then climb up and sit on one of the driver axles to get a wrench on the belly plug and undo it. The plugs are made out of brass and due to the expansion coefficient of brass vs. steel they don't need a tremendous amount of force to seat properly since the brass will expand more than steel. Once hot, they will need more force to remove. As I began unscrewing the plug I noticed hot water was beginning to seep around the threads and drip onto to my crotch and legs. Thinking this was a bad omen, I got out and found a large piece of plexiglass to hold between myself and the plug.
Sitting back on the driver axle and holding the piece of plexiglass at an angle with one hand, I used the other to unscrew the last few threads of the belly plug. As soon as it came out about 30 gallons of steaming hot water (about 130 degrees) began splashing down onto the plexiglass and my lower legs. It was quite uncomfortable, but was over in about 30 seconds and I received no burns from it.
Now the boiler was thoroughly drained, it became my job to place a fire hose into each boiler washout plug hole and spray high pressure water throughout the boiler. This part of the process took about an hour. During this time loose scale and debris flowed out of the lower plugs. I was cautioned to make sure the hose was securely inserted into each hole before turning on the water or the hose would take me for a little trip off the running board with serious consequences. At then end of all of this I was pretty wet and it was lunchtime...
After the water coming out of the washout plugs ran clear the boiler was allowed to drain itself of water. A quick inspection of the boiler interior was done from each plug hole by the shop foreman, then I had the task of reinstalling all of the plugs using a little bit of sealant compound similar to teflon paste (again, they didn't need to be super tight as the expanding brass would seat them). Then a hose was used to start filling the boiler again. A quick check for serious leaks was performed, followed by putting a fire back in the engine.
The entire process took most of the day that I worked in the shop. As this was about 23 years ago (1998), I may be missing a few details, but it is one of the more clear and interesting memories I have of working in Chama...
I saw that Earl posted his version just before my was finished so I'll just piggyback my comments on top of his...
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/11/2021 12:20PM by Dave Peterson.
