Re: What to do for a "Run away" loco

Pat Fahey Wrote:
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>
> The normal procedure would have been pull all the
> boiler tubes out,and then replace the dry pipe,,
> as one big section,, Pat.

Actually, pulling the tubes is irrelevant, other than to give the folks inside the boiler more room to work. You replace a dry pipe by pulling the superheaters, the butterfly pipes and the superheater header, then the dry pipe slides right out (it's clamped in place by the header). The new pipe is sealed to the front tube sheet and the header by lapped in joints, so you make some lapping mandrels and make sure that those joints all feature a good seat, then you replace the parts in the reverse order. Done it a few times. Nothin' to it, piece of cake.

BTW, dry pipe failures are supposed to be a thing of the past (yea, right) since the new Part 230 rules require the dry pipes to be tested for thickness.

"230.62 Dry pipe.

Dry pipes subject to pressure shall be examined at each annual inspection to measure wall thickness. Dry pipes with wall thickness reduced below that required to render the pipe suitable for the service intended at the MAWP must be replaced or repaired."

Of course, none of that will prevent a throttle from sticking open, so it's still a good idea to know what the plan is if you can't shut off steam. Keep the info handy, you might need it when approaching a full passenger train for a coupling, a much worse situation than heading down the east side of the pass, where you have miles to deal with an out of control engine.