Steam & Excursion > What's going to Steam in 2015?

A HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL HERE ON T.O.!


Just got my next to last issue of Trains and this is what one of the articles reported on.


Big Steam:

Work continues on Class J 4-8-4 No. 611 at a pace that puts the engine on target for a Spring fire up.

Out West the Union Pacific is retubing the never retired 4-8-4 No. 844, at the shop in Cheyenne with an eye to being back on the road in mid-2015.

In Portland, Ore., Southern Pacific 4-8-4 No. 4449's 15 year rebuild is drawing to a close It's slated to return to steam in June 2015.

The only loss among the country's handful of big steam locomotives is Spokane, Portland and Seattle 4-8-4 No. 700 goes down for it's 1,472 day Inspection in August.

apollo 17 wrote
>>>>Out West the Union Pacific is retubing the never retired 4-8-4 No. 844, at the shop in Cheyenne with an eye to being back on the road in mid-2015.<<<<


Oh my. There goes the thread.

Funny....nothing new up there. We/I've been personally shooting those listed above, going back as far as June 1959. What is new on the horizon?

Check out the latest issue of Trains Magazine

http://trn.trains.com/issues/2015/january-2015

"Preservation
What's going on in steam in 2015?"

...at your local newsstand!

/Mitch

apollo17 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> Out West the Union Pacific is retubing the never
> retired 4-8-4 No. 844, at the shop in Cheyenne
> with an eye to being back on the road in
> mid-2015.


OOOPS!!!! Not quite guys. Yes, the flues/tubes did show up in Cheyenne but, since the current manager already thew out the swedging machine and dies, during one of his "house cleaning" episodes, the "crew" hasn't been able to swedg those huge 5 1/4" flues down to size. Besides, none of the jacket & insulation has been removed yet in order to begin the FRA mandated 1472 day boiler inspection.

HotWater Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> apollo17 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
> > Out West the Union Pacific is retubing the
> never
> > retired 4-8-4 No. 844, at the shop in Cheyenne
> > with an eye to being back on the road in
> > mid-2015.
>
>
> OOOPS!!!! Not quite guys. Yes, the flues/tubes
> did show up in Cheyenne but, since the current
> manager already thew out the swedging machine and
> dies, during one of his "house cleaning" episodes,
> the "crew" hasn't been able to swedg those huge 5
> 1/4" flues down to size. Besides, none of the
> jacket & insulation has been removed yet in order
> to begin the FRA mandated 1472 day boiler
> inspection.


My initial reaction to what I read about 844 was a sarcastic "Oh really?"
This is type of uninvestigated reporting is one of the main reasons why I'm likely to not renew my subscription.

Mgoldman Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Check out the latest issue of Trains Magazine
>
> http://trn.trains.com/issues/2015/january-2015

> /Mitch


One must be a subscriber to read that, right?

In the small steam department, work continues on Western Pacific 0-6-0 165 in 2015. The only WP steamer currently slated for operation is in her reassembly phase. With the right help and continued donations, the goal is to have her operating within 2 years.

http://http://wprrsteam.blogspot.com/


Z

HotWater Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Mgoldman Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Check out the latest issue of Trains Magazine
> >
> > http://trn.trains.com/issues/2015/january-2015
>
> > /Mitch
>
>
> One must be a subscriber to read that, right?

Often the case, yes. In this case, the story seems
to be available in print or via digital subscription
only. Somehow, I missed that apollo17 mentioned the
actual reference to the actual Trains story.


/Mitch

On another note in the small steam department, Sierra Railway #28 is in her final stages of her 1472 inspection and is slated to return to steam around July of 2015. Fingers crossed. Really missed that old girl on the Motherload Canonball.

Posted from iPhone

I wouldn't be surprised to see Santa Fe 2926 under steam by the end of 2015, they are making incredible headway in their restoration.

Posted from iPhone

HotWater Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> apollo17 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
> > Out West the Union Pacific is retubing the
> never
> > retired 4-8-4 No. 844, at the shop in Cheyenne
> > with an eye to being back on the road in
> > mid-2015.
>
>
> OOOPS!!!! Not quite guys. Yes, the flues/tubes
> did show up in Cheyenne but, since the current
> manager already thew out the swedging machine and
> dies, during one of his "house cleaning" episodes,
> the "crew" hasn't been able to swedg those huge 5
> 1/4" flues down to size. Besides, none of the
> jacket & insulation has been removed yet in order
> to begin the FRA mandated 1472 day boiler
> inspection.

Curious, what is a "swedging machine" and what does do to the flues?? Doug

That's a neat trick if they are putting tubes in 844 already.

dl said he was going to go ahead and do the 1,472 inspection
(that isn't due until 2019) before putting it back together.

So, has that been done yet? Doubtful. The inside of the boiler
still looks like Carlsbad Caverns, with much needlescaling and
scraping to be done before it is in any condition to do a UT.

There is still a lot of scale and mud under the combustion
chamber, too. And the front tube sheet still has a window
cut into it. The exterior is a mess, reflecting the harsh
chemicals used in the cleaning process, which involves
washing the locomotive every 48 hours when it's out on the
road to keep it shiny. That stuff soaks into the lagging
and is made more nasty by the heat of the boiler.

So, my question is, are they going to do the 1,472 this time or
not? If they don't do it this time, they will have to do all
this work over again in 2019. Or are they going to do it on
paper and hope to fool the feds again? That worked on a few
other issues with dl and the FRA, so they are watching him
a lot closer now than they did previously.

And he keeps "finding terrible things the old crew did" that
have to be redone to his standard. All of this increases the
cost, lengthens the time needed, and gives Omaha more incentive
to let him just park 844 alongside 3985 and ignore both of them,
while blaming the old crew for neither of them being runable.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/27/14 12:16 by Realist.

Well at least one Union Pacific engine will be steaming this coming year. UP No. 618 should be back up sometime next year.

Posted from Android

hoggerdoug Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> Curious, what is a "swedging machine" and what
> does do to the flues?? Doug

It is the process of reducing the outside diameter of the flue/tube in order for the end of the tube to fit into the appropriate hole in the flue sheet. The tube is then rolled and beaded at the front flue sheet, and rolled, needed, and seal welded at the rear flue sheet. The swedging machine, with its appropriate size dies, mechanically squeezes the outside of a tube, in order to reduce the OD.

And that is done on the firebox end only. It creates a
venturi effect to increase the velocity of the hot gasses
going through the tubes.

Sometimes called "swaging."



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/27/14 13:14 by Realist.

The term "machine" is a bit misleading, it can be done with a pair of split dies and a
simple hydraulic press.

Out

Will someone with experience post a few photos of the dies? Maybe of the process of swaging
flues?

NathanNon-Lifting Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Will someone with experience post a few photos of
> the dies? Maybe of the process of swaging
> flues?

If you google "swaging flues" you will find some results

Posted from iPhone



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/27/14 13:45 by Spoony81.

callum_out Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The term "machine" is a bit misleading, it can be
> done with a pair of split dies and a
> simple hydraulic press.
>
> Out


Absolutely. UNLESS, you scrapped the dies you had
on hand because you didn't know what they were.