Steam & Excursion > Replacement Crown sheet learning lesson

Years ago Master Boilermaker, Joe Karal ( NKP RR, Conneaut Back Shop), told us
us newbies with HICO,  the story of how he saved the job, and career, of a young black
boilermaker trying to climb the ladder of success... and to build a career in that field.

Joe Karal ( a name shortened from his Yugoslav name) tells the story of a hard-working
black boilermaker that Joe worked with in the loco back shop facility at Conneaut.  
One day, the  black man was assigned  the task of replacing the largest portion of the crownsheet
in the firebox of a NKP 700-class 2-8-4.

The relatively young boilermaker diligently went about his task, and neatly used the torch to cut-out
and remove the whole center section of the crown sheet.   Karal came upon the project about mid way
into  the task.

The boilermaker doing the replacement, took the removed sheet across the backshop-complex's
 transfer table, over to the 'boiler shop'  where new firebox sheets were formed, punched, and flanged.
 He asked the boiler shop crew to cut a new crown sheet by laying the removed section on the new
( punched) crown sheet material, and cut the new sheet following the old sheet he had removed,
as a cutting guide, or pattern.

After the new sheet was cut and trimmed as requested, the boilermaker retrieved the new
sheet, and proceeded back across the transfer table with his new crown sheet....

Upon fitting his new sheet up and in place, his heart sank ---- he found that the hole in the firebox 
where the old sheet had come from had 'grown', & was much bigger than the piece he had removed...

When unrestrained, the firebox sheets opened in all durections.... and the original 'hole' had grown
in size....  The more experienced boiler makers would have told the boiler-shop crew to cut the
new replacement crown sheet well oversized from the removed piece.

The black boilermaker had been set-up to fail by the boiler shop workers, and would have
been fired if it would have taken another sheet to have been cut to oversize and properly fit.

Joe stepped-in and worked with the black boilermaker to complete the installation, and Joe 
saved the man's job & career.

To do that, Joe and the new boilermaker had to build-up, multiple pass by multiple pass,  the
mating edges of the firebox to the replacement crown sheet.   It took long hours of overhead welding
to save that sheet... But Joe worked tirelessly, as they added 'pass'  on top of 'pass  to bridge the wide
gap between the old 'hole' and the new sheet.... But, Joe was a wonderful and kind boiler-artist, and
he worked very hard to save that man's job, and the worker's career. 

Being of Serbian descent, Joe had faced many years of 'foreigner' discrimination , both in
Europe and in the U.S. ---- he worked very hard to save that man's job.  But knew the 
 pain of discrimination in the 1940s and 50s, and he had a huge heart and deeply cared for
people, from behind his gruff exterior.  

There are more life-stories that l learned from Joe.  How very lucky we, that worked under Joe,
have been --- by his kind support, deep knowledge, and very skilled work,
Joe taught us all in his Master Class of being a kind, decent man.

So, if patching fireboxes is in your future , always cut the new patch picece way-bigger than
the hole that you want to repair... you cut the patch piiece to be bigger than the hole, temporarily 
bolt the new piece into place, then cut the patch to exactly fit into the hole you want weld-up.

That way, Joe can make sure that you look like you know what you're doing...
The HARD part is the hours of overhead welding that makes your arms ache,
and feel like they  want to,fall-off,  at the end of the shift.

​W.

 



Edited 8 time(s). Last edit at 04/14/21 05:45 by wcamp1472.

What a great story Wes! Thanks for sharing it!

I agree - a good story. First thing that came to mind was that the "kerf" might be a problem if the replacement crown sheet piece was made to the exact same size as the part removed. Been there done that with my model building.

"I cut it twice, and it's still too short!"

Arved Grass
Fleming Island, FL

Was not aware of this incident when Joe helped the new FWRHS and the NKP 765.  But it sounds exactly like the guy we got to know.  A fascinating character.

Why do you put his race, being black, in the description of the man?
If he was white, would you say a white boiler maker?

Posted from Android

needles_sub Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Why do you put his race, being black, in the
> description of the man?
> If he was white, would you say a white boiler
> maker?
>
> Posted from Android

You clearly do not or did not understand the context of the story.

Txhighballer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> needles_sub Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Why do you put his race, being black, in the
> > description of the man?
> > If he was white, would you say a white boiler
> > maker?
> >
> > Posted from Android
>
> You clearly do not or did not understand the
> context of the story.


Clearly you don't. Remove the word black, and the context of the story is still clear.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/14/21 10:04 by needles_sub.

needles_sub, it's you who don't understand the context of the story, your liberal bias blinds you to the value and
the lesson brought forward. To put it bluntly, hard work and determination can overcome racial bias and it isn't
just the black community who has experienced bias.

Out 

Clarification....

Race is relevant because the 'white' boilermakers working in the 
boiler 'foundry' would never have followed the original sizing directions.

Instead of suggesting & discussing the proper dimensioning, the boiler shop team maliciously
complied with the man's request. --- with the intent of the tragic outcome..  They, cynically
conspired to set-up the black man for failure, intentionally.
 And Joe understood the racial intent of their cynical actions.  
He would have no part in their malevolent, but unspoken scheme.... "wink, wink.."

Joe's point was that he understood the trap that had been set... from the original
instruction*, to the malicious compliance of the team that cut the new piece, to the fact
that Joe worked with the man, essentially on his own time, to get the crown sheet
installed & 'saved'.

Working together with the less experienced man, the two made a clear statement 
about decency and basic caring for a seeming tragic plight.  Joe didn't want to be
part of the racial plot and intended demise of a hard worker.   Blacks, of the era were mostly
relegated the more menial crafts and jobs. Here was a man striving to become accepted
as a boilermaker and set-up for failure by brothers in the union, with their knowing, cruel scheme.

Joe would have none of that.

​W.

*( The Foreman who gave the original tasking to the less experienced man,
would never have given the same instructions to a white person of comparable
inexperience.   To Joe, it was clearly part of an unspoken plot --- which may have been
instigated by the boiler shop workers, or 2, --- in a private discussion with the foreman.

Yes, there were continual ' backshop pranks', tricks and traps played on newbies, all the time
back in the day;  but, Joe saw the clear racial intent, and the inevitable consequence of this
particular plot, and maybe he had seen more of the similar- treatment incidents, earlier.)



 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/14/21 11:44 by wcamp1472.

My buddy who worked inside install for General Tele sent the new guy down to the tool crib for a hole mover. The tool crib blew
up and told him to go back and ask if it was a left hand or right hand. This was in 1972, it's been going on for a long time.

Out 

Wes -  thanks for relaying that story about Joe.  I always remember him stressing safety to all of us younger fellows.  I remember him telling us stories of the pranks and nonsense that used to go on in the shops.  One that stands out was a worker on the running board who dropped a wrench with a torpedo strapped on to it.  He dropped it close to another worker on the ground and that caused him to lose his hearing in one ear.  He also told us there was to be no horseplay with the air hoses when we were cleaning ash pans.  He was a wonderful person and looked out for all of us.

Ron

callum_out Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> needles_sub, it's you who don't understand the
> context of the story, your liberal bias blinds you
> to the value and
> the lesson brought forward. To put it bluntly,
> hard work and determination can overcome racial
> bias and it isn't
> just the black community who has experienced
> bias.
>
> Out 

You too have your own way of thinking of things, which may be just as subject to improvement. Open your mind and ye shall be freed.
B

I think youi're serious, seriously deluded that is, enjoy your little world.

Out 

needles_sub Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Txhighballer Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > needles_sub Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > Why do you put his race, being black, in the
> > > description of the man?
> > > If he was white, would you say a white boiler
> > > maker?
> > >
> > > Posted from Android
> >
> > You clearly do not or did not understand the
> > context of the story.
>
>
> Clearly you don't. Remove the word black, and the
> context of the story is still clear.

Wanna bet?   If white, they'd tell him to ask someone next time or wouldn't have set him up for failure as Wes relates;  the Black man in the story would have been fired in a New York minute.   I thought the same thing about Wes mentioning his race until I got past the first couple of sentences and then I understood exactly what the context was. Been there, done that, in different situations. Thanks so much for posting Wes.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/16/21 10:05 by masterphots.