Steam & Excursion > WMSR 1309 Not running August 12-14 just got the email

I just got this email from WMSR. I tried to call, but didn't get anyone on the phone. We booked an entire trip, non refundable around this trip. At least the Reading Rambler double header on the 13th makes up for being out several hundreds of dollars for this day! 

 

---

That's a big bummer.

We booked a similar trip last month and were worried about this possibility.  You never know.   No issues with our trip, but I understand how frustrating this must be having booked a trip just to see/ride the steam engine.  

From the Facebook page "Friends of C&O 1309 (WMSR 1309)

Robert Conner, Admin
"It is having it's annual inspection for the FRA"

Mr. Conner is the Road Foreman of Engines for the WMSR



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/07/22 08:22 by DTWilson.

DTWilson Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> From the Facebook page "Friends of C&O 1309 (WMSR
> 1309)
>
> Robert Conner, Admin
> "It is having it's annual inspection for the FRA"
>
> Mr. Conner is the Road Foreman of Engines for the
> WMSR

Now THAT sure is interesting. You mean they didn't know 1309 was due it's first annual FRA boiler inspection (hydro test and everything) prior to scheduling operations?

DTWilson Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> From the Facebook page "Friends of C&O 1309 (WMSR
> 1309)
>
> Robert Conner, Admin
> "It is having it's annual inspection for the FRA"
>
> Mr. Conner is the Road Foreman of Engines for the
> WMSR

Couldn't they have scheduled this during the week when it wasn't scheduled for paying passengers? They were nice and refunded me for my tickets, but without a reply to my voicemail or email. I was nice in both, and I completely understand that things come up but I am dissapointed. 

The main advantage of the hydrostatic pressure is that it stretches the
Flannery flexible staybolts, as well as all the other firebox staybolts,
Flannery bolts have a ball head in the outer sheet, and are threaded 
( and/or welded) at the firbox end. 

Other, rigid stays, when hammer tested will kick-back the hammer blows,
indicating a solid, not torn, or cracked stay.  The quick, sharp hammer blows
present a quick reflected shock wave that instantly kicks the inspector's hammmer
away.

Hammering goes quickly, once you get into the rhythm of smack, move, smack move...
one blow swings into the next .....a defective bolt, though, will make the hammer 'stick'
at the sheet, as if 'magnetized'.

Flannery-style staybolts, with a loose outrer-end, will not respond to a hammer test,
unless stretched tightly at the outer sheet, ergo, the need for hydraulic pressure
in the boiler, and on the firebox.

Also, since the outer end has limited movement, that means that the firebox-end 
is where flexing, over time, weakens the bolt ....and can lead to tearing the bolt ---
maybe opening a leak at the tell-tale hole.

Large, modern fireboxes expand dramatically, laterally from the cool
temperatures before light-off.  with big and long fireboxes the lateral
expansion is from the 'door-sheet' , forward.  The firebox sheets are 
3/8" thick ( much thicker, the layers next to fire are not cooled by the
water on the oute side...the side and crown sheets can begin to soften.

So, the thin sheets must be supported about every 4-inches by 
1-inch diameter stays.  On staybolts, there are 12-threads to the inch, meanining 
that there are 4.5 threads 'holding' in the sheets.  Lateral shifting means that
the bolts are slightly bent towards the front of tte firebox as it expands---
straining at the attachment sites

Constant temperature changes and the flexing tears the treads and the bolts
and especially weakens areas at the lower 4 corners.

Excursion service, with its long periods between fire-ups is especially hard on boilers and fireboxes,
oil burning locos ( with their ability to quickly change flame temperatures) are known for shorter
lifetimes, than similarly-sized coal-fired locos.

Remember that Flannery-style stays all have a tell-tale hole up their 
entire length & into the ball-head.  Original Flannerys had the tell-tale
hole copper-plated, for secure electrical conductivity.

To aid in ensuring that the tell-tale hole was 'open' the entire
length, an 'electrical continuity test' was used to prove to inspectors 
that there was no obstruction in the tell-tale holes.

At the completion of the hydro tests, the Flannery telltales were
plugged with tapered, pourous plugs driven ( hammered) into the firebox ends
to keep the holes from becoming packed, solid with soot & cinders from
the firebox.   

The 'electrical test' is performed with a "flash-light like" device with a long
insulated probe, with an exposed tip, used to reach up into the ball-end of the bolt.
The copper plating aided in providing an electrical contact at the ball end.

When the tip of the tester reached the ball-end of the bolt, the test
lamp lit, when the circuit was completed.   Thus, telling the inspectors
that the hole was open, it's entire length.

If the Flannery tell-tale holes are NOT SEALED with a plug,---- then, in daily service,
the holes will soon become packed, solidly, their entire length with soot from the fires.

The failure of a successful 'continuity test' of any Flannery bolt, it must be counted
as a 'broken-bolt'.   A certain number of broken bolts, or two bolts within
a close radius of each other, must be renewed.

So, an inspector might want to witness the hydro, and use the Flannery 
testing procedure to ensure that all the telltales are fully opened and stretched.
It is not necessary to use the full hydro pressure of 125% of the boiler's
operating pressure to conduct the ' stretch-testing' of staybolt inspections or
the hammer-testing.

The required 125% test looks for revealing all possible cracks in the boiler shell.
The firebox staybolt testing is a separate procedure.  Stay bolts are either
hammer tested, or of the Flannery-type, as above.

So, a careful inspector would want to witness a successful firebox test.
to ensure that no tell-tales are dripping.  The inspector may request that
the 'Flannery tester-light'  be used in a few, random holes prior to the application
of the hydro-test pressure is applied.

Obviously, an original "Flannery tester" is virtually non-existent in today's 
world; however, a suitable tester can be replicated with a long, insulated,
test probe and a simple flashlight for a power source.   The test-tip
must be the only part of the probe that is exposed.

I'm not sure if today's  versions of the "Flannery-pattern" staybolts still use
the 'copper-plating' of the original hole-bores...maybe other folks, or current
 vendors can fill-in the gaps.
 
Thanks for following the story of original whys and wherefores of the original 
intent of Flannery bolt-testing & why Flannerys must be tested under
hydrostatic conditions.

​W.

(not proofed, yet.)

 



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 08/07/22 13:53 by wcamp1472.

I find this interesting as my son and his family had booked tickets for this past Friday,  August 5th.  I happened to go on their website about a month ago as I thought I might go down to Cumberland to join them.  The site stated that it would be diesel for this past weekend.   He cancelled those tickets and has now rescheduled for August 28th.  Hopefully it will be back on line by then!

Ron