Steam & Excursion > An unexpected SP&S #700 break

Sorry - couldn't resist with all the recent "Break" threads.

This is back on August 22nd of 1998 on the Portland & Western railroad - Got up nice and early, woke up to overcast skies and made it a few miles before running into a small kink. The SP&S #700 broke a rod (the right radius rod). A diesel was substituted for the rest of the day. The good news is that the engine was repaired on time to run the BNSF special on Saturday, August 29th.

See the next two threads for pics of the #700 on better days!
Beautiful engine! Got my fingers crossed for her next trip.

/Mitch

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SP&S on a better, yet still overcast day.

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And another.

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Mitch, I thought you lived on the east coast. I rode that '98 trip and the late Don Wheeler let me get off to photograph the problem. Got one published in Railfan and Railroad. The rod didn't break, but it sure bent badly and was blue in color. The valve must have developed a lot of friction to bend that radius rod.

I DO live in the East Coast, Jim - just outside of Philly.
I go WEST as often as I can to see this thing they call "Sun" and "Blue Sky", though this does not necessarily apply to the Northwest.

After the problem with the Steam Engine a friend and I hitched a ride back to our car and ended up as standbyes for a flight to Alaska. The thought was, being from Philly - we were half way there and with no steam for the next two days....

This is not to say that the NW doesn't have it's charm. Spent a few days railfanning the Gorge and Portland before returning home. Can't wait to get back there.

nycman Wrote:
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> The rod didn't break, but it sure bent badly and was
> blue in color.

As the picture posted by Mitch shows, the rod cracked but fortunately did not break. IIRC the crack was about 3/4 of the way through the rod. A railfan happened to be shooting video while pacing us on a parallel road some distance from the track and caught the action of the rod looking like a wet noodle as it flexed back and forth. We were grateful that we were able to get stopped before the rod broke which could have resulted in more damage to the locomotive. I was firing for Greg Kamholz at the time and will never forget the immediate change in sound of the 700 as we suddenly became a one-sided locomotive. He and I instantly looked at each other and as our brains took a couple seconds to realize what likely had happened his hand automatically went to the brake to get us stopped as quickly as possible.

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Hi Jim
That must be the only sound worse then sirens behind you on the interstate!

What exactly is that rod for? How did it bend with out actually being pulled in two?
And HOW did you guys ever get that fixed so fast!?

I was speaking to the guys at TVRRM and they were telling me how the axles actually can get twisted when the wheels slip or have more force on one side. I imaging this did not become an issue but will most likely be checked in the future.

That sure is one beautiful engine.

Mitch, the radius rod is driven by the eccentric rod, through the reverser link, to move the valve above the cylinder/piston back and forth. There are other minor rods tied in to control lap/lead and stuff. If the valve is not in the right position to admit or release steam from the cylinder, you can blow the end off the cylinder. I suspect (Jim can verify or negate) that there was a friction buildup in the valve cylinder which caused the radius rod to become overstressed (it's pretty small compared to the mains and side rods), and bend. You can equate it to losing the timing chain in your car. Don't run real well when the valves aren't opening and closing when they should. Jim's "one side" comment means that the cylinder on the fireman's side was operating just fine. The one on the engineer's side had a real timing problem. Jim, I'm sure you guys had to fabricate a new rod, right? Can't call Baldwin and order one these days.

Mgoldman Wrote:
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> What exactly is that rod for? How did it bend
> with out actually being pulled in two?
> And HOW did you guys ever get that fixed so
> fast!?

As nycman said, it is part of the valve timing mechanism. It undoubtedly would have broken in two had it flexed a few more times before we were able to get stopped. As I recall, the cause was determined to be a newly applied valve ring which had been machined just very slightly over-size by mistake. It worked without any problem on the way from Brooklyn to Linnton because of the light loading of the locomotive. Once we departed downriver with the full train and really started to work the locomotive the additional heat created caused the slightly over-size ring to seize in the valve chamber which instantly stopped its back and forth motion. The problem was that all of the parts of the timing gear were still trying to move the valve as the wheels were turning and something had to give.

The bent radius rod was removed at the location of Mitch's picture and once the locomotive was free to move again it was placed at a nearby abandoned wood chip facility which promptly became known as "Camp 700". The unbelievably quick fix would never have happened without the heroic efforts of our machinist friends in the OR&N 197 group. I think the steel bar was delivered on Tuesday afternoon and they worked in shifts around the clock until completing the rod the following Saturday when it was applied to the 700 which had been towed to Vancouver from Linnton for a BNSF employee function. I missed seeing the 700 steam out of Vancouver under its own power on its way back to Brooklyn that evening as I was running Amtrak #28 to Spokane that day. Click on http://home.teleport.com/~rks/700rod.htm to see many pictures of the rod being created. Some milling work remains to be done on the rod to make it the same dimensions as the radius rod on the fireman's side.

Thanks for the link Jim. After all this time I feel I really know the story now.
Were the peieces attatched to the rod damaged at all - it appears that the rod must have become quite flexible quite quickly if not.

Mitch, we must have been standing right next to each other at the time.

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Yeah, that's me with the blue shirt and yellow and red sleeves!

: P Just kidding.


Here's a really cool link to the PRPA SP&S #700 site.
There are some great pics of the 700's drivers being turned -
while still attached to the engine! Follow this link:

http://www.sps700.org/gall0411drivers_part1.html

After reading Jim's comment about the "one sided" engine, I dug out my video tape from that day, hoping that maybe I had caught the sound of the engine. No way, Jim, you were on that whistle so long I couldn't even hear the exhaust. I know, there were crossings every city block up there. Even in adversity, it was an adventure in steam. They are getting fewer and fewer.