While I'm happy work actually seems to be progressing, it made me sad to see the 3985 shoved in the corner, dusty. 
Kent in SD
Originally Posted by jethat:
The FRA rules require the boiler be inspected every 1472 days of operation or 15 years which ever come first so there is no way this overhaul will last 30 year. Especially if it gets maintained the way it has been. It wasn't due its 15 year inspection until 2019. The boiler on annual inspection was found to be so clogged they had to do the overhaul 5 years early.
I might have heard wrong but I think the point Ed was trying to make was that his goal was to repair or replace any part that shows any signs of wear, rust etc to avoid having to make unscheduled repairs prior to the mandatory FRA mandate. So far it appears that is what they are doing. Time will tell if it was worth the extra effort.
Originally Posted by jethat:
Originally Posted by Tranz4mr:
Elsewhere on the web someone claimed that the tender shown in the roundhouse was 844's. Not so. Per Ed it's 3985's tender and the rust and sediment shown in a previous photo would have been be removed in it's normal annual maintenance cycle. Here is another shot of the 3985's tender from a different angle.
Elsewhere on the web the opinion was posted that the Staybolt cap inspection and replacement was a waste of time. Maybe, but per Ed the goal with 844 (and I guess on 4014 too) was to repair or replace whatever was worn, rusted or broken etc so that this rebuild would last at least another 30 years. I guess this goal applies to items as simple as flexible staybolt caps and seals.
The FRA rules require the boiler be inspected every 1472 days of operation or 15 years which ever come first so there is no way this overhaul will last 30 year. Especially if it gets maintained the way it has been. It wasn't due its 15 year inspection until 2019. The boiler on annual inspection was found to be so clogged they had to do the overhaul 5 years early.
Clogged with pool chemicals!!
Better replace all the rivets too as they look rusty!!
Originally Posted by Casey Jones2:
Better replace all the rivets too as they look rusty!!
If you zoom on the photo where the guy is working up on the platform it looks like most of the rust has been removed so my best guess is if a rivet or whatever has been rusted to the point it needs to be replaced it will be replaced.
Thank you for sharing your photos.
Hope that IF they get the #844 running once again, they won't be using swimming pool chemicals in the water. Incidentally, the #838 is not a "Challenger" but an FEF4, Northern.
So what's the timetable on getting to work and then finishing the #4014? I had heard that it was to be completed in the year 2018, so as to be ready for full operations in 2019, the 150th anniversary of the driving of the Golden Spike at Promontory. With that in mind, I'd think that they would want to get going on the project ASAP.
Paul Fischer
and I thought Dickens was on the way out?
The shop overhaul and the super extensive overhaul of 844 are going to delay 4014. I wouldn't plan on seeing it on the mainline until 2021 of even later. Late last year Dickens himself said 2021 is the likely finish date.
Geez: I hope I'm still around and still up and taking nourishment by the time they get the 2014 operational. Too bad! I was really looking forward to seeing her under steam once again, for the first time in about 65 years.
Paul Fischer
It's a mighty big if because there's a lot of opinions flying around, all from people who claim to be 'in the know' yet most are in opposition to the others...
That said, the old adage always will apply to steam boilers:
If you can't drink it, it shouldn't go into the boiler
Well Ed has said a lot of things and the proof is in the pudding. We'll just have to sit back and see what we see....and when.
From the recent photos posted by various people at the open house its clear 4014 has bare;y been touched. They when not working on the shop and other prioritys (rotary etc) are working on 844. I'm pretty sure there is pressure on getting THAT done. UP wants a working engine. I think Dickens and co have to have 844 done by early next year. We will have to see if it happens. It hasnt ran since 2013
Seems that the flexible staybolts, since they are just that, flexible, that they seem to last a long time. Taking the caps off and inspecting them is just part of annual maintainence. They get new seals and have to be torqued to a certain torque spec. Nice to see they are actually working on something other than the buildings. Collecting parts for 4014 is half the battle, having all they need to put it together on hand once the boilerwork and any frame/driving axle box work is done will make the reassembly go pretty quick.
Originally Posted by steam fan:
Seems that the flexible staybolts, since they are just that, flexible, that they seem to last a long time. Taking the caps off and inspecting them is just part of annual maintainence.
No, taking the caps off is NOT part of ANY maintenance, annual or otherwise! Flexible staybolts have a hole drilled all the way up the inside to the base of the ball head, thus according to the FRA regulations, they do NOT have to be inspected. Not even on a 1472 day/15 year inspection. The design is such that, if a flexible staybolt breaks, steam/water will exit the tell tail hole into the firebox area.
They get new seals and have to be torqued to a certain torque spec.
Sure didn't know there was/is a torque specification. The caps are tightened against a copper gasket, period.
Nice to see they are actually working on something other than the buildings. Collecting parts for 4014 is half the battle,
None of what they are doing has ANYTHING to do with 4014. They are working on 844, NOT 4014.
having all they need to put it together on hand once the boilerwork and any frame/driving axle box work is done will make the reassembly go pretty quick.
What I wonder about is once the 844 is operational, have the lessons been learned with regards to proper blow downs and boiler washes or will they just fill her up again with more scale and mud and such. Will a proper water treatment program return such as what was in place under Steve Lee?
Great question Chris! Only time will tell, as I thought it a total joke when the "Now Managers" were pointing fingers at Steve Lee's Team for not doing the proper maintenance during their reign. I believe that Ed's Team ran the program for what was it? 3 years after Lee's team had retired!.
Then blaming all of the problems on the prior stewards of the UP Steam Program.
Not to rehash old arguments on the UP thread, but it does seem like they are moving forward. Is it due to the new manager they got from Memphis? or has Mr. Dickens found Steve Lee's old book of "how-to-do it's" of a Steam Locomotive.....Brandy!
Originally Posted by Brandy:
Not to rehash old arguments on the UP thread, but it does seem like they are moving forward. Is it due to the new manager they got from Memphis? or has Mr. Dickens found Steve Lee's old book of "how-to-do it's" of a Steam Locomotive.....Brandy!
Neither. They are doing work that didn't/doesn't NEED to be done. Besides, all the files and technical were thrown out a few years ago.
Yes, thanks for the pictures and information! Very well appreciated.
Hot Water, sounds like Mr.Dickens must have taken a page, or chapter out of the book/books, that some of my prior leaders used.
That was, "if you can't dazzle em with knowledge, baffle em with B.S.
"
With technology as it is today, and getting better, you wonder what they are trying to hide?
Do you actually think, that when they opened the 844 boiler, and found all of the residual's, that was just a build up for the last 15 years of operation. Yeah right, give me a break.
I'm with Texastrain, and thanks for the photos and info on the UP bunch.....
Happy Father's Day to all of you Fathers out there!.......................Brandy!
Originally Posted by Hot Water:
Originally Posted by Brandy:
Not to rehash old arguments on the UP thread, but it does seem like they are moving forward. Is it due to the new manager they got from Memphis? or has Mr. Dickens found Steve Lee's old book of "how-to-do it's" of a Steam Locomotive.....Brandy!
Neither. They are doing work that didn't/doesn't NEED to be done. Besides, all the files and technical were thrown out a few years ago.
Mr. Dicken's must be into jigsaw puzzles, or now, if, and when they get it done, and non of the predicessor's knowledge is to be found, he can say I did it all my self!
