Mt Rainier Scenic Railroad News

Here we are a month after my previous blog and we are  lot closer to getting the boiler on the #70 hydrostatically tested, but it always seems that other work keeps us from reaching our goal sooner.  Thanks to a lot of hard work by machinist Stathi Pappas, and a lot of help from Daniel Heath, Brian Bundridge, John Gradden, Andy Walker and Perry Cox, the boiler is now full of new 2″ tubes once again and almost ready for the big “squeeze.”

(Photo 1)  Stathi set up an annealing oven outside the shop.  Both ends of every tube were annealed which softens the steel and makes it easier to expand into the boiler’s tube sheets.

(Photo 2)  Afer the ends were annealed, the ends had to been cleaned of all mill scale inside and out.  Here Daniel Heath works on outside of the ends while Stathi cleans the inside of the tube ends.

(Photo 3)  After annealing and cleaning, the tubes were cut to the proper length then inserted into the boiler through the front tube sheet.  In this photo, Stathi is using a tube roller to expand the ends of the tubes in the front tube sheet.  He had already completed the tube rolling at the other end inside the firebox.

(Photo 4)  A close-up view of the tube roller.  The tubes on the left side of the boiler were installed about 5 years ago.  The 169 tubes on the right side of the boiler were removed for the rivet work and are now reinstalled.

(Photo 5)  After the ends of the tubes are rolled (expanded) into the tube sheets, the end of the tube is beaded over with a specially shaped tool in an air hammer.  This forms a clean “seal” around the perimeter of the tube end.

Now that all of the tubes are back in the boiler, we have filled the boiler with water to check for leaks.  We are also continuing to install other appliances on the boiler, such as water gauge glasses, prior to performing a hydrostatic test.  For this boiler, which has an operating pressure of 180 psi (pounds per square inch), we will be testing the boiler at 225 psi.  Ironically, the water that is now in the #70’s boiler will be heated to a minimum of 70 deg. F (via a large propane fired heater), then pumped into the boiler of our three-truck Climax #10 so that we can perform a hydrostatic test of the #10’s boiler next week.

Although the work on our steam locomotives always seems to be of the most interest, it should be said that we have been making improvements in other aspects of the operation as well.  We have been doing some work at our picnic ground at Mineral Lake, including the recent installation of a horsehoe pit and electricity!  Other improvements are in the works such as a wood “stage” for performing artists or other uses by groups, and landscaping to improve the view of the lake.  The most noticeable changes of late, though, have been at our depot in Elbe.  Terry LeFrance of LeFrance Land Improvement has been very busy working with gravel, concrete, sand, topsoil and paver blocks.  He has formed and poured new extensions to the concrete passenger platform along the track which will enable us to position our brand new mobile wheelchair lift anywhere along the train, instead of the crew having to spot the train in one particular place.  Terry is also installing a new “turf block” paver system at the west end of the depot around the visitor kiosk.  The “turf block” pavers are concrete paving blocks that have an open “waffle” design that holds topsoil.  This allows grass to grow in the blocks which is an environmentally friendly way to control run-off.  These types of blocks are becoming more popular in drive-way construction for “green” homes.  The paver block “plaza” will eventually get populated with planter boxes and additional seating for passengers waiting to board the trains.  At the east end of the depot where we removed the wheelchair ramp three years ago, Terry has leveled the area with fill dirt and will soon be adding topsoil and grass seed.  This will give us a much larger area for picnic benches.  The parking lot at Elbe has also been re-graded and covered with gravel to eliminate the problems experienced during inclement weather.

(Photo 6)  Concrete work is well underway.  The new platform extensions will make getting on and off the trains much easier and safer.  The grassy area to the right will get levelled with dirt and then topsoil and grass seed to create a large picnic area.  Shade trees and new picnic tables will be added soon.

(Photo 7)  Arrow Lumber delivers the new “Turf Block” paver blocks for the plaza area at the west end of the depot.  The paver blocks with grass growing in them will provide a nice place to sit while waiting to board a train without radiating a lot of heat on  sunny days.  The Turf Blocks are also a great way to control run-off.

That’s all for this installment.  Next time we’ll catch up on the #70 project again.

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