Having ran two mallets I can tell you that until the HP cylinders and steam pipes warm up almost no steam gets to the LP cylinders. That is what the simpling valve is for. It routs some HP steam directly to the LP cylinders.

I assume this engine has a simpling valve?

Bonus: The N&W not only had simpling valves on their mallets, but designed "booster" valves to add some HP steam to the LP cylinders while in compound mode to get a wee bit more horsepower/tractive effort in hard pulls.

So, I was Googling "Skookum", and I found this Wikipedia entry about the word. Apparently it is Chinook language for "strong" or "monstrously significant".


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skookum

OK, I have to ask. There was a post yesterday with a photo of a bent eccentric rod and eccentric crank on Skookum, and now the post is gone, and no one has said a word about it. Was the post fake? Was the photo fake? I would think if this really happened it would be a big discussion topic.

I am curious as well, a photo like that is very educational to a great many budding steam engine mechanics. I'm wondering if a cause has been found. Was there a foreign object in the steam chest? Did a balance strip jam? Did a joint seize or a part break?

Anyone who says that steam locomotives don't have a sense of humor or an ego have never worked on one.

A friend just sent me a screen shot of it, it sure looks real, and from the locomotive in question. A long discussion between him, another steam friend, and I commenced on how it could have been caused, solutions, etc. All good things that the steam and preservation community should share. I guessed it was a valve locking up, similar to what the Tornado experienced. Maybe a lack of lubrication, or too close a tolerance, and when it heated up, locked, and torque took the easy way out. Of course, it is all up in the air guesswork without facts. One dark picture from not the best angle does not lend itself to providing much information.

I understand the egg on the face aspect, but we should all be in this together, and learn from each others mistakes. I might have two steam locomotives coming that we will be restoring soon, and would like to make sure we don't suffer a similar issue.

The fact that so much is being done to try and cover this up, to me paints a worse picture then what happened.

Sh*t happens.

Just saw the Trains news article... Issues with the engineers side valve chest... The picture is of the engineer's side of the engine. And it means I might be on the right track. Pardon the pun...

Trains Newswire has a problem at this moment. When I connect, it takes me to the news of Nov 10, 2010.

So I wonder, how many of you do a cold rolling test of the motion before test run?

There is a tremendous cover up being attempted on the OCSR side. Some are trying to say the issues are “normal” to happen after extensive restoration. Any logical person knows darn well that is not the case.
How hard is it to say “look, it did happen, we are currently figuring out why and repairs are underway.” It could’ve been that simple but those involved have chose to censor people and take shots at those trying to question how such a thing could even happen in the first place......
The photo is around, it was real, it was skookum.

Id say that sounds less like a cover up and more like they are restoring a locomotive that was run off the side of a hill and was abandoned for many years. If You tried it, on a volunteer budget and under those circumstances, I would Imagine you would have a teething issue or two. Until a statement is made, and multiple pictures are available, any information available is most likely speculation and that plow dont scour.

The Skookum was not run off the side of a hill nor was it abandoned for many years. If fell off of a very low (about ten feet) bridge and was abandoned for five years. It did set for almost 60 years.

Anybody who has done this sort of work knows that glitches - some large and some small - are part of the expected course of progress. I had a locomotive with piston valves and Walschaert gear that had been moved cold with no problem one day bend the radius rod when being moved the next day - and after straightening it out and reinstalling it, moved without problems for the season to follow. I'm sure that whatever happened is being repaired and whether or not they choose to discuss it openly is their business.

Generally, you must roll the machinery back and forth in order to assemble it, so it is sort of a test for binds as you go process.