Keith Rucker Maintains Vulcan 0-4-0

joe6167 · **Posted:** Mon Jun 29, 2026 8:44 am

Keith Rucker has just completed rebuilding the Stoker Engine for NC&StL 576. It's taken about 7 years for various reasons... but he's been documenting every step of the way.

Here's the latest video in the series:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDM7OtKdSRQ

And the playlist:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... 9PrmYIP8Fo

He also helps take care of a Vulcan 0-4-0 at the Georgia Museum of Agriculture, which is currently getting it's pistons and cylinders redone.

Ed Kapuscinski · **Posted:** Tue Jun 30, 2026 11:45 am

Keith is a national treasure.

That project is such a fantastic example of Yak Shaving too. I think he ended up buying and restoring and entire machine to do it.

joe6167 · **Posted:** Fri Jul 03, 2026 7:45 am

Sleeving the cylinders on the 0-4-0 Vulcan.

With enough liquid nitrogen, the sleeve just slides right in!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLEMVmWxZ0s

John Risley · **Joined:** Tue Aug 24, 2004 10:34 pm **Posts:** 966

Thanks for posting the video of the sleeve fit. It is amazing how liquid nitrogen works for interference fits. We slipped an axel into a wheel center using Liquid Nitrogen and heat on the wheel center. Worked slick and we all breathed a sigh of relief then when we were done. Think it was about .007 interference. Have a great 4th. John.

PMC · **Joined:** Sat Oct 17, 2015 5:55 pm **Posts:** 2876

It's interesting that at the end of the last video he wearily offered his opinion that this stoker engine was so worn out that, back in the age of steam, it likely would have been sent to scrap and replaced with a new one. He may be right, I'll bet near the end NC&StL was running its steam until it dropped.

mmi16 · **Joined:** Thu Oct 24, 2019 11:05 pm **Posts:** 198

PMC wrote:

It's interesting that at the end of the last video he wearily offered his opinion that this stoker engine was so worn out that, back in the age of steam, it likely would have been sent to scrap and replaced with a new one. He may be right, I'll bet near the end NC&StL was running its steam until it dropped.

Mechanical Departments of the carriers knew steam was ending long before the last engines were removed from service and saved all the budget money available to them by only doing the minimum level of work necessary to get an engine back out on line of road - thus everything was left wear out, wear out beyond normal replacement values.

joe6167 · **Posted:** Fri Jul 31, 2026 1:55 pm

At the Georgia Museum of Agriculture, they did manage to get their 0-4-0 Vulcan running for the 4th of July, however they quickly noticed that the steam coming up the stack was pretty wet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCjZHkjJ8Xk

On suspicious of a leaking dry pipe, they stripped the engine down to the boiler to start investigating the problem.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2YvNqcS5kM

Here Keith starts his hydro test. Simply filling up the dry pipe and waiting, without even having to apply pressure was sufficient to prove that the drypipe does in fact have a leak.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6uSNdMExv8

Up next, the company that built the boiler is going to come take a look at it. Keith figures they'll have to cut the dry pipe out of the front tube sheet, replace it, and weld it back up.

joe6167 · **Posted:** Mon Aug 10, 2026 8:52 am

A few more updates on the Vulcan:

Installing a new dry pipe:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajk-07C8QJw

Here Keith is using a laser cleaner to remove rust and old paint off the locomotive. What insane devices! The needle gun is dead!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeTCod16h0c

Here's Keith introducing the new laser cleaner:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xS2KxTut63g