After 106 years the tee in No. 98's steam delivery pipe system sprung a leak. The amazing folks in our shop worked really hard to remove the pipes and we hired a contractor to fabricate a new tee. Once we got a good look at everything we decided to go ahead and replace her steam delivery pipes as well. You can see the hole in this photo.




Once the pipes were out they were fitted back together to replicate how the new pipes needed to attach.



A new tee was fabricated.


Boiler plate for the steam delivery pipes was rolled and bent into the right shapes.



The fabricated pipes were fitted to the contact points created earlier with the old pipes.



The tee and pipes were installed with the top flanges on the steam delivery pipes loose.



The flanges were tacked into place. Our next step is to remove the steam delivery pipes and weld out the flanges and then install everything for the final fitting. The tee will remain in place. More to come. Nobody is ready to take a victory lap just yet but it is getting close. I can't thank our CMO Steve J. and his crew enough.

Please keep us posted on how well this works. Had the privilege to work with some very talented fitters years ago in a previous life and can appreciate your project. I have asked a number of people why we couldn't fab new delivery pipes, "T"s and was told the problem was with expansion/contraction with steel fab instead of cast and how in this application it will or could cause problems. If this truly works out I can see some very shaky delivery pipes and T's being replaced down the line. Again thanks for the pictures. I really dig this kind of thread. Seeing the fab job on the other parts is what I thought possible a long time ago. I so much want to learn how well this works out in the #98.

Question does this locomotive have the beveled donut rings for adjustment/mounting on the delivery pipes for the T and Cyl castings. Doesn't appear to, but what do I know? One of our locomotives has had some parts cut out and stolen including those rings. Anyway thanks for the post.

Regards, John.

I've seen a locomotive with one cast and one fabricated pipe that worked just fine. If the coefficients of expansion are slightly different, it didn't matter enough to make a difference in that case. The rings are spherical and seat against a chamfer - this makes for a good tight seal. Expando works well in these joints.

Outstanding work, Tom. I am very appreciative of the resourcefulness and hard work of the shop crews at the W&W.

See you at the operating meeting.

Are the cast ones cast iron rather than being cast steel?

If they're both cast steel, how would there be a difference? How would the steel "know" if it was cast or fabricated? In other words, is there anything in either process that could affect the expansion rate of the metal? I don't think so. I've never seen any coefficient tables that talk about anything other than the type of the steel. (Such as different grades of stainless)

If it's the same type of steel, or close to it, then wouldn't the expansion rate also be the same no matter what process was used?

Well this is why I ask. If the T is original and not replaced it is cast when mated to fabbed delivery pipes they are not same steel. The Cyl casting is cast. if both the T and deliver pipes are fabbed steel I see no problems but often the "ring" that the T is attached/seated to may be a cast also sweated/threaded on or welded welded onto dry piple. I am not concerned about the steels strength as much as the joints leaking or stress from the expansion/contraction. Maybe I shouldn't say concerned but ask more out of if this works why haven't I noticed it done more often in this type of application? Not at trying to criticize or cast doubt, just interested in the application of fabricated parts v/s using old {in need of repair or replacing} or expense of casting new parts like this.

Someone told me once that cast iron seems to work better in these delivery applications. I have no idea if this is true or not, but I know I do not know so I ask. It very well might of worked best at the time these locomotives were built with the technology at hand at that time? I ask because I want to know. Have also been told by a number of people in the industry that often times the older technology works best when you stick to the old ways of repair. So sometimes our technology works very well in certain applications but not others. From what Dave says, it will probably be just fine. Not questioning the repair by any stretch, just trying to learn more where we can apply fabrication v/s castings.

Regards, John.

Kudos to Steve and the W&W shop gang, and the contractors who did this amazing job on replacing the tee and steam delivery pipes. Hoping this works out as intended, it is a fine looking replacement. This with the previously replaced drypipe should help ensure that Ol' 98 will steam many more years.

Thanks for posting this Tommy. Did you ever locate the photos of the 98 runaway when the the old dry pipe failed and she crashed head on into the coal pile? I've looked through my collection to no avail. Any new news on your book on the 98?

Don Fenstermacher

I suspect that this solution is one that will get more and more attention as these castings finally wear out. Creation of the patterns and the associated foundry work make replacement in kind too expensive for most steam operators, so steel fabrications seem to be the way to go.

One question popped up right away. Will the steel fabrication live in the acidic and abrasive environment of the smoke box as well as the cast iron did? Was any special attention paid to selection of the kind of steel used?

OK, let's say it only lasts half as long as the originals if it's been operated as intensively as it was hauling freight trains every day of the year excepting washouts and repair time. If it runs maybe a tenth of that - and apart from D&S and Strasburg who might even get that close - we're looking at 5 times that century. I don't think we need to worry about it.

But corrosion is at work 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and doesn't even take leap year day off. Then again, can't fare any worse than the bottom of the smokebox.

If you're dumb enough to store it dirty and wet over off seasons, you deserve to have problems. Based on the high standard of work shown, these guys know far better than that.

We studied our options with great care. We are not in a position to spend thousands of dollars on trial and error. Expansion should not be an issue, the fabricated pieces will hold the pressure, and we've discussed the project with other people in preservation with experience in fabricated replacements.

Maybe they will not hold up in that environment as well as cast ones. I can't tell you how long they will last, but they won't be my problem if they only last 50 years instead of 100.