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Can anyone cite an example of a stationary boiler with a Belpaire firebox? Belpaire’s were more expensive to fabricate and one of their advantages was that they produced more steam than a conventional locomotive boiler of the same size. Stationary boilers typically produced much less steam for a given size than a locomotive boiler, so it seems unlikely they would have built a Belpaire version.

The rotary snow plow idea seems pretty plausible. Did the Great Northern have any? I’m just curious; it seems unlikely one of theirs would have wound up in Pennsylvania.

Looking through my photos from May 2011 I found one more photo showing 193's steam dome. The exterior view from 2006 shows the top of the steam dome. In this configuration, it appears that the pipe with the upward bend that is attached to the dome in Mr. Glueck's photos would extend upward through to the exterior and would be visible in an exterior view.

Unfortunately, 193 remains in the stewardship of the NPS where it continues to be subject to NPS's bureaucratic composting protocol.

This LIRR rotary was previously discussed in this thread:
http://www.rypn.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=32428&p=213164&hilit=rotary+lirr&sid=1c7e77576778542ff31ab9b8aa77e840&sid=1c7e77576778542ff31ab9b8aa77e840#p213164

These threads also have some information and earlier photos from 193's in-service era:

http://www.rypn.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=39037&hilit=rotary+lirr&start=15&sid=1c7e77576778542ff31ab9b8aa77e840

http://www.rypn.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=40121&hilit=rotary+lirr&start=15&sid=1c7e77576778542ff31ab9b8aa77e840

http://www.rypn.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=44457&p=302648&hilit=rotary+lirr&sid=1c7e77576778542ff31ab9b8aa77e840&sid=1c7e77576778542ff31ab9b8aa77e840#p302648

The Erie RR had two rotaries for certain, and possibly three. Gerald M. Best's excellent book Snowplow lists three on the Erie. However the late Ron Dukarm believes that this was in error, and that there were only two. All were off the roster sometime in the 1930s, and photos are next-to-nonexistent.

JR

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Looks like a match to me, other than the missing rivets on the firebox (could there be some sort of wrapper there in the rotary photo?) now can we figure out whose rotary it is from?

Another point - In Dick's 4th photo (reposted just above by Kelly) there appears to be a second nearly identical boiler behind it. See the same cast dome top, dome flanges, top rivet line of four and matching course-mating rivet seams.

Also the up-turned elbow appears (in the second pic) to have pipe taps on both sides of the elbow, as in for feed pipes to a cylinder on either side like a rotary arrangement. Could the large up-turned elbow be serving as a manifold for both steam pipes and a lowered set of safeties for vertical clearance, instead of mounting them high on the dome lid of a rotary? Never seen it done before, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen. On the other hand, Dick's pics show no glands/fixtures of any kind for the throttle on the back side of the dome, as in the rotary pics.

And the presence of two of them might suggest that they were indeed from a stationary plant.

The rotary drawing from Kelly's post does not have the high-mounted up-turned elbow. It has a much lower T to feed the cylinders, so no, they are not an exact match.

Agree that it seems to be a locomotive style boiler that wasn't used in a locomotive but in another application. I've been on steam boats that used locomotive style boilers and industrial sites that used actual locomotive boilers recycled, so...... without seeing the backhead we can't know if there is / was a dome throttle with the lever coming out the rear.

My question is could this become a locomotive boiler in a replica or a new build? Anybody know who is collecting them and why? I think there's the likeliest place for answers.

I see sockets along the 'curve' of the upper wrapper that look likethey are for (substantial) handrail stanchions. I also see at least one riveted attach point halfway down the boiler barrel that looks like an attach point for a support or hanger, perhaps a walkway.

I think all those staybolts in the water legs are welded, and it would be fun to stick a borescope in through the washout plugs up top and see just how many of them approximate 'full-pen fillet welds' in the waterspace...

I though preferred locomotive practice in the 'subject' era, at least for boilers exposed on locomotives, was to carry the throttle rod above the crown, through the water or steam space, to a bell-crank arrangement entirely sealed in the dome. This had the only pressure stuffing box at the backhead, where it could be easily monitored or maintained, and relatively safe from environmental deterioration.

Apparently Alex #4 has seen the boiler on other websites, so it may not be a huge surprise but...Here's the cat out of the bag. The scrapyard is in Burnham, Pennsylvania. There is a fence and gate and an incredible museum of old vehicles and RR junk. The yard is backed by a live track and siding. The siding is a real kick as it holds three ex-Seaboard, ex-Amtrak stainless passenger cars. The burned out and rotting remains of some very old BAR boxcars are lined up along with frames from butchered cars. Sitting on the siding are two badly damaged Diesel locomotives; one Baldwin the other an ALCO S2.
There are hot and cold running homeless in these cars so watch out for encounters of an unfortunate nature. Remember, this is private property so get permission and don't get hurt of killed. Dead railfans are bad for the hobby.

Overmod sees what I do, but if you enlarge the first photo what appears to be a long diagonal weld looks like a bracket on standoffs from the outer side sheet perhaps to support valves or some control mechanism, or piping...... allowing lagging to be applied underneath a jacket.

I'm also fascinated with the boiler on top with what maybe either a return flue arrangement, drum superheaters or economizers of some sort - the outer shell shows a pattern of corrosion which may be where it sat on a masonry firebox.

Seriously cool rusty iron up there.

On another look, those heavy sockets are for washout plugs, and the remaining plug in the closest one seems to have a hole drilled in it which could I suppose be for a handrail stanchion but that would complicate convenient washouts.

I believe that is or was one of the scrap yards owned by Nick Kovalchick.

Burnham Yard

Our Burnham location has many of the same materials for sale that you would find at our Indiana, PA facility, including railroad ties and fence posts.
Scrap metal is bought and sold and our prices are competitive and updated regularly.
The Burnham office and yard is conveniently located near the center of Pennsylvania, approximately 40 miles north west of Harrisburg.
We offer rolloff box service for scrap metals only.
Normal hours of operation are from 7:00 AM through 5:00 PM - Monday through Friday.

No, I've seen them myself IN PERSON many times, as have a few others who may post here (or used to).
And I am aware of individuals present on this forum that have managed to acquire useful parts from this very scrapyard, and/or others owned by the same owners.

And here's the other surprise: Guess whose scrapyard it is?

https://kovalchickcorp.com/location

YES. THAT VERY KOVALCHICK FAMILY!!!!!!!

Yes Alex, and you move up to the bonus round, where you can win a barrel of rusty bent spikes!

Seriously, it is a Kovalchik scrapyard, and I checked it out on Google Earth. Those stacked boilers have been there some time, so their original purpose has been long forgotten. I don't know what else of direct railroad value is in there, but out back stand the two old Diesel switchers. I would be interesting to see if useful parts might still be salvaged off them. They are a mess otherwise.