Anybody out there know a GOOD source of Paxton-Mitchell packing? Remember the old, segmented packing, not the King metallic cone shaped packing. Going through an old Shop Services catalog, Stan Matthews stated he had the PM specs and tooling to make the correct packing parts. Had a price list too. Since SS is gone, whatever happened to the tooling and/or information? Any help appreciated.

rpsurv@nni.com

Hi Rob;

I retrofitted the shays (and the Baldwin valves) at GLR with segmental stacked ring systems from France Compressor Company. D&S had done so some time previously and had found them very long lived and useful, and off the shelf.

France speced out some bizarre stack twleve high, but D&S was getting by with 3 or 4 (can't remember)so we did too and worked great.

They cost more but given your operation should last for decades if you keep the rods shiny and use plenty of lube.

Strasburg is cutting packings from Teflon based material but i think King only - maybe somebody from there can elucidate? And, I have heard of casting them from a substance called Diesel Babbit also (wouldn't steam babbit be better?)

Anyhow, try D&S for France Compressor info and specs. Best of luck.

Dave

lathro19@idt.net

> Hi Rob;

> I retrofitted the shays (and the Baldwin
> valves) at GLR with segmental stacked ring
> systems from France Compressor Company.
> D&S had done so some time previously and
> had found them very long lived and useful,
> and off the shelf.

> France speced out some bizarre stack twleve
> high, but D&S was getting by with 3 or 4
> (can't remember)so we did too and worked
> great.

> They cost more but given your operation
> should last for decades if you keep the rods
> shiny and use plenty of lube.

> Strasburg is cutting packings from Teflon
> based material but i think King only - maybe
> somebody from there can elucidate? And, I
> have heard of casting them from a substance
> called Diesel Babbit also (wouldn't steam
> babbit be better?)

> Anyhow, try D&S for France Compressor info and specs. Best of luck.
> Dave

Hi there.
Are you telling me that someone have succeeded in using some other material than Antimonlead ( 12% Antimon,( antimony? tip from the spellchecker??) 85% Lead - AL.) in the Kings system? I have casted and machined such AL type for a four cylinder engine with superheater( top speed 55 mph.). Theese have been working fine for almost 12 years now but are very leaky right after the engine have been moved cold. And now they are giving bad hints about being ready for replacement. This procedure about making them from scratch like the previous 8 packings ( 16 elements to cast) doesn't seem to be the best solution to the problem since our engine nr.271 just have run about 25000 km with the selfmade packings installed. We have the castiron twopair-three-segmented system on other engines but its housing needs lots of change to the 8 cylinder tops in question.

Ragnar Andenæs - still optimistic.

Goddogas Ragnar;

Teflon material is being used for rod packings at Strasburg RR in Pennsylvania, USA. I am not altogether sure of the exact spec for the material, but I am told that the gland must be machined to a tight fit to prevent the teflon from extruding out along the rod as it reciprocates, and lubrication both inside and outside the gland is critical.

No doubt somebody from there can provide more specific and useful information that might help you retrofit your locomotive.

I had considered using a sintered silicon bronze material also, but cutting the interlocking curves from bar stock was troublesome on manual tools, so retrofitted a new gland with the France Compressor rings instead.

Maybe a CAM shop could machine the King design out of solid? Anybody out there under 40 doing this stuff?

Dave

lathro19@idt.net

>

I'm not under forty but what I did was use half inch thick teflon. It comes in a flat sheet the thickness that you want. The 1/2 inch was about $80 a swuare foot. I then cut the peices out an a bandsaw making sure the inside had a smaller radius than what would fit the piston rod. I then made a jig to mount the pairs in a lathe and turn them to fit the piston rod. I have not run my engine enough to tell how they will last but I know of an engine that has run them for about twenty years without problems.

John



johncgra@locl.net

> I'm not under forty but what I did was use
> half inch thick teflon. It comes in a flat
> sheet the thickness that you want. The 1/2
> inch was about $80 a swuare foot. I then cut
> the peices out an a bandsaw making sure the
> inside had a smaller radius than what would
> fit the piston rod. I then made a jig to
> mount the pairs in a lathe and turn them to
> fit the piston rod. I have not run my engine
> enough to tell how they will last but I know
> of an engine that has run them for about
> twenty years without problems.

> John

Hi there, or as Dave tried - God dag.
And off course - thanks for your answers.
Teflon sounds interesting - what speeds and boiler pressures / superheater values do your engine have? After my experienses teflon gives it up at 250 deg. Celsius ( water boils at 100 and freezes at 0, thats Celsius.)
I belive our engine - the class 30a nr.271 have 22 superheaters and 13 kgs boilerpressure - is runnig the King's packing elements very hot - those I replaced in 1989 seemed to have been partially melted. That could indicate that the engine at "highball" condition gives steam to the cylinders that are close to the max. temp. from a superheater - aprox. 370 deg. celsius. Pure lead melts at 327 deg. C so it must be in the high temp. range. How will teflon take that?

Take a look at http://www.njk.no and hit the british flag and you can find som english information about Norsk Jernbaneklubb ( Norwegian Railway club) and the Norwegian Heritage train.
If you wonder what the 271 look like, some dig. pictures are available immidiate on request.
Ragnar Andenæs

Again, it was Strasburg that has done well with teflon. They are a very active and successful tourist railroad but don't work their engines hard or fast. If you run mainline excursions, the quality of service would be markedly different.

Perhaps somebody from Starsburg can respond?

Apologies for my fractured Norsk.

Dave

lathro19@idt.net

Dave and all

You mentioned the Garlock segmented packing on a shay you worked on. We just ordered a clone from an outfit called
Acrodyne Corp.
2750 S. Shoshone, Suite 310
Englewood, Co. 80110
888-333-2276
Salesman's name is Simon Bell.
Apparently it can be made in a number of different materials including bronze, Teflon, or a composite of both.
Tom

ironbartom@aol.com

> Dave and all

> You mentioned the Garlock segmented packing
> on a shay you worked on. We just ordered a
> clone from an outfit called
> Acrodyne Corp.
> 2750 S. Shoshone, Suite 310
> Englewood, Co. 80110
> 888-333-2276
> Salesman's name is Simon Bell.
> Apparently it can be made in a number of
> different materials including bronze,
> Teflon, or a composite of both.
> Tom

Tommy!!:

Thanks for jarring my fading memory banks! We used Acrodyne's 3 piece segmented packing on the C&TS for years with good results. If I remember, they will custom size it to your rod size and stuffing box.



earlkctsr489@webtv.net

>The Mid-Contonent has a large quantity of one size of paxton mitchel I don't know the size but it is for a mike or larger engine and ultimately came from the DM&IR. Please check with Tim Weaver the curent CMO.

Anybody out there know a GOOD source of
> Paxton-Mitchell packing? Remember the old,
> segmented packing, not the King metallic
> cone shaped packing. Going through an old
> Shop Services catalog, Stan Matthews stated
> he had the PM specs and tooling to make the
> correct packing parts. Had a price list too.
> Since SS is gone, whatever happened to the
> tooling and/or information? Any help
> appreciated.


fwantz@pressenter.com