During a recent trip to a south Texas railroad museum, I heard about a "Boiler-in-a-boiler" project that was being researched for the museum's diminutive 2-8-0 locomotive.

Essentially, it would involve inserting a narrow, pressure-fired boiler completely within the extant shell. Can anyone provide more insight about this?

Trinity Valley website
hi-plains@juno.com

It would be a bad idea. Although I knowof several traction engines done this way, where the machinery used the boiler as the frame, I can see no advantages to it in steam loco practice. I am sure the FRA andASME wouldn't be happy with a boiler that couldn't be visually inspected. I think I know the bunch of which you speak, and they haven't a great deal of steam knowledge. Look at it like this: What advantge is there in building a small boiler to fit in an old one, when a new replica boiler probably wouldn't be as expensive? You never want to go with less boiler than you start with. And never relegate an old boiler to scrap till someone with steam experience has looked at it.

lorija799@aol.com

Without knowing more details it does sound like the insertion of new problems into some old ones which may not be insoluable. With the new FRA rules, many more welded repairs are now allowed than before. I would need to see a lot of damage before condemning an old boiler out of hand. And, if you are going to fabricate a new one anyhow, why not make it the correct one?

There is an ancient locomotive in CA which had a modern cylindrical boiler retrofitted to it by the film industry a while back and isn't useful as a result. Hate to see more money wasted in these schemes.

Dave

irondave@bellsouth.net