Does anybody know if the V & T will be running steam out of Virginia City this year?

Probably by the 4th of July. There was some improper welding done on the front tube sheet by an incompetent welder over the objections of the Master Mechanic. This resulted in the necessity of renewing the tube sheet as well as all the tubes that hadn't seen a fire. You have to be careful when you choose workers.

Steam will be available sometime in early to mid July. Once again the owners son has involved himself and rather than attempt to save money by welding himself as he did in 1998 and then we had to remove all of his work per the Hartford Steam Boiler Inspector; this time he attempted to save time and brought in a Union welder to seal weld the tubes. The man was well intentioned but he did not pre-heat nor did he clean the Crisco from the tubes that had been used as a lubricant for rolling in the tubes. The oily greasy ooze was allowed to contaminate the welds. When the boiler was filled with water as high as only the first 4 rows of tubes, a 3/4" stream of water would eventually pour from the area as it filled. When the boiler was completely filled the tubesheet looked like a giant garden sprinkler.

The decision by the Hartford inspector and the FRA inspector was that the tubes were unusable because when the defective weld would be ground off(if you could imagine the nightmare of grinding between the ligaments) ther would be no tube left to either flare or bead. Since it is not permissible to weld a tube flush with the surface of the tube-sheet the tubes were scrap.

Whilst the tube-sheet may have been able to be ground with a bevel to remove the devective weld, it would then have been necessary to buildup that bevel with new metal and then ream each hole (x184 holes). Since the tubsheet was original (1916) and all the holes were considerably oversize from yrs. of re-tubing and re-reaming it has been deemed best to repace the tube-bundle section of the sheet.

The cost of this well-meaning but misguided attempt to help on the part of the son and the welder is propriatary information, but sufficeit to say that if they did not learn better in 1998 they probably will not learn now!

Best of luck to all of you out there who do your jobs "in spite of" and always remember that "AN EXPERT IS ANYONE FROM OUT OF TOWN"

ek

[redacted]

That would be # 29. The fate of the # 8 is still in litigation, and hopefully a settlement will be reached before the trial date of July 31, 2006.

Is is standard practice to seal weld tubes on the front tube sheet on the V&T? I can't say i have ever done this before, and have suffered no problems with tubes simply rolled and beaded. Rear tube sheet sure, but front? This is a new one on me.

dave

Dear Strasburg Fan.

This is not standard practice! The front tube sheet has been in 29 since 1916 and with all the re-tubings since then; many of which were obviously accompanied by tube hole reaming (which was standard practice) the holes in 29's sheet were WAY oversize, some to the extent of almost 3/16ths of an inch.

Whilst it is common practice to use ferrules to shim oversize condition, with a sheet this old and with holes so oversize the sheet should have been replaced and was recommended so but without FRA demand it was not done for "economic" reasons. Having had experience with similar situations over 35 yrs. the Hartford inspector recommended flare and seal weld, knowing full well that sheet would not be allowed again in 15 yrs.

Once again a temporary "economy" has reared it head and bitten much lower!!

This same type of "economy" was exercised in 1999 when side and door sheets were replaced on same locomotive and advice to replace crown and rear tube sheet was given. When repairs were complete, locomotive ran one season in 2001 and FRA then demanded replacement of crown and tubesheet.

It seems that it is much better to do the entire job right the first time on your own initiative making use of sound and experienced advise; that to wait to be commanded to do so and then have to go through all the torture and expense of disassembly twice.

The old adage that "I can give you the facts, but I can't give you the brains to understand them" seems to apply between MM's and owners who think they are making an "economy"

Best wishes,
ek

Sorry,

This should have been addressed "Dear Dave".

My mistake, I got crossed up on who wrote whats. I guess working on steam for past 28 yrs. I not up to computers yet!

[redacted]

I am wondering how the V&T is going to be operated once the state of Nevada finishes it's rebuilding project. Is the state also going to operate the section from Gold Hill to Virginia City and is Bob Gray still going to be involved? Where will the shops be located?

One of the local politicians who has successfully pushed the project along was at the TRAIN conference last year (another good reason to attend) and was soliciting advice and expressions of interest from potential operators. I assume the model they are following assumes a contracted operating entity working with a physical plant owned by the state? Somewhere I have a copy of the prospectus he was circulating, if i can find it I will see if it mentions a shops site, but it really doesn't matter where it is so long as they have one that is well equipped, and with capable workers.

Looking in from the outside, the current V&T seems like a somewhat marginal operation that can't afford to do the whole job at once, but, like most classical American shortlines, is forced to do what must be done to get the power through another season, hoping for the resources to do better next time. I don't doubt that either Mr Gray is doing the best they can in a barrage of sometimes confusingly different opinions expressed by people who speak with some authority, whether real or not, or expert or not. I admire them for sticking with it, and wish them well.

Another dumb proposal: weld up the inside of the holes in the tube sheet and ream them out to the correct size. Note that this expressed opinion is meaningless in the context of the situation, just as is any other.

Start planning for the Sacramento conference now. Probably these guys will be there and you can find out all you want to know firsthand.

dave