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| Steaming Days - July 28/29, 2001
Two days of action were held at the track in conjunction with the museum's "Making It Work" weekend. The weather co-operated both days to allow the spectators to see plenty of locomotives at work. There was also some "Trying To Make It Work" in the steaming bays as various minor problems kept everyone busy making repairs and adjustments. |
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Russ Milland coming down the east loop with Tom's 3-1/2" Hudson |
Tom Stewart brought his 3-1/2" Hudson out from semi-retirement. Tom and Russ Milland were kept busy trying to get it running since it has been sitting idle in the museum for several years. After tracking down various missing pieces and making repairs to minor damage they were able to get it running. Russ will be running Tom's Hudson until he can get his own engine finished. |
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| Tom Stewart also brought out his 4-3/4" Pacific and Atlantic. With Tom busy working on the Hudson, the driving chores fell to other club members. The steaming problems the Atlantic had during previous steaming days seems to be cured as both engines ran well all weekend. |
Steve Moore's gas powered 2-6-0 |
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Clive Morgan and his 4-3/4" LNER Ten Wheeler |
With two days of running making the long trip south worth while, Clive Morgan was down from the North Country with his 4-3/4" LNER Ten Wheeler. Clive had done his work at home and was able to make it work all weekend without any problems and put in many miles around the track. The work of maintaining a good running engine is made easier when you have your own track in your backyard. |
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| Other members were not so fortunate. Both Bob McDowall and Barrie Ward had minor problems with their engines and were not able to make it work for long. Bob's Pacific had its intermittent valve gear problem reappear and Barrie's Mikado still has an intermittent problem maintaining proper water level. There was lots of action on the 7-1/4" line both on the track and in the steaming bays. |
Ron McKinley works his Hercules up the east loop with Harry Savile and his Consolidation coming up behind |
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Harry Savile headed up grade on his Consolidation with Michael Guy and his Romulus in the background |
Harry Savile had his Consolidation out as usual but was kept busy making it work. A water pump check valve stuck and had to be disassembled and cleaned. This is hard work on a hot engine but he was able to make repairs quickly and get back on track. Michael Guy from the Toronto Live Steamers was out on Sunday with his Romulus. He had no trouble making it work all day and put in many laps around the track. Ron McKinley had his Hercules out again and was busy all day Sunday with coal problems causing him some trouble keeping a good fire going. Ron was able to make it work all day with several trips back to the steaming bays to remove clinkers and get a good fire going. |
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Linc Johnson had his Diesel out for another trial run. This is the Mark
III version with extensive changes to the driveline from the last version.
He now uses a hydraulic driveline and it seemed to run well after some
adjustments to the throttle and governor were made. Unfortunately he was
not able to make it work for long as a freak wheel bearing failure forced
an early end to his day. Steve Moore had his latest project out for display;
a gas powered 7-1/4" 2-6-0. He has it nearly finished, with only the final
drive and exhaust system to be completed. This engine looks like it will
be able to work all day without any problems.
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Linc Johnson test running his Diesel |
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| Track Update
The pedestrian Crossover Bridge is nearing completion. Work crews were out on several occasions during July to dig the holes for the foundations, erect the steel, mix and pour concrete for the foundations and paint the steel. The remaining tasks are to finish the painting, lay the decking and install the safety fencing. Steve Moore has done a great job designing and fabricating the steel structure for the bridge. |
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Tom Stewart has installed the gravel pile spur. The track leads right to the stone pile so that the hopper cars can now be filled easily and moved around the track to lay badly needed ballast. Additional 7-1/4" steaming bays have been installed. A total of 5 bays are now installed with two additional bays to be installed in the near future. |
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| TSSA Update
The changes to the Boilers and Pressure Vessels Act have been officially
released. The Act now provides an exemption for high pressure (Section
I) boilers having a heating surface of 10 sq. ft. or less, O.Reg #220/01
Subsection 2(2) (c). This should eliminate the last obstacle to getting
the TSSA to issue the long sought after permits to allow public rides on
the elevated and ground level tracks. A final inspection of both tracks
is to take place sometime in August.
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Upcoming Events
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