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Posted by
Dave
on Sun May 19 06:53:26 2013
edf40wrjww2msgDetail:detailStr fiogf49gjkf0d The Museum of the American Railroad at Fair Park in Dallas is in the process of moving to the town of Frisco, about 55 miles north. All of the equipment has been moved except the two largest steam locomotives (St. Louis-San Francisco Northern #4501 and Union Pacific Challenger #4018) along with the F-7A diesel locomotive used for switching and two storage box cars.
First to move will be the Frisco #4501. The railroad received 25 Northern type locomotives (road numbers 4500 through 4524) from the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1943. This group was a mix of coal burners that weighed 462,500 lbs and oil burners that weighed 454,000 lbs. The oil burners (road number 4500 through 4502) were assigned to passenger service. All of these 4-8-4s had 74" drivers, 28 x 31 cylinders, a boiler pressure of 250 psi and a tractive effort of 69,800 pounds.
The locomotive and tender are equipped with conventional friction-type bearings, which require a higher level of maintenance than newer roller bearings. Each journal box was drained, cleaned, and repacked with new lubricating pads and oil. The locomotive's driving wheels required special attention, with each "Hennessey" lubricator being bench tested before reassembly.
The Frisco Railway "Meteor" graphics were being applied to the tender when I visited. The F-7A was used to switch #4501 to a side track for preparation.
Work is also progressing on the Union Pacific #4018, which should be moved to Frisco within a few weeks of #4501's arrival. Equipped with roller bearings, the locomotive requires slightly different preparation measures to ensure safe and reliable movement to Frisco. Each bearing reservoir on the driving wheels will be drained and refilled with heavyweight gear oil. The locomotive's side rods will be either removed or receive lubrication from temporary manual drip-type lubricators.
In researching Union Pacific mechanical records from the mid-1960s when eight of the 25 Big Boys were donated to museums and parks, it was found that the massive "Centipede" tenders were the main cause of concern, not the locomotives themselves. The tenders were more prone to problems when encountering curves, particularly when empty during back up moves. To address this issue, #4018's tender will likely have three wheel sets (axles) "blocked up." The wheels will be jacked up and have spacers placed such that the flanges are above the rail head. This will effectively minimize the rigidity of the long wheel base when encountering curves along the route.
A classic 3/4 shot:
Easy to take this shot when you know the engine won't be moving:
Valve gear and rods are removed for the transfer run:
The "Meteor" paint job had been applied to the tender and the striping was being removed when I arrived to take some pictures:
A few pieces of tape were left on this side:
The business office:
In a steam locomotive, water from the tender is used to keep the water level in the boiler constant. Both the engineer and fireman can control the insertion of water from the tender into the boiler. The temperature of the water in the tender is the ambient temperature. The water in the boiler is at the boiling point. Adding relatively cold water to an operating boiler takes some of the energy out of the boiler. To improve the thermodynamic efficiency of the locomotive, it would be beneficial to preheat the water before it is fed into the boiler.
The steam exhausted from the cylinders of a steam locomotive is still quite hot. Instead of releasing this steam to the atmosphere and wasting the heat energy contained within it, feedwater heaters use this exhausted steam to preheat the water from the tender before it is fed into the boiler.
Lots of bolts in that boiler!
Injectors:
The Meteor!
F-7A used to move #4501 to the side track:
The crew who did the prep work and painting:
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