On Jul 15, 1:15 pm, John Rumm wrote:
On 14/07/2011 23:39, Gib Bogle wrote:



On 7/15/2011 7:29 AM, Thomas Prufer wrote:
On Thu, 14 Jul 2011 09:56:01 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

If this joint were to fail there could be very severe consequenses.
Under no circumstanses should you try to repair this.

I fully agree. You should get some mechanic from a museum or something
who has
*experience* repairing these ancient things. You know, someone who has
actually
spent *time* fixing these things. Or a fully qualified stem engine
mechanic!*

Cast iron has been outlawed for seventy or eighty years for steam
vessels. You need to forget all about this project or someone could
get killed.

All steam vessels by law have to be insured and inspected annually.
There's absolutely no way you could achieve this, it would fail any
inspection.

You'd be much better off scrapping the boiler and replacing it with
something
entirely new. And instead of a firebox, maybe an electric heater?
These are much
safer. Or a modern condensing boiler, which is also more efficient! Yes!

You must be new here. Matty IS someone working in a museum, who repairs
ancient things, and the boiler he's talking about is undoubtedly a
restoration job. I suspect that replacing the boiler with a modern
version would defeat the whole purpose of the enterprise. Nevertheless
your point about the advisability of attempting a repair may well be
correct.

I now have this mental picture of a steam train, sans boiler, and modern
combi bolted to the front! Still saves shovelling coal, but might need a
long gas hose.

Efficiency is unimportant. We have thousands of years worth of coal
here. Shoveling coal keeps the driver fit.
And he can cook his lunch along the way:
http://i53.tinypic.com/2nis6y1.jpg

The concerns about safety are noted.