Was surprised, having taken such pains with the repair, to see the 'bowed' valve rod being put back without an attempt at straightening it.

Keith I think you mixed up the exhaust and inlet ports. The steam from the regulator/throttle valve is comming into the steam chest by the channels on the front of the chest. It pushed the slide valve onto its seat. The 3 ports are the inlet front, exhaust and inlet rear. Otherwise the steam would lift the valve from the seat, even with the springs. The bushing on the slide valve rod that should keep the packing from getting inside the steam chest is totally worn out and should be replaced. These should have a change gear fit on the rod, now it is a 100 yards throw fit ;-)

The only thing i would've done differently (and mainly because the old guy i help every once in a moon cycle does this every time the chest is out) is to do a super light lap of the valve and seat. Like polishing paste light. He does this every time, and he's been around since the continents were still fused, so he must know something. Side note, every time i see the loco on the channel i'm happy. It's on my bucket list to see when i'm back in US.

The valve at the steam chest front is a snifting or drifting valve. It serves as a vacuum breaker when the engine is not working steam like when coasting. The idea is to prevent cinders or other debris from potentially being sucked into the cylinders from the smoke box.

Very nice, wouldn’t mind additional 5 min length of video with the test drive.

Maybe it's different for a steam chest but I learned that any kind of pressure head is installed with bolt/stud torque starting in the center of the edges and tighten the bolts in a cross pattern moving outward toward the corners with the corner bolts always being the last ones tightened, the reverse of how this one was tightened.

I believe it's RTV not RVT. Stands for Room Temperature Vulanization

Keith, please tell us there are young people there who are learning this trade from you and the museum staff. These historical machines deserve to live as long as there are skilled tradesmen capable of preserving them. Thanks from St Marys, GA 🇺🇸

Normally there is the full steam pressure inside the valve chest. This keeps the valve pushed down to the sealing surface. I think this is the deal in this case also. Following this logic the farthermost slots are steam input and the center slot is the exhaust.

I was in the U S Navy,and worked on 1200 psi boiler.The boilers and related machines were a lot of work.

I was looking forward to seeing a few minutes of it running!!! 😀 Oh well, it was fun to see the repair done. Thank you!!

Brilliant repair! Great to see these old beasts still in action!

Thanks for the video, Keith! Great to see an old locomotive being cared for with such love & attention to detail! One quibble - you keep referring to RVT, when the correct abbreviation is RTV, short for "room temperature vulcanizing", a name for the then-new {mid-1940s} silicone rubber compounds that would cure without added heat... That name has stuck, although most folks, including myself, have migrated to using "silicone sealer" or "bathtub caulk" as a more understandable name.

I wasn't going to say anything, but after you mentioned "RVT" for the 3rd time, I had to. It's RTV, which stands for Room Temperature Vulcanization.

Shouldn't the copper gaskets be annealed before reuse? Learned that from an old boilermaker.

I enjoyed this entire series. I guess I would have liked to have seen a short shot the locomotive in action, focusing on the repaired section.

For those that don't know, there's a sequence In tightening bolts on this steam chest. It's similar to the way a cylinder head is torqued down. This helps to prevent the top from warping from uneven tightening. Tire shops use a technique like this to ensure proper tightening of the lug nuts.

Keith, not too long ago, I picked up a junior size oil can like the one you're using in this video. It was found at a scrap yard in good working condition.

Thank you very much sir. Now my childhood doubt cleared. I always wondered about how the smoke comes out with force and rhythmically like chuk chuk... Now I know the connection. 😀

Love the old trains. A lot of work by all the volunteers that work on this equipment. Thanks very much for the work you do and for sharing this with us.

Enjoyed every moment. Thank you. 🇺🇸🇬🇧👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼🤜🏻🤜🏻🚂🚂🚂🚂

In Germany, too, there are clubs that keep the old steam locomotives running. Attempts are made to raise money through events and special trips. But if at some point the big test by the TÜV has to be made, a lot of money often has to be invested in order to get permission for further operation. There is only one workshop in Germany that can carry out major repairs to steam locomotives. But with the necessary money €$£, they can screw a new steam locomotive to an old locomotive number plate. In the event that the old locomotive is only suitable for scrap.

Back in action!

Thank you for posting

Thanks for sharing!

Excellent work

Thanks for sharing 👍

The Museum is truly fortunate to have your expertise!

The repaired seam looks awesome! Invisible to the layman's eye

GREAT job Brother Keith :)

That was very interesting video. Thanks

Thank you for sharing. Enjoyed.👍👀

Very nice professional work, Keith. Thank you.

Impressive repair Kieth, just like a pro.

Thanks a bunch Keith... Shoe🇺🇸

Keith one trick I learned that I found on another tubers video was to wrap the RTV (or really any metal cased tube) in electrical tape before you use it. It tends to help with blowouts and prevents creases which eventually result in blowouts of the tube while you're trying to squeeze the snot out of it to get the sealant out =)

great fix

Great to see that big engine back to running!

Very nice video, thanks for shareing. :o)

Good job to return the Vulcan to running status. I'm 80 and I need lots of maintenance too.

Nice! Great repair on a piece of History... 🙂

1:16 - That repair is likely to last until some new guy is taking care of what you do; nice job.

lovely keith just wish i would have seen you driving ...never mind well done

South Georgia, breathing would make me sweat. I can't imagine doing that sort of work in deep summer.

Do you re - anneal the copper gaskets before installing ?

I'm surprised that you didn't straighten the bent rod after going to all the trouble of repairing the chest.

Have you seen the Top Gear episode, where they have a race between a car, a motorcycle and a steam train, from London to Edinburgh? Jeremy explains that steam trains are phenomenally reliable, and can go *140,000 miles* between major services.

Thanks for preserving a part of American History.

AWW, I'M LIKE NUMBER 2...

RTV is the modern equivalent of Permatex non hardening gasket sealer, gooood stuff.

Getting all steamed up!

Nice to see the old girl fixed.

That there is one interesting video

Nice engineer's cap 👌

I originally used RTV on the cylinder heads of the J&L 58. One day one of the cylinder cocks would not close and after I took it apart found that a chunk of the RTV had lodged itself in the cock. How it got there I don't know but I no longer use RTV. Due to pitting on our steam dome the copper gasket will not in itself seal the joint with the lid, so I have gotten into the habit of coating the sealing surface with a thin film of Expando pipe joint compound. That fills in the pits and creates a good seal.

Great video and repairs Keith. I noticed the valve rod was banana shaped when you were screwing it back into the steam valve stem. Is it possible the bend in that rod contributed to the cracking of the stuffing box area or is it formed that way for clearance during operation? Thanks for sharing.

"oil never hurt a steam engine" sounds like a T-shirt Kieth

I suspect that when steam was the motve force that constant minor repairs were required on an ongoing basis. When I was a kid steam locomotives were still in regular use so we saw them all the time on the NYC lines.

You might do a little modification to the casting when you have a new steam chest cast. In between the packing nut flange and the steam chest, convert the round portion to a hexagon, with the top and bottom flat being level with the top and bottom gasket flange of the steam chest. The packing flange is supported in the horizontal direction, but not in the vertical direction, and you also have to deal with the bolt holes for the steam chest right behind the packing nut flange. Using a hexagon pattern will support the packing nut flange in the vertical direction, while still allowing for room for the bolt holes in the steam chest. This should prevent cracking of the packing nut flange in the future.

I notice you didn't anneal the copper strip, to help it mould to the surface better?

The museum is VERY fortunate to have you on board. Do you need to retorque the steam chest nuts after it has gone through a heat cycle like on IC engines?

Would it not make sense to anneal the copper gaskets to soften for a better seal?

KEITH, TELL EVERYBODY HELLO, GREAT JOB, GREAT VIDEO...SEE YOU WHEN...

Nice job. Will they re torque the bolts also?

I always wondered what a slide valve in the steam chest looked like. Now I know.

Looks like ole Dave is a key man.

nice! (Number 3)

That shaft had a definite bend to it that was obvious when you both were screwing it in.

You can actually buy rectangular copper wire or bus bar strips.

What impressed me the most is how close the fit is on the covers to the studs, Sure was some nice work so long ago. Dave.

I don't understand. Why didn't you show it running?

If you apply anti-sieze between the nuts and the surface they contact you will lose less torque due to reduced friction

love your blog . im from australia a dedicated steam fan but why did you not include adiabadiac expansion in your description of steam power?

Great job done. Over years I heard steam locomotives sounds like the one side is stronger than the other, now I realise its the exhaust I am hearing and theres a few combinations possible, is this an indication of the timing-?

It would of been good to see the engine in operation Kieth.

Would a little oil in torque wrench socket help?

Kinda think just standing in the shade would make me sweat is south Georgia.

I'm pretty sure that would make me sweat in southern California, too.

You should do a video on starting up and driving that thing. If you tagged it right the add revenue would by you a new car I bet. There are epic numbers of train geeks all around the world.

Keith, do yall use the graphite infused packing on the packing glands?

Hey Keith, do you guys have any plans on restoring the second locomotive?

Keith, since you lubricated the clamping studs, I was wondering if your torque target was reduced 20-30% from a dry torque target? I came across this in a machine's manual while doing maintenance at work, and subsequently finding it in engineering references.

Sure wish I wasn't so far away lol

Does that bent yoke present any problems?

I wanted to see it running...

I believe that you use the wrong sequence and tightening your bolts on the lid on your steam chest you should’ve started it to center bolts and work to the outside that’s usual and customary procedures so that you don’t end up with a band and end up moving something

Railroads had a rule of thumb that steam locomotives needed one hour of maintenance for every hour of run time. This repair showed why that was true.

what kind of steam pressures do these engines run ?

So when you cast a new part to replace one that broke in service, would you attempt thicken up or relieve the pressure on the area of the part that broke in the original?

You used a oil ring with the silicone to seal it up did it have a rubber oil ring when it was built or did they use something else like a strip of leather or cork as the gasket? Just curious thanks for sharing you are a very talented person I wish I had half your skill

I don't think you ever mentioned the amount of pressure in that engine when it is running, nor what the packing actually was/is. Is it packed with Oakum or something else, or do you use some modern substitute?

With boats, the rule of thumb is that maintenance takes one hour per week per foot of boat length. Is there something like for steam engines, like per horsepower or per cubic inch?

I wanted to see the engine run.

The insides of the cylinder/slide valve etc look awfull dry. Is the cylinder lubricator working?

Very instructive, though I thought Dave got a rather raw deal....

What is the packing made of?

👍🚂

How come there is no need for washers (and lock washers on top of washers) underneath the 12 main nuts on top of the steam coffin?

keith .. thanks for the videos! i am not shure what RVT would stand for but RTV usually means room temperature vulcanization lol . i am not the sort to say you did that wrong but i will inquire why you chose to braise instead of bore and tap for a threaded pipe? my gut feeling on this is its a design flaw and the packing gland joint to the steam chest suffers from fatigue the valve rod isnt going back and forth only but up and down fractionally and thats where it fatigues and fails. threaded pipe could be removed without disassembling the chest if it failed again.

I would have thought you would just hook up some air from your compressor to the engine's steam system to test for leaks. Ron W4BIN