Introduction :

Hmmm, the Bi-Weekly Depot Reports have been like the proverbial little engine tucked away at the back of the engine shed.  It never gets steamed up, as it’s too inconvenient to get all the other engines out of the way.  The other engines, in this case, have been a wonderful weekend away at the exclusive launch of the newly restored No.96 Lawley at the Sandstone Estates, as well as some researching and writing that covers the interesting history of the GMAM Garratt No.4079 ‘Lyndie Lou’ and which traces how this magnificent machine ended up in our hands. 

It was impossible not to spend time on my own account to compile a photo-essay of the Double Lawley Launch – as the No.96, now called ‘Jimmy,’ was run in double headed formation with the ‘original’ Sandstone Lawley No.106.  What a lovely sight!  These locomotives were built in 1895 and worked together in Mozambique in another century – and here they have now settled down into preservation together – the No.106 in the original Beira Railways colour, logo and running with a brass BR7 along the sand boxes, and the No.96 ‘Jimmy’ running as the Lawleys were painted and equipped for operation on the SAR.

Unique and exciting stuff.

But there’s been much of excitement happening on the 3ft 6in irons within our own depot and it’s high time I put the spotlight back on Reefsteamers for a bit.  This report is a bit of a mixture as it includes news from last weekend (6 July) as well as the weekend before we went to see Mr. James Lawley.  (Saturday 25 June.)  The earlier sections are all annotated with the correct date.

We’ve run the GMAM Garratt for the first time after the Bissel Truck and stoker rebuild.  There were a number of problems which have been solved and the engine has already done revenue earning work hauling coaching stock to NASREC.  So Lyndie Lou is starting to earn her (ample) share of the coal bill!  In the mean time we’ve run our last day trip for the winter season with the Class 15CA No.2056 ‘Dorothy’ doing the honours.  I’ve recovered the photos and commentary from a report that I never got to complete – adding even more reading material for you.

Oh and as promised, the current progress in the Chris Saayman ‘Cleanest Locomotive Cab’ challenge on the same engine.  

We’ve had success in our growing relationship with the Ekurhuleni Town Council (Old East Rand) and have already started preparing a bar coach for restoration, and continuing work on our future passenger future station and the grounds.  This coach, one of the four Sandstone Heritage Trust Coaches transferred hauled up from Ficksburg when we relocated the Class 15F No.3052 ‘Avril’ and the 25NC No.3488 ‘Enchantress,’ is to be fitted out and branded for the council and will be used for their trains, although we can certainly use it in our own consists.  Initial plans are underway for a big tourism and partner related launch this summer – with about 250 VIP’s, generators, media crews and cameras.  It should be a blast and I don’t just mean the steam.  Ac confirmed date has been set for the 13^th September. 

On the mechanical side, the restoration of our mechanically intact 1936 Booth Crane No.96 ‘Shosholoza’ has begun, with the vertical boiler having been removed and the crusty steel starting the descaling process for boiler inspection.  It’s the feature article of this report.  We aim to have the Booth Crane in full steam by the end of the year – depending on the work found to be required to fix up the boiler of course.  Dave Shepherd’s Class 15F tender is scattered around the workshop in about a dozen pieces – the dismantling is complete and the re-assembly is beginning. 

Progress with the Millsite Locomotive rescue project has been bogged down with bureaucratic and political delays.  Wet soap on the rails...  But we Reefsteamers are keeping up our side of the bargain.  The 4 tracks that are to be used for storage are slowly being cleared and we’ve had Transnet’s contractors on the premises to start cutting up a rake of totally burnt out coaches that belong to them but stored on our premises.  (But outside our existing electric fence.)  The electric fence extension project is underway.  The new locomotive storage compound will be protected by 6ft high electric fencing.  The compound, which is inside the balloon track area, will be doubly protected by an electric fence to be erected around the balloon track itself.  We’ve been having problems with trespassers, and damage to the tracks by local folk chopping chunks off the sleepers (in situ) for firewood.  We have declined the plans to dig a moat and stock it with crocodiles.

We still need about R50 000 sponsorship to finish the project, but due to the urgency, it is already underway.

We are investigating forming a sponsorship partnership with a South African rust proofing company who sell resin based clear, pigments and heat resistant rust converters and rust proofing compounds.  These are under test for impact resistance and corrosion testing as I type.  There are treated test samples slowly stewing in a bucket of fresh Garratt ash soaked in water.  Wet coal ash is quite corrosive as the sulphur leaches out the coal and forms sulphuric acid. 

So come and follow me and my trusty camera around the Reefsteamers Depot and see   
what exciting stuff is happening right in our own back yard.  (Or should that be, shunting yard?)    

PROJECT – Booth Crane No.96 - Removing a Steam Crane’s boiler : (6 July)

Reefsteamers has finally started the project of inspecting and repairing the vertical boiler of our Booth Steam Crane No.96 ‘Shosholoza.’  It’s been a project long spoke of and we’ve allocated Reefsteamers to the project.  Dawie Viljoen, Patrick Ackerman and Stewart Currie are the appointed official crane team, although other people will be getting involved too, of course.  This crane has an interesting boiler.  The circular section firebox and the main flue actually pass up through the center of the water\steam containing boiler shell and is thus surrounded entirely by the water.  There are two clusters of water bearing tubes that span the flue space, set at 90deg apart, almost like the Galloway Tubes in a late model Lancashire boiler.  In effect, this is actually a water tube boiler – the reverse of a steam locomotive boiler, which is a fire tube boiler.  This boiler is designed to raise steam relatively quickly but it does so at relatively low volumes.  The reasoning behind this is that the crane’s fire can be lit and steam pressure raised while the crane is on route to an emergency, and already be building up usable steam upon arrival at the work site.  The crane’s two working cylinders are small but of long stroke.  The boiler can recover pressure as the crane is being hooked or slinged in between movements.  This is a saturated steam boiler as well – there is no super heater. 

I wasn’t at the depot when the crane’s roof was dismantled and the remaining boiler fittings removed to make it ready for hoisting.  So there is no running commentary.  But here, below, are three pictures that show the work piece at the start of the work and the preparation required to free up the rather crusty iron-pot..

You will see from Pic B01 (Below) that the cab roof does not extend all the way backwards to shield the boiler from rain.  When the crane is re-commissioned, we plan to raise the roof and also extend the roof line backwards to cover the boiler.  The roof will need to be hinged to allow the coal bunker to be filled up from above.  (One disadvantage of running the boiler under steam is that we suddenly do need to consider the coal and water supplies and cannot hook up a hose – but that’s offset by not requiring a compress-air ‘extension cord’ lopped across the yard tracks to where this crane is working.)

These three pictures all provided courtesy of Patrick Ackerman. 

Booth Crane No.96 ‘Shosholoza’ ended this recent Saturday about two (somewhat rusty) tons lighter than at the start of the day.  It was rather a drastic diet.  The characteristic vertical flue boiler was removed and the process of de-rusting and de-scaling has started.  The boiler’s mounting flange had been uncoupled 2 weeks ago when the crane’s roof had been removed in the No.1 road of the depot as in the photos shown above.  The remaining fittings on the boiler were removed, as well as most of the cladding (Pic B04 below) – with seriously itchy and dusty fiberglass thermal matting to make this a genuinely tactile experience.  A quarter of the stainless steel cladding, the quadrant facing the interior of the cab, remained in place, as did the three intact but corroded support loops.  (Pic B05 below)

The job started up with the firing up of ‘Captain Hook’, or more correctly, the ‘airing-up’ by starting up the air compressor plant.  The gantry crane has been standing over the blocked up tender of Class 15F No.3052 ‘Avril’ on the fifth workshop road and took some nimble negotiation to get it traversed past the obstacle course.  (The traversing is done with a looped chain and gear drive – only the hoist is pneumatically powered.)  The boiler was hoisted very slowly using the four way chain sling, aka ‘The Quadrapus.’  It was an easy job to fit as the boiler has lifting eyes fitted as standard.  However, only two chains could be used.  Our boys would have welded on temporary lifting hoops other wise – but it’s nice to have a job go somewhat conveniently.  (It DOES sometimes happen at the Reefsteamers Depot!) 

Before tension was taken up on the crane, the boiler was checked once more as well as around the boiler area itself for any stray fittings or obstructions.  ‘Captain Hook’ was gently wound up and the boiler gently hoisted with  care taken not to start it penduluming on the diametrically opposite chains – this lump may be rusty, but it still weighs about two tons and can do some damage.

Because ‘Captain Hook’s’ gantry runs perpendicular to the Booth Crane’s frame, and there is insufficient height to hoist the boiler up and over the water tank to move it out sideways, the crane itself would have to be moved.  Our steam locomotives were all as cold as a taxman’s heart, and the lil green critter is out of action with a damaged jack shaft gear (a new one of which was being made up from scratch by Andrew King this day – hence his conspicuous absence from the depot.)  Some of the Reefsteamers themselves, Shaun, Patrick and Lee would have to do the shunting.  Luckily the crane rolled along reasonably well and the three of us managed to get the boiler’s deck rolled clear out from under the suspended load.  (Pic B09 above.)

The boiler was then lowered to almost rail height and eventually traversed sideways onto a set of hastily procured sturdy trestles.  I sneaked a shot of the fire bars and the grate assembly while it was on the way down (Pic B10 below) – without standing directly underneath the load as you will understand!  Here the boiler stands for inspection and cleaning.  (Pic B11 below)  The boiler is out of the way of the tracks and in the open where it can be worked on in daylight.  It is winter time right now so it won’t get rained on and the morning condensation wouldn’t do much more harm than the rust already present.

Patrick inspected the rust with some growls at big brother Shaun who was happily picking off fossilized layers of insulation and making dust and fibres waft through the air.  This stuff isn’t good to breath!  Naturally the boiler is quite rusty but because of the inherent expansion of rust, it looks worse than it actually is.  Pic B12 (above) shows a seam and rivets as freshly removed.  Pictures B12 and B13 show a danger inherent in any outside boiler with external cladding, including that of our steam locomotives.  The sheet metal cladding is no more rust prone than any other painted sheet metal (if it’s mild steel).  But once the insulation between the cladding and the boiler shell itself gets wet, it retains the moisture and rusts out the cladding from the inside.  This vertical boiler is not protected by the crane’s roof and so the cladding gets wet easily.  The moisture naturally trickles and gravitates downwards so most of the loose external rust and corrosion is around the lower half of the boiler.  (Pic B13 below.)

After checking around the outside of the boiler, Patrick removed the three remaining mud hole doors – all of which are in reasonable condition.  (Pic B14 below)  They only needed one or two sharp taps with a ball peen hammer (which is a delicate instrument by our standards) to break the grip of the rust on the sealing faces.  The Reefsteamer-fitted compressed air coupling was then removed as well.

Then out came the wire brush and the pneumatic de-scaler.  The wire brush took first stage to get the loose stuff off.  Patrick had come prepared with his storm-trooper mask and was able to breathe safely while the aromatic combination of powdered iron-oxide and ancient fiberglass took to the air.  (Pic B15 below)  The rest of us found good reasons to be working elsewhere!  Then out came the descaling tool which performed rather poorly, with hardly a shake in the frame and a low purring beat.

Patrick switched the reluctant tool out for a second donated unit, hoping for better results.  It is the first time I’ve ever heard a pneumatic de-scaling tool fart and growl at the same time.  With only partially concealed disgust, Patrick swapped back to the original tool and concentrated on the lap plate and the rivet heads on the boiler.  (Pic B16 below)  Meanwhile, Aidan McCarthy, who’d gotten a bit bored after his busy morning session of gland packing on the 152 Grease Spot Special (aka ‘Lyndie Lou’) had gotten busy picking off the big flakes and old paint.  He reminded me of a teenage girl obsessively picking at her ragged cuticles as he pecked fastidiously around the firebox area and the base flange.  We were soon joined by world renowned author, Paul Hloben, (Pic B17 below) who started picking away at the corrosion embedded in the flanges of the firebox door surround – proving that the chisel is after all, mightier than the pen, or keyboard in his case.

In a last ditch effort to utilize pneumatic assistance, our Mr. Ackerman attempted to use an air-power rotary wire brushing head.  It ran well enough, with a sonorous whine that made me look around to see if someone hadn’t just rigged up a tea-time siren.  The wire bristles turned out to be too soft for the job and all Patrick achieved was a surface polishing of the rust.  At this time the electric power tripped out in the entire depot and the air compressor plant chugged to a hissing halt.  The two manual chisels continued work while an electrician was called for.  Jokes were being made about this being convict labour, the monotonous manual tap-tap-tapping at a boiler shell being the only sound of activity. 

It’s amazing that people like these come back for more.  But then again., they are amazing people….

The boiler needs to be thoroughly cleaned inside and out with special attention paid to the joints and the crevices within.  When this is done, we can call Dawie Olivier from the Olivier Survey Group, professional boiler inspectors, to do a visual check for us.  An initial challenge is to find someone small enough to get their head and shoulders through the large access hatches at the ends of the water tubes and to work with their head inside this iron case and working at arm’s length.  Andrew King is the most likely victim, as he is both small and yet infatigable.  The coming unpleasant work will be worth it to have this magnificent piece of steam-age engineering back in true steam again.  It is definitely be-nice-to-Andrew-time over the next few weeks.  Fortunately he is easily bribed … with muffins!

The two bundles of water tubes look okay.  But there is some rust pitting on the outer flanks of the inner firebox shell – which could require that the interior of the boiler be withdrawn from the outer shell – a seriously nasty job with lots of rivets that have to be done.  But remember that we ran the boiler with a belly full of compressed air two months ago when we were clearing the junk and scrap from the old steam heating plant.  While the crane was standing idle – no whistling or hissing of air leaks could be heard.  Granted, the future steam will be at higher pressure than the compressed air, but you can’t deny that it would be a good sign.

The boiler may need to be de-rated when it is put back into service.  We’re not too concerned as they can run as low as 80psi anyway.  The twin safety valves, naturally, are adjustable and they will be de-rated to suit.

Failing which – we can wash the boiler out, purchase sugar and barley mash, copper piping and an oil drum, and use the boiler to run our very own moonshine operation! 

PROJECT : Class 15F No.3052 ‘Avril’ Stoker Motor Overhaul : (6 July)

A somewhat persecuted Mike ‘Stokes Thiel pitched up late about mid day.  Well, sneaked in is more like it – padding in quietly between the snoozing engines and setting himself up his work bench.  Actually the amount of time he spends at the depot is remarkable as he’s one of the relatively few of us that managed to find a wife … and he has four daughters too.  (In other words, he’s almost normal!)  He has been tasked with stripping and rebuilding the Stoker Motor of the presently totally dismantled tender of the Class 15F No.3052 ‘Avril’.  He set to his task quite happily even though by now he’s had quite enough of steam-powered stoke-jokes with a certain GMAM Garratt coming up with some surprises!  ‘Stokes’ Thiel used to work at Millsite SAR depot and is actually quite familiar with the ‘Standard Stokers’ design.

Talking of married Reefsteamers, a strategy that is quickly taught to all the married men in our team is to annoy their women folk so much that the good ladies are only too glad to get rid of their husbands for the day amongst the boys, the iron and the coal.  (Tony ‘Shakey’ King reports great and consistent success in this strategy!)

The stoker’s crankshaft and its main bearings (ball bearings) had been removed the previous week and the covers already loosened.  It wasn’t too much work to start taking the rest of the stoker’s giblets out.  (Pic S01 below).  In general, this mechanical stoker wasn’t running TOO badly, but we’re doing this job to do a proper rebuild of the tender and while we have the tender in pieces anyway.  There was some wear found and some damage to the valve rings.  The valve eccentrics and the big ends were found to be acceptable in terms of wear, but they are going to be remetalled anyway, which means the big end cap shims will need to be remade. 

Both crankshaft main bearings are to be replaced due to wear.  One in particular was found to be badly worn and had rust damage too – probably from the time that the locomotive stood idle at Ficksburg.  Once a roller bearing has rusted or is otherwise pitted, subsequent application of oil no longer prevents increasing damage and the bearings damage themselves at an increasing rate.  It’s why we Reefsteamers will generally unsympathetically replace a roller bearing even if there’s so much as a chip on a roller or on the working surfaces on one of the races. 

The dismantling went as per plan, apart from one broken and several seized cylinder head studs.  (Pic S04 below)  The job went slowly as the parts were individually cleaned and measured, and the details written up in Michaels little black book.  (Literally!)  Michael asked me to lend him a pen to write with and I happened to have a white, a blue and a black pen in my camera caddy.  I initially offered him the white pen, took one look at his mucky mitts and exchanged it for the black pen.  Doesn’t show the grease so much!

The pistons and their rings were found to be in reasonable condition upon withdrawal (Pic S05 above) although it is planned to change the rings anyway.  The gaskets were intact although they’ll need to be re-annealed upon re-installation as is standard workshop practice for copper ring gaskets.  The Klingerite™ gaskets will be replaced.  The valve spindles were also withdrawn – being uncoupled at the adjustable rods in the rod chamber.  (Pic S06 above)  Unlike the GMAM’s mechanical stoker which had only one ring remaining, this Class 15F’s stoker (of the same type) had all eight of the eight valve rings present.  However the gapping was uneven on the left valve spindle, indicating possible problems or poor previous fitting work.  The right hand valve spindle showed evidence of damage and both the inner rings were broken.  (Pic S07 below)  The missing pieces were not found within the valve chest so they probably ended up within the steam exhaust pipe and will probably tumble out when the pipe work is refitted!

Michael finished his dismantling work with a clean out, especially of the sludgy crank case (Pic S02 far above) and the main bearing cutouts.  The rod chamber got a good cleaning too.  All the parts were laid out and compared to each other for damage or evidence of poor repair in the past.  (Pic S08 above)  They were also laid out to match the cylinder \ valve chest \ crankshaft journal from whence they came to maintain the wearing patterns.  (Pic S09 above)  Now it remains to discuss the parts and clearances found and solving wear issues.  That the rings are to be changed and the rod chamber is to have the glands replaced is a given.  Other wear points, such as the big-end bearings, need to be checked and adjusted to compensate for wear, or replaced with spare parts or re-machined. 

PROJECT – Class 15F No.3052 ’Avril’ Tender Rebuild :  (Up to 6 July)

The stripped ex-class 23 type EW tender belonging to Class 15F No.3052 ‘Avril’ is making some good progress although it’s far from complete.  I’ve been asked to eventually make a photo essay as a progress report for Dave Shepherd, the owner of this locomotive.  And if I get it done, naturally I will share it with you.  In the meantime, here’s a short write up of the work on the No.3052 tender up until the first weekend of July. 

The tender looks rather forlorn sitting on its blocks.  (Pic T01 below)  But it’s straight and stable.  Equally importantly and not so obvious is that the tender body is supported halfway its length and with longitudinal supports at the rear.  It’s not really designed to support itself with the entire chassis missing.  The rear end of the locomotive was also cleaned and opportunity taken to check the condition of the buffer plate and the draw-bar box.  (Pic T02 below) 

The bogies have both been stripped, cleaned, (Pic T03 above) reassembled and painted.  This includes the several dozen parts of the complicated brake system.  This is a six axle bogie, which means 12 wheels in all, and each wheel is retarded with two brake shoes.  So the 24 brake shoe system had to be dismantled, cleaned and checked.  (Pic T04 below)  In so doing, the eight leaf springs and all the coil springs were all removed and checked for broken leaves and equivalence of their ride height. 

All the axle boxes have been opened up, and the bearings checked for damage.  Fortunately, no axle bearings need to be replaced, but they’ve all received a very thorough lubrication job!  The bolster bearings have naturally been cleaned and serviced, and fitted with new bearing pads.  (Pic T05 below)  The characteristic ‘shoulder pads’ above the center axle of these bogies, to control the tender’s tendency (how’s that for awkward phrasing – tender’s tendency!)  to lean.  James Thomson machines a full set of four new pads. 

The project at the time of writing was the spray painting of the tender deck and the fitting of the new deck plates.  There’s corrosion in and around the enclosed parts of the tender, including the stoker motor compartment.  The deck plating under the body was the worse (Pic S07 below) and a new sheet had to be made up.  In other areas on the tender, patches will need to be made and installed, particularly around the under stoker trough area.  Apart from the couplers, the entire tender has been stripped down to the bare frame, de-rusted and de-scaled and primered again from scratch.  A long job considering the complexity of this massive structure.  (Pic T09 below)  Special attention was paid to the undercoating of the tender under-deck as this is most definitely not accessible when the tender is assembled.  (Pic S08 below)

More pictures next week covering today’s progress (12 July)   The entire tender deck and hand brake stand have received their topcoats of gloss black.  The side-rails, buffer beams, coupler pockets and even the coupler knuckles themselves have all been cleaned, primed and painted.  The Bogies have been refitted although the split bolster collars haven’t been fully tightened.  The new deck plate needs to be installed and then work can start on reinstall the brake cylinders and the primary brake linkage, as well as all the piping. 

PROJECT – Electric Fence Extension : (6 July)

Andre van Dyk has been working on the electric fence extension project for several weekends now – coming in on Saturdays and Sundays and valiantly working alone for the most part.  He has a hectic job and a family too, so props are due to the Dyk-man!  He has been marking out the land and planting the posts.  He is initially concentrating on the future locomotive storage area (4 tracks) and will eventually run his fence alongside the outside of the balloon track.  Because the 4 tracks are within the balloon anyway, the stored Millsite Locomotives will end up being protected by a double row of electrified fencing.

A request was issued this week to have enough members come out to form two fencing teams, each equipped with a generator, a welding machine and supplies.  Johann Breydenbach ended up as one of the teamsters, assisted by Lex Wehmeyer.  They worked alongside the Eastern Yard and were using one of the track-trolleys.  Andre was working out back, with two labourers and all up to up to the collar bone in weeds.  I concentrated on Andre van Dyk’s team as they worked in the lesser known (and lesser photographed) area of our extensive depot facilities.

The first sight one would have seen in the electric fence project would be the two scrapped coaches.  Transnet had stored two rows of derelict coaches on the back track.  Long ago, we had actually asked if we could restore and use them but they refused.  The coaches were set alight by a vagrant’s cook fire and ended up as the burnt out wrecks we see today.  THEN Transnet said that we could have them.  Forget it – although the fire apparently wasn’t hot enough to overheat the frames and cause the coaches to sag in the middle.  The recently burnt out coaches of Rovos Rail, with the high fire-load of all the colonial era wood, fabric and decor, ended up saggy-bellied and totally beyond repair.

The scrapping of the coaches is actually a case of good timing.  It’s a part of the Transnet national clearing program and is connected with the cutting that has been going on at Kimberly, Bethlehem, Millsite and other places.  The derelict Class 15CA out next to where the coal stage used to be, the machine from where we salvaged spare bogie springs, has also been marked clearly for scrap and for cutting.

So the scrapping means that our proposed storage tracks will be cleared of derelict rolling stock before we start.  For once, just for once, we welcome the flare of the hungry acetylene torch, and the scattering shower of smoke-trailing beads of molten steel.

Back to the fence.  Most of the main posts had been mounted the previous week.  This week’s job was to attach the wire carrier – 6ft of angle iron predrilled to accept the insulators and the future wiring.  (Pic F04 below)  The fence poles are heavy duty (Pic F05 below) – actually being old boiler flue tubes.  (That contain the superheated elements)  It is superior grade steel and if it can withstand being in a boiler, it can stand being outdoors!  Judging by the cost of the tubes for last year’s 15CA re-tubing project, and the current Class 12AR project, the tubes should jolly well last forever!  Many of the fencing post tubes still have the boiler scale on them although that will need to be cleaned off for painting.

The open ground out back is treacherous, with several washouts, a few hidden drop holes and rails buried within the rank winter growth.  Andre was to drive his truck through and prudently sent his men ahead of him to check for holes and gulleys before getting his vehicle stuck.  (Better than looking for landmines, anyway!)  While working on more accessible posts, the gang set fire to the reeds, the brush and the Rooibos.  (or is that Khaki Bos? – Afrikaners, and Shaun Ackerman, drink the Rooibos stuff for tea – yeuch!)  The ground cover is tall but sparse and the fire was moving slowly.  I caught a flare up out by the workshop lead (Pic F06 below) and managed to get a pic without flying ash getting into my camera lens. 

The 0-4-0 4-coupled pickup Toyota truck made it through intact and was parked on a rare clearing.  (Pic F07 below) It needed to be level for the sake of the generator running in the load bay.  The welding proceeded as planned but the scale on the tubes caused issues with fouling up of the arc and of forcing the L channels offset.  Those long channels had to be alternatively manually held on and clamped in place to keep the straight – against a round column.  Pic F08 shows an earlier stage in the welding – and also the relevant height and width of the columns.  They are over six feet tall.  Every one of the main columns has a welded diagonal brace on the interior side of the future fence line. 

The fencing project will be continuing each weekend until the initial funds and materials run out.  We have received funds from the North British Locomotive Preservation Group and a personal donation from Ian Welch in New Zealand – and we thank them for the monies received.  (We are storing a Garratt for Mr. Welch for eventual export to New Zealand.)  However, we need an additional R50 000 to complete this project and will soon be initiating a collection drive.  Some of the funding will need to come from our Reefsteamers members and our circle of steam train friends – but it would be wonderful if local (and overseas) steam enthusiasts come to the party.  Please remember that we are to store these rescued locomotives on behalf of the whole of South Africa for the appreciation of the rest of the world – they are not actually going to be ‘ours’.  We’ve only made formal requests for 5 of these machines and the other 32 or so locomotives will be put into long term storage. 

PROJECT : Last Day-Trip of the season - 15CA No.2056 Fire Lighting and Prep. :

Saturday 25 June 2008.  Yeah, it’s a while ago but I had to get some live steam pics in this report!

The Class 15CA No.2056 ‘Dorothy’ had the honour of being rostered to pull the last train of the season.  She’s become a popular engine, more so than the 25NC No.3472 “Elize’, the 15F’s 3016 ‘Gerda’ and 3052 ‘Avril’.  Her popularity is ironic as Andrew King once wrote an article during restoration, entitled, ‘Do we really need this engine anyway?’  She’s reliable, an easy steamer, a good training platform for the novice footplate crew members (being hand fired) and most importantly, she’s quite economical on coal while being quite capable of hauling one of our day-trippers at Magaliesburg.  She sounds great too!  Shaun ‘Smudge’ Ackerman does the staff and locomotive rostering, and the 15CA scores points for NOT having smoke deflectors and for having plain black painted wheels – which are Shaun’s aesthetic preferences. 

Fire lighting was scheduled to start at 8am instead of the more usual 10am.  The reason is because the little green critter is still perched on axle blocks and a bit light at the rear end being sans a box o’ cogs.  So we needed to allow an extra 2 hour’s of shunting with the steam locomotive instead of the quick-starting 150HP diesel.  We had quite a few visitors this depot day, and it was great timing for them as they got to see lots of steaming, coupler-clanking action.  Piet ‘Buffels’ Steenkamp was cautious and lit the fire at 7am instead of eight.  It caused a few grumbles from the roster man (as it means the trainees don’t get so much practical experience.) but we at least got the engine steamed up in time.

Yours truly attended to the fire.  The fire itself behaved well, although it needed some cosseting to get it going with a mere handful of wood and only a half loaded firebed.  I was initially sprinkling coal over the top like a fussy old lady feeding her goldfish before being confident enough to start firing properly.  The coal was well back into the tender too.  Because I’m fairly tall and reaching back for the elusive coal in the tender would be murder on the vertebrae, it would be far less work and strain to periodically clamber up on top of the dusty diamonds and heave them forward within arm+shovel reach of the shovel plate.  Good exercise and it keeps one warm on a chilly winter’s day.  (It gets COLD at the depot.)  The cab was occupied too – with Chris and Timothy Booysens performing their magic in the cab, as well as Chris Saayman and Andre van Dyk popping in later on.  It was a sociable morning of fire lighting….

The blower ring’s air supply hose had a split in it at the plant coupling, and was blowing a conical jet of air and water vapour in equal quantities.  The hissing was driving the other guys nuts, although I found it useful as I could actually hear the air supply even with my cloth-ears.  But the split became a rupture and the air pressure dropped.  Not a good idea at any time, but especially when lighting a fire in a beautifully polished cab.  Contrary to popular belief, the plant blower is not applied to speed up the fire to any great extent, but rather to induce a consistent vacuum in the firebox and thus to keep fresh air flowing in through the grate and the firebox doors.  It keeps the cab from getting smoked out.  (What the old Spoories call, ‘Burning the cab.’)

We repaired that pipe lickety-split by cutting back the split end and swapping over the brass unions.  Meanwhile, Dorothy’s smoke column was fat and lazy with just a hint of smoke curling out the cab windows.  We managed though – hardly any smoke in the cab, the brass still shiny and Piet, Attie and me not being chased around the depot by a furious, murderous Chris Booysens with a valve spindle in hand!  I actually saw the point of Piet Steenkamp’s half full grate methodology – as it provides a cleaner burning fire without a draft. 

The exterior of the engine got some treatment with Attie de Necker wielding the paint brush around the smokebox door ring, various details and the hinges.  (Pic F03 above)   Meanwhile, ‘Shorty’ was put to the task of painting the walkways and the front deck.

The boiler had been left half full for the fire lighting and it is the general practice to have it a quarter full or even less.  The water expands dramatically as it is heated.  More importantly, you can raise steam quicker when literally trying to boil up less water – just like a ¼ full electric kettle boils faster in your kitchen.  Piet and I left the boiler half-full as we couldn’t find the usual fire extinguisher shell that we use to divert the water into the trenches, and we didn’t want to puddle-up the clean workshop.  However, we were running a bit late at 1pm, and Chris Saayman dumped some of the already hot water to speed things up.  (Pic F06)  In terms of costs, this is wasteful as the hot water and steam represents energy input, which comes from coal that we paid for.  (And that I trimmed and shoveled!)  But it at least shifts some of the grease on the floor and if one’s footgear can withstand the water, it’s a good time for some sweeping!

The engine was ready for shunting at about 2:15pm – with the characteristic 15CA quick steam raising after the fire had been spread.  I accidentally ‘fired for Kimberly’, which gave us a heavy dark fire and slowed things down a bit.  But when the fire burnt through after about 10 minutes on plant-draft, I could see we were going to ready to raise some steam.  After that, it was a case of firing ‘light-and-bright.’  There was a mix up with the roster and the shunt didn’t go as planned.  Piet Steenkamp was shunter, with Chris Saayman as the driver and myself pretending to be a fireman.  I didn’t do too badly to be honest, although I tended to fire too light at the back – and use too-small shovel loads to toss the coal right towards the front, against the draft.  (Meant the firebox doors were open for a bit too long.)  That old girl can sure work up a draft and I was hopping a bit with the baking radiant heat roasting my legs under the thick jeans.  I am getting better with firing in the back corners though, and managed to keep all the hairs on my arms!  I got a deep cut on the left thumb though, from using a brand new “Lasher’ type coal shovel which had roughly stamped and rather sharp edges.  I’d inverted the shovel and was ‘scraping blackheads’, pushing a heap of coal tipped just in front of the firebox door forward to clear the grate, spread the coal and provide a long combustion path.  I had dumped several loads in just in front of the door before aiming for the back corners, to help to reduce the heat on the arms.  In the process, I got sliced when the shovel corner nicked the firebox door and my hand slid down the shank sharp edged barrel. 

But the locomotive accepted the blood sacrifice on my behalf and thus behaved very well. 

The shunting was hard work with the heavy train.  A permanent weak spot in our yard is the lack of a head shunt on the eastern end.  This means that the shunting engine and the lead vehicles need to go into the tight curvature of the balloon track.  On long trains can encourage some wheel slip, and the gritting grinding sound of the flanges against tight curves put most crews on edge.  And the need to open the gate is rather a nuisance as well.  One has to remember that it’s not laid out as a shunting yard but as a loco depot.  When the tracks are eventually rehabilitated at the west end, we then have straighter tracks in which to shunt and will do our shunting at the west end. 

The downside of my job as the photographer, chronologer person of Reefsteamers is that when I’m busy doing interesting stuff myself, there’s usually no pics.  And I’ve become very wary of breaking cameras after a few incidents – so there’s no pics of the shunting, although I did actually have the camera on board.  We had some visitors on board too.  A young couple rode with us all the way but eventually migrated to the mainly empty tender and rode on the totally empty coal deck.  I wished them luck with the cinders.  Technically, it was a safety violation, but have you ever tried firing a steam locomotive, with a taciturn Chris Saayman looking at you like a grim coal-dusted Buddha, and when you turn for another scoop a coal a visitor is standing in the way.  It’s easy to divert the shovel.  But because one is moving your legs all the time with the ducking and weaving, it’s wearing as you can’t stay in your ideal position.  We do love having visitors in the cabs though and welcome the accompanying slight nuisance.  When this pair eventually clambered up on the tender, Chris said nothing and I quietly let them go as I had enough to think about with a slightly dicky injector, the bobbing water glass levels and the peckish fire.

We later had a fellow with two young boys mount the footplate.  It was cool giving the kids a chance at the whistle cord, although I did wonder what the workshop crew would think of the unusual whistling sequence when we were strung out halfway around the balloon track! 

Wide-eyed kids are an encouragement to keep these old engines steaming. 

After the coaches had been shunted, we reached into the top shed for the Garratt.  At this point I bounced off the engine to try and get at least some pics.  It was 4pm by then, with the sun low angled enough for some interesting, ‘glinty’ shots but the elongating shadows still manageable.  Andre van Dyk had already invited himself board and was itching to get into the action.  It would be more sociable for Chris too, as both fellows speak Afrikaans as a home language and he at least now had a qualified fireman on board.  I bet there were some juicy comments about my firing techniques!  Coaling went perfectly well with only one half scoop cascading into the cab – courtesy of Shaun Ackerman.  Sakkie Kekana was the night watch for the next day’s trip.

PROJECT : The Chris Saayman ‘Cleanest Locomotive Cab’ Challenge: (25 June)

Definitely the CA!  Check these pics out and see if you agree

Chris Booysens had been doing some work on the 15CA cab during the previous three days and the results are quite spectacular.  All of the brass work has been polished, including the frequently missed spray pipe valve and the grate shaker valve.  (Which, on the Class 15CA, is mounted at the left side of the back head, rather than at floor level in front of the fireman’s feet.)  The entire backplate has been repainted in gloss black, including the flat ends of the square shanks of the washout plugs.  However, as per locomotive practice, the square shank sides and the base were left clean, but unpainted.  The dull, deeply pocketed surfaces would show the bright shiny trickles of any water leaks far easier than glossy black paint.

The washout plug pockets had all been polished.  They’re stainless steel at the moment but are to be replaced with brass, to match the backplate fixtures.  The firebox doors have been painted in heat resistant graphite, and the often baulky rails and links have been cleaned and serviced.  (Pic CF03 above)  They work smoothly now and are a pleasure to use.  It is planned to replace the floor boards soon too and some initial measurements were made.  The seats are to be replaced as well with traditional flat-back SAR green or blue, rather than the semi quilted squab set up that we currently have.

Young Timothy Booysens was put to work to replace the armrests.  Dorothy’s armrests were in good shape, but a mismatched pair of black and blue.  Timothy’s job was to replace them with