East Broad Top - 1870's Shops Steam Engine - First run in over 50 years - Part 1

[buddhafollower]

my man, let it accumulate pressure in the water tank and then turn it on. the speed of the volant wheel is too low...

[ebtrr]

@buddhafollower If you mean the flywheel, this is the first run in 40 years. It needs to limber up a bit after sleeping 50 years. Also, we were limited by the size of the compressor and diameter of the flexible air line being used. Not sure what you mean by 'water tank' as this is a steam engine.

For later runs a larger compressor and dual air lines were used. That in addition to tweaking the packing and bearings has resulted in higher speed.

[buddhafollower]

3: 46 it s like loosing pressure or too low...

[ebtrr]

@buddhafollower The valve packing was leaking. That leak was corrected prior to the next operating session.

[andrewsengineering]

Nice engine. Takes more air preasure than steam to make them run. On another note, I seen a hydrostatic oiler on the engine- those lubricators will not work with air.

[ebtrr]

The hydrostatic oiler was restored and reinstalled for show. There is a mechanical lubricator installed on the cylinder which actually does the oiling.

[DAKOTA56777]

P.S. I know where you can find one.

[ebtrr]

We might be interested if it is fully operational, certified and not too hard to transport. Otherwise we'd rather invest the time in our own boilers later on. Feel free to drop the info to me via "Send Message" on my channel page

[DAKOTA56777]

You need a boiler so it can be a true steam engine and hopefully reach the govenors max RMP.

[ebtrr]

We have two boilers but not the time or manpower to make them operational. The brick structure behind the engine is the west boiler.

[PistolPete2]

Using a second air compressor will prbably bring the engine up to governed speed.

[ebtrr]

Since the video was shot the four cylinder compressor was swapped for a larger diesel unit and larger diameter line run to the engine. This has substantially increased the speed, though not to governed speed. The speed is adequate for demonstrations without load.

[steven8979]

sweet video! i remember i toke a trip down to the east broad top railroad in 2005, this is pretty awesome!

[ebtrr]

Time for another visit!

[steven8979]

yeah that's is for sure! lol

[topomatt17967]

any thought on getting the line shafts running again?

[ebtrr]

We are looking at that. The buildings are still settled and it will take a lot of work to bring them back into line. Without that work the line shafts are still bound up, including the main shaft off the engine. We are getting some of the shorter shafts (ones that power only one or two machines) operational right now.

[41Zman]

will this be run on steam again or just air? for safety reasons

[ebtrr]

Just air for now. We do not have a steam source as the boilers need substantial repairs that we cannot address right now. Perhaps some day.

[drichardyt]

Very good Chris! It was sort of a confused day, more to come.. DaveRichards