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

This 1870's single cylinder steam engine came to the East Broad Top Railroad in 1882, reportedly from the Rockhill Iron and Coal Company iron furnace nearby. It resides in the Machine Shop near the boilers. This engine supplies the power to all the overhead line shaft and belt system that extends throughout the EBT shops complex. The line shafts powered over thirty five machines, for machining, wood working, blacksmithing and forging. It was last used over fifty years ago when the shops last ran under coal power. This was shortly after the East Broad Top shut down as a coal hauler in the spring of 1956. Since then the limited operation of section of the line shaft system has been via electric motors mounted in those section, disconnected from the rest of the system. In the late 70's or early 80's the building had settled too much, throwing the shafts out of line and causing their bearings to overheat in a short time. Since then the shafts too have been silent. In the early 1990's the roof structure above the engine had deteriorated to the point it had rotted out the large main beam supporting the Boiler House and Machine Shop roof where they meet. Wood cribbing had to be erected atop the engine to hold the roof structure up.

In 2002 Friends of the East Broad Top restoration crew members first stared working on the Boiler House and Machine Shop where the engine resides. Over the following seven years work has progressed, culminating in the installation of a replacement main beam and removal of the cribbing. At the same time key parts of the engine were removed and rehabilitated in the hopes it could be returned to service. In 2009 that hope came true. In the Spring of that year restoration crew members freed up the engine mechanisms and reinstalled the rehabilitated components. Using compressed air rather than steam, on July 19, 2009 the engine made its first run shown here. The run lasted over 10 minutes. Later that day the engine made two more shorter runs before being covered.

The shops engine is the third of many machines in the EBT shops that Friends of the East Broad Top hopes to bring back into operating condition. Visit us at www.febt.org for more information on our mission, the preservation and restoration of the East Broad Top Railroad.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• east
• broad
• top
• narrow
• gauge
• railroad
• steam
• engine
• restoration
• history
• antique

[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.

[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

[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.

[DAKOTA56777]

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

[DAKOTA56777]

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