Well, here comes Spring again, I hope. We are still having
pretty cold and snowy and rainy weather from time to time. But you
see signs everywhere to sign up for baseball practice and all kind
of ads for forthcoming spring events which lightens the heart a
bit. So keep working at those Show items so you’ll be ready to
roll when the dates come due.
Now I’ve been working for this magazine for over thirty
years and that means I have been in contact with thousands of
wonderful folks over this time and now I want to call attention to
those of you in Florida. The beginning of February our son, Donald,
left to work at a new job in that state. Now Donnie lives in Winter
Haven; it’s been hard on him and all of us back here. He has
always been around this area and we have seen him most every day as
he used to stop almost every evening for supper (some say dinner,
but we say supper). So it is really a great challenge for all of us
trying to adjust without seeing his smiling face almost every day.
And I know it is difficult for him too, to pull up roots after 33
years and move on to a new home so far away. So, if any of you good
folks are near in that area, drop in and say hi or drop him a card,
he would appreciate it. Thanks loads! I always thought of the Iron
Men Family as family. He has only been gone a few weeks but it
seems like months and I can hardly wait to visit. I’ve never
been to Florida, but I bet you I’ll be there one of these
days.
And that will be enough of my tale and on to the many
communications.
This communication comes from J. T. KUNE, 31 Wild Tiger Lane,
Sugarloaf Star Route, Boulder, Colorado 80302: ‘I am in need of
help in completing the restoration of a Worthington stationary
steam engine. The engine is, or should I say was, a tandem
compound, 10 x 18 x 10, built by the Worthington Pump and Machinery
Corporation, Blake & Knowles (last three letters a guess)
Works. The governor is a 2′ Erie with a patent date of 1896. It
was formerly used by the Great Western Sugar Mill in Loveland,
Colorado until that facility shut down.’
‘My need is for information and parts. Is the Worthington
Pump and Machinery Corporation still in business and if so where?
Does anyone know where copies of construction drawings might be
secured? Such a reason may seem farfetched, but with an entire
world of live steam enthusiasts to draw on, who knows?’
(That’s right, many folks have been helped through our readers,
so here’s hoping you will hear from them).
Another letter desiring information comes from HALVOR CARLOCK,
Route 2, P.O. Box 281, Everton, Missouri 65646.
‘I am trying to find the address of the Gustav Wiedeke
Company that manufactured boiler repair tools. I ordered some flue
tools from them about 30 years ago. The address then was as
follows: The Gustav Wiedeke Co., 1833 Richard Street, Dayton, Ohio.
I wrote to this address but my letter was returned no delivery. I
wonder if anyone could give me their correct address as of now or
any company manufacturing boiler tools?’
‘Enclosed are three pictures of my M. Rumely engine #6991,
20 HP single cylinder,’ writes BLAKE MALKAMAKI, 10839 Girdled
Road, Concord Twp., Painesville, Ohio 44077.
‘I bought this engine in Monona, Iowa in June, 1986 and had
Mr. Keith Mauzy haul it home for me. The engine was in good shape
except for the four short l’ flues that are in the sides of the
firebox. One leaked badly (I think they were the original), so I
replaced all four. Thanks to Morgan Hill for the flues and the
1′ roller. I also replaced much of the plumbing, the soft plug,
and the pop valve.’
‘After some very frantic work, in two weeks I had the engine
at our Pioneer Steam and Gas Engine Society show in Meadville,
PA.’
‘When it’s 95 degrees, I don’t like engines without
roofs. So this spring (1987), I decided to make a new roof. I
wanted it to be like the original, so I made a pattern from an old
roof Mahlon Troyer in Sugarcreek, Ohio, had. It’s made out of
whitewood with galvanized sheet metal on top and masonite under the
sheet metal to keep it from rattling. The brackets are homemade and
the studs in the steam dome are from Mark Hissa.’
‘I’ve had trouble keeping packing in the piston rod
because the rod was so pitted, so this spring I also decided to
have the rod chromed. When I pulled the piston out, I found it was
cracked. These pistons were cast hollow for weight reduction and
three iron plugs were put in the back at the piston where the sand
was removed. One of these plugs had worked its way loose, and my
theory is steam got into the piston, condensed, and froze, cracking
the piston. One only wonders what would have happened if that plug
had come completely out when the engine was under load. Anyway, the
piston needed replating.’
‘I’m not a machinist, but thanks to my friend Chan Bleil
in Mentor, Ohio for the use of his machine shop and his expert
advice and assistance, I made a new piston rod and a new piston. I
made the piston out of steel. It was hollowed out for the same
weight reduction, then a plate welded over the end, and the whole
thing machined, so it’s just like original. The rod was
threaded into the piston very tightly, and the end was rivetted
over. We also planed the valve and the valve seat. Both were very
bad. This is quite a job on a Rumely because the cylinder,
crosshead guides, and one main bearing are cast in one piece. The
whole piece had to be removed and put in a milling machine. Dick
Mackey did a real nice job of hard chroming the new piston rod and
the old valve rod.’
‘With new rings, the whole thing was put back together, just
hours before going to the Ashtabula County Antique Engine Club show
in Wayne, Ohio.’
‘I would also like to thank Jim Malz for help, and my mom
Gayle for painting the smoke box door.’
The engine performs very well and I think it has much more power
than it did before. It fires easier and uses less water, although
it never did fire hard.’
‘This year, I also took the Rumely to Meadville and
Portersville, PA shows. Two of the enclosed pictures were taken at
the Ashtabula County Antique Engine Club Show and the third was
taken at home using the Rumely to supply steam to a maple sap
bucket washer that I made. My gramps, Howard van Driest, and my
dad, Bob Malkamaki, are feeding the buckets through.’
‘My next project is to make new water tanks for the
Rumely.’
‘I would like to know if anyone has any information on the
past history of my engine, and if anyone has a Rumely serial number
list including the late numbers like mine. Have fun at the shows
and I wish everyone a good year.’
A comment comes from CLIFF B. SHIRLEY, 2009 West 71st Street,
Prairie Village, Kansas 66208: ‘I retired from the Kansas City
Terminal Railway when I finished work at the Traffic Control Center
the morning of Nov. 1, 1985. Part of my duties included the copying
of train orders for the Amtrak trains. When I began work in 1937,
my employer had steam locomotives, and so did the twelve railroads
that used the Kansas City, Missouri, Union Station. Now an ‘old
timer’ is one who remembers when all twelve of those railroads
had passenger trains.’
‘I still hope that the Iron-Men Album will have more about
city steam cranes, shovels, and the likethe type of steam engine
that the city boys saw back in the days of the traction engine and
its belt driven separator.’
In answer to Mr. Ross Abendroth’s question from the
Jan./Feb. issue of the magazine, DAVID BRAZEAU, 1511 Western
Avenue, Eau Claire, Wisconsin 54703, writes: ‘The injector was
invented by a French man named Henry Jacques Gifferd about 1857 and
was manufactured in this country in 1860 by Wm. Sellers & Co.
of Philadelphia.’
‘Suppose we have a boiler with a 100 lbs. steam pressure and
we open a steam valve, the steam, would escape at about 2,200 ft.
per second. The rate of steam to water would be roughly between 15
and 18 times that of the water.’
‘As the steam passes from the top jet or the injector (the
steam jet) through the mixing chamber (the cavity between the steam
jet and the suction jet) it creates a partial vacuum: the same as
the exhaust steam going up the smokestack.’
‘The steam entering the injector and the air in the water
line are forced out the overflow because even though the steam has
a much greater velocity it lacks the mass (density) to overcome the
water in the boiler.’
‘The steam and air continue out the overflow until the water
reaches the suction jet. As the steam hits the water it condenses
and imparts some of its velocity to the water raising it to nearly
that of the steam and also heating the water.’
‘If the injector is hot from being too close to the boiler
or a leaky valve or the supply water is too hot, the steam
won’t condense fast enough and the injector won’t work. The
steam has to condense before leaving the suction jet. If the steam
doesn’t condense, pressure instead of a vacuum would be created
and would pass out the overflow.’
‘If all the steam is condensed in the suction jet a vacuum
is formed between the suction jet and the delivery tube and lifts
that washer on the top of the delivery tube up against its set; if
it’s not condensed, it escapes out the holes in the delivery
tube or around the washer and out the overflow.’
‘The way I understand it, if that washer doesn’t seal
tight, the vacuum created between the suction jet and delivery tube
would suck the water back out the holes in the delivery tube and go
nowhere except out the overflow. So, if your injector doesn’t
work, that’s one place to look.’
‘The delivery tube tapers to the middle forcing the water to
travel faster reaching its maximum velocity at the narrowest part,
the same as the Venturi on a carburetor. If the check valve on the
injector isn’t tight and leaks, air will be sucked back into
the stream of water in the delivery tube and lower the density of
the water and won’t be able to overcome the water in the
boiler. To put it simply, all the injector does is to accelerate
the feed water enough to overcome the boiler pressure, density
being about equal. Like if you had a box of baseballs and picked
one up and threw it very hard back in the box. If thrown hard
enough it would push the others aside. That’s a poor example,
but I couldn’t think of another.’
‘If the injector is too hot from being too close to the
boiler, pour cool water over it and try it again. If a steam valve
is leaking, pouring water on the engine probably won’t cool it
faster than the leaking steam is heating it, so you’ll probably
have to shut a valve further back first. If the check valve on the
delivery line is leaking, shut the valve by the boiler, cool the
injector, start the injector and open the valve. This won’t
cure it, but at least you’ll get water into the
boiler.’
‘An injector should take only dry steam from the boiler as
water going through the steam jet would quickly wear it out. If
your injector should become limed up, a good way to clean it would
be to soak the parts in a solution of one part muriatic acid and
ten parts water. The parts should be removed as soon as the bubbles
stop, so the acid doesn’t eat into the brass.’
‘Well, I hope I was clear enough in my explanation and that
it will be of some help; and in closing, a riddle: When a boiler is
stationary and is hot, is the water glass 100% accurate? And if
not, which is higher, the water in the glass or in the
boiler?’
‘Well, have fun and don’t burn your fingers!’
We have an informative letter on Steam Engineer’s Whistle
Code which may be interesting to many of our folks who enjoy the
IMA. It comes from LARRY D. VAN DeMARK, 209 N. Grimes, Carl
Junction, Missouri 64834:
‘I have seen in reading your magazine that some people would
like to know more about the Whistle Code for Steam Engineers. Well,
after going through some 50-plus old steam books I found only two
whistle codes. One deals with railroad and the other deals with
traction and stationary engineers. The following are the signal
codes and related materials I have gathered.’
‘From Young’s Engineer’s guide Revised and Enlarged
Thirty seventh Edition, by J.V. Rohan, Racine, Wisconsin Copyright
1894, Copyright 1899: Code of Signals for Stationary Engineers. A
regular code of signals should be adopted and used by every
engineer no matter what kind of an engine or for what purpose used;
then everyone in connection with the business will soon become
familiar with them and understand what they mean.’
‘It should be the engineer’s duty to sound the whistle
and no one else should touch it unless authorized to do so by the
engineer. The less the whistle is sounded the better, as the
sounding of the regular code of signals will attract the attention
of all within hearing.’
‘(1) One long sound at morning, noon and night to indicate
the time to begin and stop work. ‘(2) One short sound should be
given about five minutes before the starting time to warn all hands
that the machinery is about to start. (3) One long continuous sound
or a long succession of sounds will indicate fire and is a call for
help. (4) One long sound in the morning or at noon will indicate
the working place. (5) Two short sounds means that the engine is
about to start and work to begin. (6) One short sound means to
stop. (7) Two long sounds means that the job or the day’s work
is completed. (8) Three medium short sounds means that the grain
haulers should hurry as the machine is not about to wait for them.
(9) One moderately long sound followed by three short ones means
that the water supply is getting low and water hauler must hurry
with a fresh supply. (10) A rapid succession of short sounds means
fire or distress, and should be promptly responded to by all within
hearing.’
‘Don’t jerk the whistle valve open suddenly. It should
be opened and closed gradually and the time of each sound and the
pauses between them should be well timed and of equal
length.’
‘Screwing the bell of the whistle up or down will change the
tone or pitch of the sound. By screwing the bell down, a sharper
and more piercing sound will be produced; by screwing the bell up
the sound will be of a lower pitch and can be heard at a greater
distance. When the bell of a whistle is set to a certain pitch,
secure it by a check nut on top, then the sound will become
familiar and can be distinguished from others.’
ED MAYNARD, 15788 Mannell Road, Grafton, Ohio 44044, sends this:
‘I enclose a photo of my 1917, 16 HP Minneapolis, engine number
8125. Photo was taken at the 1987 Burton, Ohio show. I purchased
this engine from the Johnson brothers of McClure, Ohio, two years
ago and it is in very good condition.’
‘It is my understanding that there are only two or three
other 16 HP Minneapolis engines remaining. I would be interested in
hearing from anyone having knowledge of their present owners and or
location.’
‘The March/April IMA has a photo of a 16 HP Minneapolis
engine, Number 8124, that was submitted by W. Mercer of Kansas
City, Missouri. Does this gentleman still own this engine?’ (I
don’t know, Ed, but maybe when he reads this he will write you.
A lot of good friends are made this way).
‘The debate could go on and on as to which engine is the
best. Having so many different engines at the shows makes for a lot
of good talk and observations.’
‘I am glad men with knowledge of steam engines have saved
engines from the cutting torch. From all the letters I have read a
lot of engines ended up in the war effort of World War II for
scrap.’
‘I am enclosing a picture of an engine and separator that
crashed through a wooden bridge in Sandusky County, Ohio in 1909.
Perhaps your readers would enjoy the picture. It came from a weekly
paper called The Bridge.’
JIM MILLER, Mississinewa IAO-144, FPO Miami, Florida 34092 would
like to know if anyone has any idea when the 30B Bucyrus steam
shovel went out of general use. If you can help him, please let him
know or also you could write us.
‘I have been getting the IMA for a few years now and really
enjoy it,’ says MARK HISS A, 13140 Madison Road, Middlefield,
Ohio 44062. ‘It’s nice to read about the old days and past
experiences people have had, good times and bad.’
‘We, my wife Janice and I, have a 152 acre dairy farm in
Middlefield, Ohio. We milk 50-60 cows and run a sugar bush in the
spring. We gather sap with horses, two and sometimes three teams,
and tap 4,000 pails. It takes a lot of help and some years you lose
your shirt and sometimes you can even make a dollar! In our area
(northeast Ohio) most sugar makers use horses to gather sap. Our
country has a lot of Amish and ‘Yankee’ farmers. Both still
use horses; the Amish fellows farm with them also.’
‘I was raised in the country and grew up with a lot of
antique farm machinery still being used. A gang in Burton, 11
farmers, still use a 16-30 Oil Pull to thresh and fill silo. There
are many gangs operating in the Amish farming area.’
‘In July and August you can drive ten miles down the road
and see four or five outfits going. They don’t often use steam,
because there aren’t that many steamers left out here.’
‘I have always been around threshing machines and sawmills
as often as possible. We use our steam engine to fill our two 20 x
60 silos in the spring and fall.’
‘We have three Nichols and Shepard engines, 16 single Ser.
No. 13647, a 16 double side mount 13322, and 13 HP single about
1913 or so. My good friend Morgan Hill is helping me restore it. We
totally rebuilt the engines from front to back. They’re in real
good shape and we enjoy going to the shows with them.’
‘I can’t help but chuckle inside when I read a story
about a runaway team and wagon. It has happened to me plenty of
times, so I know the feeling. Luckily, I haven’t been
hurt.’
‘I am sending in a picture of our neighbor’s farm that
we threshed at for several years. At noon we sure have a nice
dinner too. The women go all out that time of year. Believe me,
everything you hear about all the different kinds of good food is
true. My hat is off to the good cooks! I feel lucky to be able to
enjoy the good old days every day!’
‘I just turned 31 years old recently and we have three
children, two boys and a girl. We count our blessings every day
because we have our health and farm. I sure hope the farm economy
turns for the better soon..’
‘I was reading an article from an old IMA magazine. It is
June 1970 and starts on page 7young people’s page. What a nice
article!’
‘I could run a steam engine when I was 7 years old and
haven’t been able to leave them alone since. I had no idea
there was such a magazine until a few years ago (1980), and I hope
it gets bigger and better in years to come.’
In closing I would like to leave you with a few items to ponder.
The first one is called:
Nichols & Shepard 25-85 HP engine and Minneapolis separator.
1954 photograph submitted by Brian Krog, RR #1, Box 124, Lake
Benton, MN 56149.
PERFECT LOVE
Slow to suspectquick to trust
Slow to condemnquick to justify
Slow to offendquick to defend
Slow to exposequick to shield
Slow to reprimandquick to forebear
Slow to belittlequick to appreciate
Slow to demandquick to give Slow to provoke quick to
conciliate
Slow to hinderquick to help Slow to resentquick to forgive
Now that’s quite a pattern to try and live by, isn’t it?
I think we should all take heed.
An optimist sees an opportunity in every calamity; a pessimist
sees a calamity in every opportunity. Lost time is never found.
Many people use religion like a busthey ride it only when it goes
their way. Success is 10 percent inspiration and 90 percent
perspiration. The emptier the pot, the quicker it boilsWATCH YOUR
TEMPER. And that’s it for this time, my dear friends. Love you
all and feel a great bonding between you all through the
magazine.
STEAMcerely,
Anna Mae
