Free 186 More Best Homemade Tools eBook:  
Get tool plans

User Tag List

Thread: Vintage work crew photos

  1. #1361
    Supporting Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Location
    Hinchinbrook QLD
    Posts
    323
    Thanks
    44
    Thanked 138 Times in 84 Posts
    ->greyhoundollie The air is warmed by compressing, but by the time it makes its way through a hundred feet of exposed hose and then when the pressure is released into the hat it comes out quite cool! You head is not generally touching the hat so there is little conduction there. For cold water you rug up in thermals and work hard!

    Cheers Phil

    186 More Best Homemade Tools eBook

  2. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to 12bolts For This Useful Post:

    jimfols (Jan 1, 2020), Toolmaker51 (Jan 1, 2020)

  3. #1362
    Supporting Member Toolmaker51's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Location
    Midwest USA
    Posts
    5,334
    Thanks
    7,044
    Thanked 3,011 Times in 1,900 Posts

    Toolmaker51's Tools
    Rug up!
    I do that just getting to work...

    2,000+ Tool Plans
    Sincerely,
    Toolmaker51
    ...we'll learn more by wandering than searching...

  4. #1363
    Supporting Member DIYSwede's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2019
    Location
    Stockholm, Sweden...
    Posts
    634
    Thanks
    416
    Thanked 804 Times in 319 Posts

    DIYSwede's Tools

    Last flight of Fairlie locomotive #2.

    Vintage work crew photos-still-called-morton-1870.jpg
    Built as standard gauge series number 2 of the FAIRLIE ENGINE AND STEAM CARRIAGE CO. LONDON.
    "Double Fairlies" were articulated, all wheel driven mostly for steep, small radii narrow gauge railroads.
    The first delivered were to Ffestiniog Railway in Wales. (Note 1)

    Vintage work crew photos-improved-boiler.jpg

    #2 was delivered as Nässjö-Oskarshamns Järnväg's locomotive #1, bought and renamed "Hultenheim" in 1874. (Note 2)
    It was owned and used by the contractor, Morton's, for building the very same railroad during its first years.

    32 years later, at 11.25 AM on Tuesday, April 8th 1902, this had happened:

    Vintage work crew photos-fairlie-2-eksj%F6-april-8th-1902.jpg

    -What series of events led to a 28+ metric ton locomotive levitating upwards, out of its shed
    and plummet down on a small hill 25 metres away?


    Closest shed brick wall is gone, the other propped up, the ceiling blown off.

    Vintage work crew photos-eksj%F6-shed-interior.jpg

    Amazingly, no one of the seven persons in the shed was killed in the accident.
    Casualties:
    C.M. Sand, Chief Engineer (also young stoker at the top pic) had one lower leg broken off and lacerations.
    J. Nilsson, Supervisor, also suffered a leg broken as well as lacerations.
    C. Petterson, lacerations and concussions from getting hit by flying wooden beams from the former ceiling.
    So - what happened, and why?

    Vintage work crew photos-fairlie-boiler.jpg

    The #1 loco have had a 30 year service, and was overhauled at Eksjö to finally become a shunter.
    Note the boiler pic above - rather two boilers back-to-back with a firebox each.

    Hot pressure testing had started without realizing that a lead washer,
    used from the previous cold pressure test to protect the gauge, was still in place.
    -Did I forget to mention the safety valves had also been firmly tightened down?
    This washer apparently had a smallish pore in it - as the gauge climbed during firing,
    finally to set at at an comfortable 8 atm (130 psi) in spite of further stoking.

    This continued for a good while, but when the Chief Engineer perceived something was very wrong,
    and finally yelling for the fire to be put out, the loco took off thru the ceiling, just leaving its two drive bogies behind.

    Vintage work crew photos-fairlies-first-flight.jpg Vintage work crew photos-hultenheim-top-view.jpg

    -Why UPWARDS, you probably ask?
    Seems like the 2 boiler ends towards the fire boxes gave in (or rather out), converting the superheated liquid water
    into a pillar of expanding steam going downwards, blowing away the grates and ashpans, lifting the upper loco part,
    tearing off the steam tube bogie pivots leaving the cylinder frames on the shed's track.
    View from below, upwards into the fireboxes:

    Vintage work crew photos-firebox-bottom-view.jpg

    Boiler explosions from firebox failures in ordinary locomotives usually result in more horizontal missiles:

    Vintage work crew photos-plm-141.c.623.jpg Vintage work crew photos-boiler-plm-141.c.623.jpg

    But as the Fairlie had two boilers back-to-back, the steam had nowhere else to go but downwards,
    thus raising the loco up, up and away. Pretty simple, eh? Case closed.

    -Now try to figure out the reasons for this pic from Strömmen, Norway in 1889:

    Vintage work crew photos-norway-1889.jpg

    Thanks for putting up with my story this far!

    Johan


    1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ffestiniog_Railway Yep - they're still building Fairlies...
    2) http://www.georgeengland.org/2016-11...any-1869--1870

  5. The Following 8 Users Say Thank You to DIYSwede For This Useful Post:

    Beserkleyboy (Jan 2, 2020), Frank S (Jan 2, 2020), hemmjo (Jan 2, 2020), HobieDave (Mar 8, 2020), jimfols (Jan 2, 2020), Jon (Jan 2, 2020), mwmkravchenko (Jan 2, 2020), Toolmaker51 (Jan 2, 2020)

  6. #1364
    Supporting Member Beserkleyboy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2014
    Location
    Sunny South Coast NSW, Australia
    Posts
    366
    Thanks
    473
    Thanked 230 Times in 134 Posts

    Beserkleyboy's Tools
    DIY Swede, thank you for the detailed history! I had the pleasure of riding the Ffestiniog Railway in 1985...of course with no knowledge other than it went UP with great power...we toured thes slate mine, and I, in my would be explorer mind (32), decided the fast way down was overthe side, rather than wait for the train...well, the 'side' was the steep embankment, 1:1, of slate slag, for about 400 mtr...my my...I did not beat the train...if you get the chance, Wales has heaps of attractions to explore, none better than Port Merion, the model Italianate village used in 'The Prisoner' series with Patrick McGoohan and his Lotus Super 7...well worth watching...#6...cheers from the fire raveged South Coast of NSW, AUS...
    Jim

  7. #1365
    Supporting Member hemmjo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2017
    Posts
    2,659
    Thanks
    251
    Thanked 1,514 Times in 855 Posts

    hemmjo's Tools
    That is indeed a fascinating account of the "flight of Fairlie". All of those old engineering marvels fascinate me.

  8. #1366
    Jon
    Jon is online now Jon has agreed the Seller's Terms of Service
    Administrator
    Supporting Member
    Jon's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    Colorado, USA
    Posts
    26,366
    Thanks
    8,088
    Thanked 40,141 Times in 11,740 Posts
    Standpipe construction crew. Billerica, Massachusetts. Circa 1900.

    Fullsize image: https://diqn32j8nouaz.cloudfront.net...w_fullsize.jpg


  9. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Jon For This Useful Post:

    jimfols (Jan 11, 2020), Toolmaker51 (Jan 11, 2020)

  10. #1367
    Supporting Member bruce.desertrat's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Posts
    808
    Thanks
    589
    Thanked 685 Times in 368 Posts

    bruce.desertrat's Tools
    Unsupervised work crew! (no one in a suit and tie!)

  11. The Following User Says Thank You to bruce.desertrat For This Useful Post:

    greyhoundollie (Jan 11, 2020)

  12. #1368
    Supporting Member Hoosiersmoker's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2018
    Posts
    1,838
    Thanks
    405
    Thanked 358 Times in 286 Posts
    That's a real testament to the coopers of the area! The whole thing is sitting on 8 or 9 barrels. I wonder how many times they crawled under it!? I love the little Irish guy on the right in the back! How do I know he's Irish? Just look at him!

  13. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Hoosiersmoker For This Useful Post:

    greyhoundollie (Jan 11, 2020), jimfols (Jan 11, 2020)

  14. #1369
    Supporting Member hemmjo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2017
    Posts
    2,659
    Thanks
    251
    Thanked 1,514 Times in 855 Posts

    hemmjo's Tools
    When start to think of them building that, one of the first thoughts is, how did they drill all those holes? Did they match drill them. Or were they that good they the parts could be pre-drilled, then assembled like that and the rivets still fit. Always amazing to see the old photos.

  15. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to hemmjo For This Useful Post:

    greyhoundollie (Jan 11, 2020), Toolmaker51 (Jan 11, 2020)

  16. #1370
    Supporting Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2018
    Posts
    302
    Thanks
    1,081
    Thanked 91 Times in 64 Posts
    I wonder why the guy smoking a pipe standing left of center has a bullet hole in his hat?

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 26 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 26 guests)

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •