New Injector Nozzles for SP #18

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AnthonyDuarte
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New Injector Nozzles for SP #18

Post by AnthonyDuarte »

Hi folks,

Some of you may have seen the full-sized injector nozzles from my social media and wondered where they were going.

Last weekend they were installed into the original Monitor No. 9 bodies of Southern Pacific #18 at the Durango Roundhouse.

The original nozzles on the fireman’s side did not work at all when the locomotive was first restored, and when it arrived at Durang, #8 nozzles were placed in it from a spare injector, which worked, but they found that #8 nozzles in a #9 body we’re not throttleable, so the injector had to be run wide open.

New nozzles were called for! It was an incredible honor to make new 416 stainless nozzles for one of my favorite engines, and for an injector that is very near and dear to my heart. They made a nice snap when they picked up, and we were able to trim the Injector back quite far with the water valve, and even further by choking back the steam valve.

Everything was done on the manual lathe, except for the hexes and the rib detail on the condensing nozzles.

Hope to meet some of you at Cabin Fever this weekend.
Anthony
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AnthonyDuarte
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Re: New Injector Nozzles for SP #18

Post by AnthonyDuarte »

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ccvstmr
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Re: New Injector Nozzles for SP #18

Post by ccvstmr »

Anthony...very interesting that your scale injector experience was transferable to the 12" to the 1 foot scale equipment. Suspect when word gets out, there will be other full sized injector work in your future.

Kudos to you for helping the live steam hobby with your (series of) injector alternatives! And thanks for the pix of the real, life-size application as well. btw...is that you in those photos? Carl B.
Life is like a sewer...what you get out of it depends on what you put into it!
I don't walk on water...I just learned where some of the stepping stones are!
I love mankind...it's some of the people I can't stand!
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NP317
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Re: New Injector Nozzles for SP #18

Post by NP317 »

Gorgeous work!
Is the #18 the last locomotive that ran on the Kahalui Railway on Maui?
Formerly from the Carson and Colorado Rwy Owens Valley operation?
Or is it the C&C locomotive restored in Laws, NV?
My brain wants to understand... and my books are still in storage.

Thanks for posting those photos. And doing that fabrication!!
~RN
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AnthonyDuarte
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Re: New Injector Nozzles for SP #18

Post by AnthonyDuarte »

NP317 wrote: Mon Jan 14, 2019 11:40 am Gorgeous work!
Is the #18 the last locomotive that ran on the Kahalui Railway on Maui?
Formerly from the Carson and Colorado Rwy Owens Valley operation?

Thanks for posting those photos.
~RN
NP317,
The #18 is the former NCO #12, which was formally retired on the SP Narrow Gauge route in the 50's and restored on its display stand in Independence, CA. Currently leased to the Durango & Silverton.
The NCO #11 (sister engine to #12, now SP 18), went to the Pacific Coast Railway where it was renumbered #111 before making its way to the Oahu Railway. To the best of my knowledge, neither engine was on the island of Maui.

Carl, yes that is me.
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NP317
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Re: New Injector Nozzles for SP #18

Post by NP317 »

Thanks for the history.
Fascinating to trace origins.

And your work is aerospace quality!
~RN
hoppercar
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Re: New Injector Nozzles for SP #18

Post by hoppercar »

Nice too see someone endorseing manual kathe work for a change, instead of cnc, this and that all the time
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AnthonyDuarte
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Re: New Injector Nozzles for SP #18

Post by AnthonyDuarte »

I proudly use and endorse both. I made these on the manual because the CNC was busy making intermediate injectors for Cabin Fever.

Machining is machining. It’s all fun.
I would sincerely appreciate it if we could avoid turning this thread into another manual vs CNC discussion.
Mike Walsh
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Re: New Injector Nozzles for SP #18

Post by Mike Walsh »

AnthonyDuarte wrote: Mon Jan 14, 2019 1:37 pm Machining is machining. It’s all fun.
Mad props! This is liiiiiiit!
Marty_Knox
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Re: New Injector Nozzles for SP #18

Post by Marty_Knox »

Congratulations on a job well done, Anthony!
I look forward to meeting you at Cabin Fever.
Rwilliams
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Re: New Injector Nozzles for SP #18

Post by Rwilliams »

Great job on the new set of injector nozzles. Should last a long time being made from 416 material.
It would seem that a size 9 Monitor is a bit large for such a small boiler. A size 7 or 8 might be more suitable for the capacity of the boiler. Perhaps the SP had nothing smaller that was serviceable in late steam.

Do they still make use of the check valve on the discharge line of the injector or use a separate check closer to the boiler check valve?

We have found it easier to just remove the internal check valve parts on the discharge line and install a nice horizontal check valve near the boiler check to give a back-up check valve that is much easier to service.

Nathan was evil in the fact that they made their parts more difficult to rebuild and therefore more likely that the railroads would seek to save shop time costs and buy their off the shelf replacement parts. I was looking at recutting the seats of several water control valve castings. There was a center hole on the bottom end of the castings but then a slot had been ground through the center hole making the center hole now a fading memory and basically useless as a place for a live center. I finally decided that they had done this on purpose to encourage parts sales. With no new water control valve castings, I had to braze up the slot, center with a 4 jaw to drill a new center hole, and then set the part up between centers with a special holding/driving tool of my own design to recut the water control valve seat. With slight modifications of the casting design over the years, I had different length castings to work with. I had to make my holding/driving center device adjustable for the various casting lengths. Rebuilding Monitor injectors is not for the weak.

Robert
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AnthonyDuarte
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Re: New Injector Nozzles for SP #18

Post by AnthonyDuarte »

Thank you all for the kind words.

Robert,
I also was surprised to learn that 18 had #9’s. To properly fire the engine depends on the injector being able to trim back. Thinking out loud here... I imagine they wouldn’t be as oversized for the larger 4-6-0’s that ran the route. Perhaps it had 9’s just so everything was the same?

No in-line check on the discharge body. I understand Roaring Camp does the same. The small threaded ring that keeps it inside can break and send the internal check flying to the boiler check. Then you have real problems.
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