[Thursday] The Yellow Brick Road

[Randall Snow]

Lou and all,

We need to write one more big chapter into today's record.

The short story is that the Columbia boiler is sufficient to operate
seemingly any of the large engines short of the Hereshoff.  We had the
Fitchburg running for about 10 minutes, the Corliss for nearly 30 minutes,
and the older Harris for 10 minutes all solely on the Columbia.

The longer story is that through the use of the air compressor we have made
numerous discoveries, experiments and improvements.  Experiments indicated
to me, as you might expect, that the Corliss actually consumes less steam
than the Fitchburg does.  Tough to believe perhaps, but a direct
demonstration of the increased efficiency.  Late last year on the last day
Davinder was visiting, we wanted to give him something more to see.
Through much difficulty we managed to get steam over to the Fitchburg and
it eventually ran, to some extent.  Just before steam up we managed to
locate and fix a major steam leak through the newer Harris's main valve.
Sealing that leak made a big difference in boiler operation on Steam Up
day.  Several times I had to damper the boiler down and vent pressure
outside via the turbine, rather than fighting to keep pressure up as I have
in the last couple of years.  We also used much less wood than we have in
years past as well, some of which is of course because we operated it on
oil for a couple of hours but proportionally it was a dramatic reduction.
Anyhow, through various small improvements and discoveries it would seem
the Columbia is much more capable than anyone would have assumed.  I think
it's good cause for a revised course of action on any future plans with the
steam collection.  Revising the steam piping arrangement would likely be a
dramatic aid to actually running under this configuration.  A main line
that was properly drained and branches exiting the top rather than sides of
the main would speed the supply of steam to all points versus the
circuitous route the flow now takes.  Anyhow, all things to keep in mind
for the future and insight that certainly makes think about everything that
may have been seen as a "norm" or limitation in the past.  Somehow it does
feel a bit like OZ!

Randy

On Thu, Oct 11, 2018 at 4:46 PM Louis Vertefeuille via Thursday <
thursday at newsm.org> wrote:

> Good afternoon to the People of Oz,
>
> There was a lot of activity this morning getting ready for the trip to
> Oz.  First of all we finished the cleaning up after the BIG DAY. There were
> a few details that required finishing touches....trash that hadn't made it
> to the pick up point last week...wood blocks and boards that were used to
> prop up the Porta Johns and the grill...the steam bicycle and steam hoses
> were gathered and transported to the trailer..the wheel was repaired on the
> third wheelbarrow. The turbine was covered with a tarp and the water pump
> that was set up next to the Lookout boiler was winterized and put away for
> safe keeping. The Lookout boiler was cleaned of ashes and the mud ring was
> vacuumed out. The engines next to the boiler were blown out to get ready
> for winter. All the water and soda that was temporally stored in the church
> basement was moved and stored on the rack in the Mayes Building rest room.
>
>   The Good Fairy visited the Massie Station and left a working
> oscilloscope on the workbench much to Colin's delight.
>
> The names of the new volunteers from last week which I missed are;
>
> Davinder Singh Matharu..as I mentioned last week he is visiting from the UK
>
> The other new volunteer was not present today so I couldn't get his info.
>
> Yet another new volunteer came in today..he is a ham radio guy and has a
> variety of other skills.
> His name is Chris Prata and we welcome him to the Village on the Yellow
> Brick Road.
>
>   A plan was devised to redo the paper product storage room to make it
> more presentable and organized. We hope the rearrangement will provide
> better use of our resources.
>
> The journey into the future starts with that first step along the Yellow
> Brick Road and I believe we have taken that step and we are on our way to
> bigger and better things that will take us to that fabled city of OZ.
>
> Best regards to all,.....the guy behind the curtain.
>
> LOU
>
>
>
>
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-- 
Randy Snow

Snow Findings Company <http://www.snowfindings.com>
Lovements.com <http://www.lovements.com>
New England Wireless and Steam Museum <http://www.newsm.org>
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