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Very strange boiler


Boris

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Pretty much as it says on the title, does anyone have any idea what this thing is?

 

attachicon.gifUntitled.jpg

 

Looking at it Boris, it looks to be a type of water tube boiler, the main fire tube is the large dia. tube down the middle with water tubes running across it. It also has some water tubes running across the fire box. To get a bit more heat out of the "fire" it looks like they have also added 18 fire tubes in the main water space (running parallel) to the main fire tube.

 

Not sure what loco it's for, but looking at the shafting for the machines in the background I'd say about 1890-1910ish.

 

OzzyO. 

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Are we even sure it's a locomotive boiler, and not a marine one?

 

Hello Pete,

 

looking at the shape of it with the deep firebox and the flat bottom to the tube plate it looks a typical loco boiler. Most marine boilers have a shorter and wider firebox and would have a round smokebox.

 

OzzyO. 

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As i've said to Jacqui privately i suspect it is a prototype and almost disposable boiler. I also suspect it wasn't very successful or popular. Reworking those cross tubes is actually impossible once full assembled. The other picture shows how impossible it would be to do even simple tube expanding on those cross tubes.

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This Delaware & Hudson locomotive is fitted with a water tube boiler and, though considerably larger, has that same, saddle like, boiler upper part.

 

attachicon.gifimage.jpg

 

Looking at the above loco it looks to have a water tube firebox like in a Brotan (look at the width), this type of firebox normally had a lining of fire-bricks on the outside of the tubes with a (thin) steel cover over them to help keep them in place. On the lower side of the firebox casing you can see a number of access covers (not sure what these would be used for).

What type of water tube boiler this loco has I don't know, possible an M-type boiler that the U.S. used in navy ships. Or a variation of the Thornycroft type.     

 

As i've said to Jacqui privately i suspect it is a prototype and almost disposable boiler. I also suspect it wasn't very successful or popular. Reworking those cross tubes is actually impossible once full assembled. The other picture shows how impossible it would be to do even simple tube expanding on those cross tubes.

 

It is a prototype boiler and was used on a loco, running approx. 4,000 miles. As you say working on any of the cross tubes is impossible one the boiler is fully assembled. The second picture that you mention?

 

It looks like the inside of a Drummond water tube boiler.

 

Edit

Link to another picture added.

 

http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/File:Im1901EnV92-p603a.jpg

 

I like this picture as it shows the jack that is in the first picture in use to hold the smokebox end up.

 

Apparently it was one of a mocked-up pair to show the differences between a Drummond water-tube and a normal fire-bute boiler.

 

http://1920slocomotives.blogspot.co.uk/2014_03_01_archive.html

 

Scroll down for images 137 and 138.

 

It was not a mock-up of a boiler, it was used as the prototype water-tube boiler, the second picture could have been a mock-up to show the difference between the two types of boiler. As normally the fire tubes would have been inserted into the boiler after the outside was fitted, not before. But the firebox water tubes would have had to have been fitted before the outer firebox was fitted. Unless the outer firebox had some sort of access panel to the firebox water tubes ends.

 

OzzyO.

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