NEW ZEALAND RAILWAY STEAM 4
The Palmerston North depot was home to a quota of locomotive classes “K”, “Ab”, “A”, “Aa” and “Bb”. There were Daily visits of “Wabs” and the occasional “X” from Taihape. In my second year through 1939 in Palmerston North the stable was joined by the new “Ka” and “J” class locomotives. Counting the Taihape “Wg” and the new “Kas” and “Js” I worked on ten classes during my relatively brief stay on the NZR. The following chart gives some vital statistics of those. In my time all except the “Wg” were superheated. The “As” and “Xs” were four cylinder compounds. Some of both classes were rebuilt as simple expansion after WW2 but I had moved to other fields.
Class Number built Years built Wheel arrange-ment Weight Tons Cylinders B & S
Inches Wheel
Dia.
Inches Grate
Area
Sq. ft. Boiler
Press
PSI Tractive
Effort
85% BP
Pounds
A 58 1906-1914 4-6-2 78.2 12 x 22
19 x 22 54 30 225 21250
X 18 2907-1915 4-8-2 94 13.5 x 22
22 x 22 45 37.1 230 29168
Wg 20 1910-1912 4-6-4T 50.5 14 x 22 45 16.9 200 16289
Aa 10 1914 4-6-2 88.7 18 x 24 49 33 180 24280
Bb 30 1915-1918 4-8-0 69 17 x 22 42.5 16.8 175 22253
Ab 141 1915-1925 4-6-2 84.7 17 x 26 54 33 180 21289
Wab 30 1917-1927 4-6-4T 71.5 17 x 26 54 33 200 23655
K 30 1932-1935 4-8-4 140 20 x 26 54 47.7 200 32740
Ka 35 1938-1950 4-8-4 145 20 x 26 54 47.7 200 32740
J 40 1939-1940 4-8-2 110 18 x 26 54 39 200 26520
I have mentioned some of the characteristics of the 1930s “K” and the earlier “X” class locomotives. In between these were various vintages well represented in numbers for a system the size of that operating in New Zealand. Still in service into the near final days of steam were 58 “A” class compound Pacifics built from 1906 through to 1914. Like their contemporary freight hauling “Xs” they were DeGlen compounds. Inside HP 12” X 22” cylinders drove the cranked front axle and outside LP 19” x 22” cylinders drove the second set of wheels. They had 4’- 6” diameter drivers and with the inside and outside cranks on each side arranged 180 degrees apart rode remarkably well at express speeds. As with the “X” class engines there were separate sets of Walscheart”s valve gear for the HP and LP cylinders adjusted by separate reversing levers. The drivers usually worked them with the HP lever notched up slightly closer than the LP lever. Some drivers even left the LP valves at full travel. Operation of the levers on the “As” was reasonably light but adjustments on the “Xs” required a man’s full strength. When topping a grade to avoid shoulder and back injury the drivers tripped the latch and let them go clunk to the front of the quadrant, then it was one foot braced against the quadrant to haul them up to resume steaming. They were hard work when used for yard shunting and train marshalling.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
NEW ZEALAND RAILWAY STEAM
I applied for transfer that was duly granted to Palmerston North where I was back on my home ground, old associates, proximity to the west coast beaches and it was more interesting working over the variety of rail routes. The centre served the main trunk line north and south, Hawke's Bay, Wairarapa and Foxton lines. My duty roster placed me on goods, mixed goods and passenger and the Wairarapa mail trains and the secondary expresses that ran between Palmerston North and Napier and Palmerston North and Wellington.
It is only natural that incidents occur on such a highly mobile job as locomotive running. Cattle beasts get onto the track and escape if they are lucky. Not so lucky were about twenty sheep out of a large flock that was half way across a road crossing near Ormondville on the Hawke's Bay line. Rounding a blind curve with an express train sent sheep bowling in all directions. What a lot of spare ribs!
A horrendous fright was given to a track maintenance gang between Palmerston North and Ashhurst. We were running an extra train of empty fruit wagons back to Napier. Because these seasonal specials ran somewhat erratic timetables a track maintenance crew thought it reasonable to ride their motor jigger back to Palmerston North, but we met on a blind curve and just before the impact all four men leapt into the comparative safety of the track-side blackberry bushes. The jigger was only fit to rake up and put into a skip bin. The men were badly scratched but not bent. On another occasion we had a near miss from the stuff that nightmares are made of. This was again on the Napier line. We were to meet and pass a train at Ashhurst. The opposing train had already left Woodville before we had left Palmerston North so we were held. But the ex Napier did not arrive, it had plowed into a slip that had fallen and covered the north end of the first tunnel at the south end of the Manawatu gorge. Had timings been a few minutes different we would have met the slip from inside the tunnel. As it was, the other engine nosed up the toe of the slip and eleven wagons of goods toppled into the river. The tunnel now has an extended concrete portal.
A memorable event occurred soon after the outbreak of WW2. I was the fireman on a troop train for the Palmerston North/Wellington leg of the journey that had started from New Plymouth. On board was the Taranaki contingent en route to embark on one of the troop ships that conveyed our forces to the European theatre of war. While we attached our freshly serviced locomotive some thirsty troops took the opportunity to replenish their supplies of liquor from the row of obliging hotels adjacent to the railway station. We rolled smartly through Longburn, Linton, Tokomaru, Makerua, Shannon and Koputaroa. At Levin we were unexpectedly signalled to stop at the north end of the station. There was a police presence and backed up to the platform was an ambulance with attendant medical staff and stretcher at the ready. They converged on the carriage next to the engine to meet a bevy of soldiers half carrying and half propelling a vigorously protesting member of their company nursing a hand and arm swathed in blood saturated bandages. It turned out that immediately after passing through Makerua the train guard was made aware of something wrong when a party of soldiers invaded the guard's van and commandeered the entire kit from the first aid cabinet. We learned that the injured man was seen by the Makerua tablet porter as we sped past to extend his arm out of the open window and strike the tablet exchanger. The attendant assessed the mishap and communicated with train control that notified the Levin Station Master who passed the information on to the Levin Police who set up the emergency action. The soldier was taken to hospital and we resumed the journey to arrive at Wellington 2¼ hours after departing from Palmerston North. Three months later it was my turn as a volunteer to sail to the Middle East to serve as a member of the 16th Railway Operating Company in North Africa but that is a story later in the narrative.
I applied for transfer that was duly granted to Palmerston North where I was back on my home ground, old associates, proximity to the west coast beaches and it was more interesting working over the variety of rail routes. The centre served the main trunk line north and south, Hawke's Bay, Wairarapa and Foxton lines. My duty roster placed me on goods, mixed goods and passenger and the Wairarapa mail trains and the secondary expresses that ran between Palmerston North and Napier and Palmerston North and Wellington.
It is only natural that incidents occur on such a highly mobile job as locomotive running. Cattle beasts get onto the track and escape if they are lucky. Not so lucky were about twenty sheep out of a large flock that was half way across a road crossing near Ormondville on the Hawke's Bay line. Rounding a blind curve with an express train sent sheep bowling in all directions. What a lot of spare ribs!
A horrendous fright was given to a track maintenance gang between Palmerston North and Ashhurst. We were running an extra train of empty fruit wagons back to Napier. Because these seasonal specials ran somewhat erratic timetables a track maintenance crew thought it reasonable to ride their motor jigger back to Palmerston North, but we met on a blind curve and just before the impact all four men leapt into the comparative safety of the track-side blackberry bushes. The jigger was only fit to rake up and put into a skip bin. The men were badly scratched but not bent. On another occasion we had a near miss from the stuff that nightmares are made of. This was again on the Napier line. We were to meet and pass a train at Ashhurst. The opposing train had already left Woodville before we had left Palmerston North so we were held. But the ex Napier did not arrive, it had plowed into a slip that had fallen and covered the north end of the first tunnel at the south end of the Manawatu gorge. Had timings been a few minutes different we would have met the slip from inside the tunnel. As it was, the other engine nosed up the toe of the slip and eleven wagons of goods toppled into the river. The tunnel now has an extended concrete portal.
A memorable event occurred soon after the outbreak of WW2. I was the fireman on a troop train for the Palmerston North/Wellington leg of the journey that had started from New Plymouth. On board was the Taranaki contingent en route to embark on one of the troop ships that conveyed our forces to the European theatre of war. While we attached our freshly serviced locomotive some thirsty troops took the opportunity to replenish their supplies of liquor from the row of obliging hotels adjacent to the railway station. We rolled smartly through Longburn, Linton, Tokomaru, Makerua, Shannon and Koputaroa. At Levin we were unexpectedly signalled to stop at the north end of the station. There was a police presence and backed up to the platform was an ambulance with attendant medical staff and stretcher at the ready. They converged on the carriage next to the engine to meet a bevy of soldiers half carrying and half propelling a vigorously protesting member of their company nursing a hand and arm swathed in blood saturated bandages. It turned out that immediately after passing through Makerua the train guard was made aware of something wrong when a party of soldiers invaded the guard's van and commandeered the entire kit from the first aid cabinet. We learned that the injured man was seen by the Makerua tablet porter as we sped past to extend his arm out of the open window and strike the tablet exchanger. The attendant assessed the mishap and communicated with train control that notified the Levin Station Master who passed the information on to the Levin Police who set up the emergency action. The soldier was taken to hospital and we resumed the journey to arrive at Wellington 2¼ hours after departing from Palmerston North. Three months later it was my turn as a volunteer to sail to the Middle East to serve as a member of the 16th Railway Operating Company in North Africa but that is a story later in the narrative.
Friday, November 13, 2009
NEW ZEALAND RAILWAY STEAM 2
At five months from start I was tested on signals and signalling and promoted to acting fireman on the station yard-shunting engine. Four months on the shunt engine took me to nine months service when I was put through the fireman's exam. This was a one day paper on signals, signalling, locomotive boilers and engine running gear and lubrication. Also, oral questions around a locomotive. I was allocated to duties as a main line fireman on goods and mixed passenger trains from Taihape south to Marton Junction and Taihape north to National Park with some trips as far as Raurimu and Oio.
In the beginning I found this an interesting learning curve. One learned the road, the up and down grades and not to be occupied with stoking while rounding curves to the fireman's side. One became attuned to the engine's demands for fuel and water, learned to see the condition of the fire through the brilliance of the furnace and developed night vision. One learned the locations of the signals, tunnels, and road crossings, turnout points at station sidings, tablet exchangers and the idiosyncrasies of the different engine drivers. An outstanding memory of a driver for whom I fired for some weeks was the late Charles Parker who was to go to his untimely death in the Tangiwai bridge disaster. He was a very alert and helpful engine-man. Something must have diverted his attention on that ill-fated night. Another bright star in my memory was Jas. Evans. He handled his engines with panache and liked to bowl them along reveling in their power. He was reputed to be at one with the phases of the moon and certainly displayed exuberance on bright moonlit nights.
Of the locomotives based upon the Taihape depot were four of the “K” class 4-8-4 tender engines that wheeled the Auckland-Wellington expresses and through freight trains over the Taumarunui-Palmerston North section. Three “Wab” class 4-6-4 tank engines worked mainly mixed goods and passenger trains between Ohakune and Palmerston North. Two “Ab” class Pacific types performed similar work. Five “X” class 4-8-2 tender engines worked goods between Ohakune and Marton Junction. One class “Wg” 4-6-4 tank engine shunted the Taihape station yard. Locomotives from Taumarunui in the north and Palmerston North in the south were turned and serviced for their return workings.
The actual work of firing any of these locomotives was not difficult or hard apart from the vibration and noise. The killer was the night work and irregular working hours. Most of the central north island consists of about ten or twelve mile sections of steep grades that test the locomotives but they are loaded accordingly and for every up-grade there is a down grade so power demand is not continuous. It is well known that no two engines perform identically but in general they responded in predictable ways. The “Ks” were the newest engines then having been built in the 1930s. They weighed 140 tons and had 47.7 square feet of grate area that was easily manageable. The boiler pressure was 200 PSI and the cylinders were 20” x 26”. The driving wheels were 4’-6” diameter. The tractive effort was 32,740 pounds. They ran smoothly enough when new or fresh after overhaul but soon developed wear in their driving axle-boxes, connecting rod big ends and coupling rod bearings so spent most of their working lives clanking monstrously. A person could be forgiven for thinking that they had square wheels. The preceding heavy haulers in the central North Island were the “X” class that were 4-8-2 De Glen compounds built between 1907 and 1915. The HP cylinders 13½” X 22” were inside the frames and drove the leading axle that was cranked. The outside LP 22” x 22” drove the second axle via the conventional crankpins. The driving wheels were 45” diameter and they were restricted to a maximum speed of 30 miles per hour. Anything over that the crew got a rough vertical ride that gave these engines the appellation “Buck Xs”. The rear section of the fire grate was flat immediately above the fourth drivers while the front half sloped steeply down between the third and fourth drivers. A line of site projected from the sloping section aligned with the top edge of the fire hole so the fireman had to be canny in judging the condition of the fire on that section and usually resorted to feeling it with the rake.
At five months from start I was tested on signals and signalling and promoted to acting fireman on the station yard-shunting engine. Four months on the shunt engine took me to nine months service when I was put through the fireman's exam. This was a one day paper on signals, signalling, locomotive boilers and engine running gear and lubrication. Also, oral questions around a locomotive. I was allocated to duties as a main line fireman on goods and mixed passenger trains from Taihape south to Marton Junction and Taihape north to National Park with some trips as far as Raurimu and Oio.
In the beginning I found this an interesting learning curve. One learned the road, the up and down grades and not to be occupied with stoking while rounding curves to the fireman's side. One became attuned to the engine's demands for fuel and water, learned to see the condition of the fire through the brilliance of the furnace and developed night vision. One learned the locations of the signals, tunnels, and road crossings, turnout points at station sidings, tablet exchangers and the idiosyncrasies of the different engine drivers. An outstanding memory of a driver for whom I fired for some weeks was the late Charles Parker who was to go to his untimely death in the Tangiwai bridge disaster. He was a very alert and helpful engine-man. Something must have diverted his attention on that ill-fated night. Another bright star in my memory was Jas. Evans. He handled his engines with panache and liked to bowl them along reveling in their power. He was reputed to be at one with the phases of the moon and certainly displayed exuberance on bright moonlit nights.
Of the locomotives based upon the Taihape depot were four of the “K” class 4-8-4 tender engines that wheeled the Auckland-Wellington expresses and through freight trains over the Taumarunui-Palmerston North section. Three “Wab” class 4-6-4 tank engines worked mainly mixed goods and passenger trains between Ohakune and Palmerston North. Two “Ab” class Pacific types performed similar work. Five “X” class 4-8-2 tender engines worked goods between Ohakune and Marton Junction. One class “Wg” 4-6-4 tank engine shunted the Taihape station yard. Locomotives from Taumarunui in the north and Palmerston North in the south were turned and serviced for their return workings.
The actual work of firing any of these locomotives was not difficult or hard apart from the vibration and noise. The killer was the night work and irregular working hours. Most of the central north island consists of about ten or twelve mile sections of steep grades that test the locomotives but they are loaded accordingly and for every up-grade there is a down grade so power demand is not continuous. It is well known that no two engines perform identically but in general they responded in predictable ways. The “Ks” were the newest engines then having been built in the 1930s. They weighed 140 tons and had 47.7 square feet of grate area that was easily manageable. The boiler pressure was 200 PSI and the cylinders were 20” x 26”. The driving wheels were 4’-6” diameter. The tractive effort was 32,740 pounds. They ran smoothly enough when new or fresh after overhaul but soon developed wear in their driving axle-boxes, connecting rod big ends and coupling rod bearings so spent most of their working lives clanking monstrously. A person could be forgiven for thinking that they had square wheels. The preceding heavy haulers in the central North Island were the “X” class that were 4-8-2 De Glen compounds built between 1907 and 1915. The HP cylinders 13½” X 22” were inside the frames and drove the leading axle that was cranked. The outside LP 22” x 22” drove the second axle via the conventional crankpins. The driving wheels were 45” diameter and they were restricted to a maximum speed of 30 miles per hour. Anything over that the crew got a rough vertical ride that gave these engines the appellation “Buck Xs”. The rear section of the fire grate was flat immediately above the fourth drivers while the front half sloped steeply down between the third and fourth drivers. A line of site projected from the sloping section aligned with the top edge of the fire hole so the fireman had to be canny in judging the condition of the fire on that section and usually resorted to feeling it with the rake.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
NEW ZEALAND RALWAY STEAM 1
In 1937 when I was half way through serving my apprenticeship the NZ railways commenced advertising for additional staff in all departments including the locomotive branch. This occurred at a low point in my work morale so I filed an application under my work address, posted it off and forgot it. Several weeks later on a Friday afternoon I was jolted back to reality by the works manager homing in on me waving a sheet of paper and demanding to know my state of dissatisfaction with my job. The piece of paper was my advice from New Zealand Railways notifying me of my appointment to the Taihape locomotive depot. I was to report at my earliest to the locomotive foreman’s office at Palmerston North to confirm the appointment. I hurried the 300 metres over to the railway office and found the foreman expecting me. He confirmed that I was the person about whom my employer had just phoned requesting that the railways not take me on. He asked me if I wanted to proceed with the appointment, I affirmed that I did and he advised me to appear for work at Taihape. I returned to the works, gave my notice, which was ill received and in due course took myself off to my new job.
In the locomotive branch one started under the title of cleaner. Progress up the ladder was to acting fireman, fireman, acting driver, second grade driver and first grade driver. From the top of this scale other posts were filled, namely road foreman, assistant locomotive foreman and finally locomotive foreman of one of the locomotive depots throughout the country.
I was given overalls, an engine-man's cap and handbooks on signals and signalling, operating rules and regulations and a working timetable for the whole country. Issued with a clothes locker in the crew room and a tools and materials locker in the engine shed. The year 1937 marked the beginning of a general trading and work upturn and jobs were becoming easier to come by, but applicants for jobs in engine depots in towns like Taihape were slow to come forward and the depot was relatively under staffed. Locomotive cleaning had long been abandoned and the resulting dirt and grease encrusted engines were the norm. Steam cleaning was done on the running gear when maintenance fitters worked on those areas. The cabs were kept clean by the operating crews. My first lessons were in personal safety. Do not have metal studs or plates on boot soles. Do not step across inspection pits nor step on rails when crossing tracks. In engine sheds and yards the rails are always slippery. Do not step onto moving locomotives or wagons without first securing a good handhold. I assisted the cleaner in charge of locomotives in steam with lighting up and steam raising, clearing char from smoke boxes, and ash and clinker from the ash-pans of incoming engines and replacing broken fire-grate bars. Was also commandeered by the maintenance fitters to hold this, hold that and be general gofor.
There was no formal training instruction of any kind, one studied one's books, looked, listened and asked questions. At the end of the first month I was put through an oral test on knowledge of loco boilers and their care while in steam in the depot. I was immediately promoted to boiler charge hand on rotating eight-hour shifts. The usual expired time before assignment to this duty was three months but the place was short handed and management assumed responsibility. I was on shift on New Years eve 1937-38 and the off-going boiler attendant clued me up on fitting wire hooks on brake blocks to hang them on the engine whistle cords to produce the mandatory midnight cacophony. Having prepared for the event, I became fully occupied with servicing incoming locomotives off the extra holiday express trains and the duties associated with stabling locomotives. Came 12.05am 1st January and not a squeak from a whistle. I didn't feel inclined to set up my own celebration five minutes into 1938, thus, the year quietly simmered in. The Taihape Chronicle had a piece to say about it and for a few days I maintained a low profile around the town.
In 1937 when I was half way through serving my apprenticeship the NZ railways commenced advertising for additional staff in all departments including the locomotive branch. This occurred at a low point in my work morale so I filed an application under my work address, posted it off and forgot it. Several weeks later on a Friday afternoon I was jolted back to reality by the works manager homing in on me waving a sheet of paper and demanding to know my state of dissatisfaction with my job. The piece of paper was my advice from New Zealand Railways notifying me of my appointment to the Taihape locomotive depot. I was to report at my earliest to the locomotive foreman’s office at Palmerston North to confirm the appointment. I hurried the 300 metres over to the railway office and found the foreman expecting me. He confirmed that I was the person about whom my employer had just phoned requesting that the railways not take me on. He asked me if I wanted to proceed with the appointment, I affirmed that I did and he advised me to appear for work at Taihape. I returned to the works, gave my notice, which was ill received and in due course took myself off to my new job.
In the locomotive branch one started under the title of cleaner. Progress up the ladder was to acting fireman, fireman, acting driver, second grade driver and first grade driver. From the top of this scale other posts were filled, namely road foreman, assistant locomotive foreman and finally locomotive foreman of one of the locomotive depots throughout the country.
I was given overalls, an engine-man's cap and handbooks on signals and signalling, operating rules and regulations and a working timetable for the whole country. Issued with a clothes locker in the crew room and a tools and materials locker in the engine shed. The year 1937 marked the beginning of a general trading and work upturn and jobs were becoming easier to come by, but applicants for jobs in engine depots in towns like Taihape were slow to come forward and the depot was relatively under staffed. Locomotive cleaning had long been abandoned and the resulting dirt and grease encrusted engines were the norm. Steam cleaning was done on the running gear when maintenance fitters worked on those areas. The cabs were kept clean by the operating crews. My first lessons were in personal safety. Do not have metal studs or plates on boot soles. Do not step across inspection pits nor step on rails when crossing tracks. In engine sheds and yards the rails are always slippery. Do not step onto moving locomotives or wagons without first securing a good handhold. I assisted the cleaner in charge of locomotives in steam with lighting up and steam raising, clearing char from smoke boxes, and ash and clinker from the ash-pans of incoming engines and replacing broken fire-grate bars. Was also commandeered by the maintenance fitters to hold this, hold that and be general gofor.
There was no formal training instruction of any kind, one studied one's books, looked, listened and asked questions. At the end of the first month I was put through an oral test on knowledge of loco boilers and their care while in steam in the depot. I was immediately promoted to boiler charge hand on rotating eight-hour shifts. The usual expired time before assignment to this duty was three months but the place was short handed and management assumed responsibility. I was on shift on New Years eve 1937-38 and the off-going boiler attendant clued me up on fitting wire hooks on brake blocks to hang them on the engine whistle cords to produce the mandatory midnight cacophony. Having prepared for the event, I became fully occupied with servicing incoming locomotives off the extra holiday express trains and the duties associated with stabling locomotives. Came 12.05am 1st January and not a squeak from a whistle. I didn't feel inclined to set up my own celebration five minutes into 1938, thus, the year quietly simmered in. The Taihape Chronicle had a piece to say about it and for a few days I maintained a low profile around the town.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
ENGINEERING APPRENTICE DAYS 3
The day arrived for the roller to be steamed up and driven over a course of about three miles skirting the busy parts of the city to end up in the railway yards. Thus the foreman and I spent the morning raising steam, seeing that the feed-water injector worked properly and jiggling the machine out of its state of rest in the ground indentations into which the rolls had settled. After lunch all was ready. He to be the inexperienced driver and I to cycle ahead to be the traffic lookout at street intersections. All of the streets that we traversed had relatively narrow high-crowned tar-sealed ways with grass verges both sides. This latter feature proved a benefit in rescuing our charge from collision with the footpath edgings during the fearfully zigzag course that we inadvertently followed.
The engine throttle was a simple stop valve at the boiler. The driver’s seat was almost over the rear roll that was steered either by a hand wheel with its shaft across the machine or by a neat little three cylinder radial engine whose rotation was determined by a fore and aft hand lever beside the driver’s seat. Movement of the hand wheel or the lever forward or backward steered the machine to the right or left. The water tank was formed over the leading roll with a raised edge deck to carry the coke and coal. The boiler fire-door was at the side so that the machine had to be stopped and the driver dismounted to replenish the fire.
The engine was driven a few laps of the yard for familiarization then out onto a busy street at very slow speed for the short rumble to the main leg of the journey. The high crown on the road and the steering that demanded fore and aft lever movements and the lack of a centre indicator for the steering engine control caused frequent angle parking diversions into the grass verges. Thus there were plenty of opportunities to replenish the fire and boiler water. All was finally delivered to the railway loading bank and our duty was done.
In those times apprentices were required to attend technical classes associated with their trades three evenings a week. The subjects in my area were applied mathematics, technical drawing and engineering workshop practice all of which I enjoyed. The school was well set up with engineering, plumbing, woodwork and electrical workshops.
The years 1935-1937 were lean times in the engineering business and workshops of moderate size had shrunk to relatively small concerns. Businesses that operated foundry departments that dropped back to two or three staff lost that part of the business to their tradesmen going out on their own and setting up in opposition. The same thing also occurred with the then fledgling and promising light industrial refrigeration industry. Another growing business at that time was the reconditioning of car, truck and tractor motors. The established engineering firms saw this as an opportunity and equipped with generally low production machinery. Again highly motivated young employees gained financial backing from automotive parts wholesalers and taking advantage of more highly developed machinery coming onto the market set up shop and took over this work.
So it was in this atmosphere of not gaining employment in the engineering works of my first choice and seeing the premises used more or less as a dumping ground for the plant of its closing branches in other towns and the threat of closure of the current workshop that I considered looking for employment elsewhere.
The day arrived for the roller to be steamed up and driven over a course of about three miles skirting the busy parts of the city to end up in the railway yards. Thus the foreman and I spent the morning raising steam, seeing that the feed-water injector worked properly and jiggling the machine out of its state of rest in the ground indentations into which the rolls had settled. After lunch all was ready. He to be the inexperienced driver and I to cycle ahead to be the traffic lookout at street intersections. All of the streets that we traversed had relatively narrow high-crowned tar-sealed ways with grass verges both sides. This latter feature proved a benefit in rescuing our charge from collision with the footpath edgings during the fearfully zigzag course that we inadvertently followed.
The engine throttle was a simple stop valve at the boiler. The driver’s seat was almost over the rear roll that was steered either by a hand wheel with its shaft across the machine or by a neat little three cylinder radial engine whose rotation was determined by a fore and aft hand lever beside the driver’s seat. Movement of the hand wheel or the lever forward or backward steered the machine to the right or left. The water tank was formed over the leading roll with a raised edge deck to carry the coke and coal. The boiler fire-door was at the side so that the machine had to be stopped and the driver dismounted to replenish the fire.
The engine was driven a few laps of the yard for familiarization then out onto a busy street at very slow speed for the short rumble to the main leg of the journey. The high crown on the road and the steering that demanded fore and aft lever movements and the lack of a centre indicator for the steering engine control caused frequent angle parking diversions into the grass verges. Thus there were plenty of opportunities to replenish the fire and boiler water. All was finally delivered to the railway loading bank and our duty was done.
In those times apprentices were required to attend technical classes associated with their trades three evenings a week. The subjects in my area were applied mathematics, technical drawing and engineering workshop practice all of which I enjoyed. The school was well set up with engineering, plumbing, woodwork and electrical workshops.
The years 1935-1937 were lean times in the engineering business and workshops of moderate size had shrunk to relatively small concerns. Businesses that operated foundry departments that dropped back to two or three staff lost that part of the business to their tradesmen going out on their own and setting up in opposition. The same thing also occurred with the then fledgling and promising light industrial refrigeration industry. Another growing business at that time was the reconditioning of car, truck and tractor motors. The established engineering firms saw this as an opportunity and equipped with generally low production machinery. Again highly motivated young employees gained financial backing from automotive parts wholesalers and taking advantage of more highly developed machinery coming onto the market set up shop and took over this work.
So it was in this atmosphere of not gaining employment in the engineering works of my first choice and seeing the premises used more or less as a dumping ground for the plant of its closing branches in other towns and the threat of closure of the current workshop that I considered looking for employment elsewhere.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
ENGINEERING APPRENTICE DAYS 2
Time in the workshop was spent in learning machining components in lathes and gear and chain sprocket cutting in the milling machine. Also did my share of striking for the blacksmith at the forge and anvil. He was a master at heating and manipulating the work with tongs and form tools while I with mighty hammer obeyed his commands, "when I nod my head, you hit it".
A timber mill and box factory in the town powered its large steam engine with a pair of horizontal multitubular boilers fired by Dutch ovens burning wood slabs, sawdust and shavings. One of the boilers had reached its economic life. Some of the lower tubes were taken out and another apprentice and I were sent to chip scale from inside the bottom surface. This confirmed the state of the boiler and it was condemned. The factory staff dismantled and removed the boiler and loaded it onto an old horse drawn lorry adapted for towing by motor truck. The procession was headed for the city dump, but as it passed our works the manager just happened to meet it and pointed out advantages in terminating a relatively long journey by dumping the load in our works yard. The driver saw the logic and no sooner said than done! The late owners were a little miffed that their throw-away had suddenly come to represent some value. A few weeks later I was to learn to appreciate the economics to be gained from a bit of canny recycling.
Along with its two steam rollers the city council owned an internal combustion engined road roller. I think that it bore the name "Barford" but not sure. However it had the typical front roll and large rear rolls but on a smaller scale than its steam stable mates. The quite large horizontal single cylinder sniff and bang engine lay where one would see the boiler in a steamer. The speed was governed by a hit and miss device that broke the regular action of the mixture inlet valve, hence a mighty firing stroke followed by several revolutions of the massive flywheel then another bang. Everything that could work loose was indeed loose. The canopy structure and the engine cooling radiator convulsed with each power cycle of the engine. The front roller consisted of two castings whose surfaces had worn through thus creating holes. It became our job to reface them and this was done by rolling up two steel cylinders from metal cut from the above mentioned dumped boiler. The blacksmith with oxy-acetylene torch cut the plates from the boiler shell, rolled them to size and finely trimmed them for heat expansion and cooling shrinkage to measurements made with his time proven measuring wheel. The meeting edges were then electric welded ready for the final operation that took place out in the works yard. The roll halves were placed on their ends on steel packing strips and the new rings stacked end to end on top of each-other and packed up from the ground on fire bricks. Wood fires were stoked inside and around the outsides. When red hot the rings were lifted one at a time by workers with tongs and dropped over the rolls to rest on the packing strips to cool and shrink on for ever. A skilful job well done!
A job came up to recommission an Aveling tandem steam roller that had lain stored in a trucking company yard in the city. The works foreman and I worked about a week preparing it for steam-up and drive it to the railway yards for transport to new owners at Auckland. We opened up the vertical boiler for inspection and renewed hand hole door packings, water gauge glasses and test cock gland packings. The engine mounted beside the boiler was a compact unit with chain drive to the leading roll. The machine was guided by the rear steering roll. The valve operating mechanism on the engine was my first encounter with the Marshall linkage. I was so intrigued with its configuration and action that I reproduced it many years later in the power unit of a small two passenger steam car to be described in future postings.
Time in the workshop was spent in learning machining components in lathes and gear and chain sprocket cutting in the milling machine. Also did my share of striking for the blacksmith at the forge and anvil. He was a master at heating and manipulating the work with tongs and form tools while I with mighty hammer obeyed his commands, "when I nod my head, you hit it".
A timber mill and box factory in the town powered its large steam engine with a pair of horizontal multitubular boilers fired by Dutch ovens burning wood slabs, sawdust and shavings. One of the boilers had reached its economic life. Some of the lower tubes were taken out and another apprentice and I were sent to chip scale from inside the bottom surface. This confirmed the state of the boiler and it was condemned. The factory staff dismantled and removed the boiler and loaded it onto an old horse drawn lorry adapted for towing by motor truck. The procession was headed for the city dump, but as it passed our works the manager just happened to meet it and pointed out advantages in terminating a relatively long journey by dumping the load in our works yard. The driver saw the logic and no sooner said than done! The late owners were a little miffed that their throw-away had suddenly come to represent some value. A few weeks later I was to learn to appreciate the economics to be gained from a bit of canny recycling.
Along with its two steam rollers the city council owned an internal combustion engined road roller. I think that it bore the name "Barford" but not sure. However it had the typical front roll and large rear rolls but on a smaller scale than its steam stable mates. The quite large horizontal single cylinder sniff and bang engine lay where one would see the boiler in a steamer. The speed was governed by a hit and miss device that broke the regular action of the mixture inlet valve, hence a mighty firing stroke followed by several revolutions of the massive flywheel then another bang. Everything that could work loose was indeed loose. The canopy structure and the engine cooling radiator convulsed with each power cycle of the engine. The front roller consisted of two castings whose surfaces had worn through thus creating holes. It became our job to reface them and this was done by rolling up two steel cylinders from metal cut from the above mentioned dumped boiler. The blacksmith with oxy-acetylene torch cut the plates from the boiler shell, rolled them to size and finely trimmed them for heat expansion and cooling shrinkage to measurements made with his time proven measuring wheel. The meeting edges were then electric welded ready for the final operation that took place out in the works yard. The roll halves were placed on their ends on steel packing strips and the new rings stacked end to end on top of each-other and packed up from the ground on fire bricks. Wood fires were stoked inside and around the outsides. When red hot the rings were lifted one at a time by workers with tongs and dropped over the rolls to rest on the packing strips to cool and shrink on for ever. A skilful job well done!
A job came up to recommission an Aveling tandem steam roller that had lain stored in a trucking company yard in the city. The works foreman and I worked about a week preparing it for steam-up and drive it to the railway yards for transport to new owners at Auckland. We opened up the vertical boiler for inspection and renewed hand hole door packings, water gauge glasses and test cock gland packings. The engine mounted beside the boiler was a compact unit with chain drive to the leading roll. The machine was guided by the rear steering roll. The valve operating mechanism on the engine was my first encounter with the Marshall linkage. I was so intrigued with its configuration and action that I reproduced it many years later in the power unit of a small two passenger steam car to be described in future postings.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
ENGINEERING APPRENTICE DAYS 1
I commenced serving an apprenticeship in the engineering trade in 1935. The works repaired factory steam boilers, serviced the few of the remaining steam engines and repaired some local council road roller boilers. Gas and electric welding and turning and fitting were the main stays of the business. Dairy factory and freezing works machinery installation and maintenance were ongoing services.
My first introduction to steam action in the plant was to dismantle and smash up two in stock “Shand” single cylinder horizontal engines that had never turned a flywheel. Electricity reticulation had taken over and the scrap metal dealers collected.
Some months later the next meeting with steam was with one of the city council road rollers that had been the object of my schoolboy interest as it ploughed up old street gravel and tar bases in preparation for reforming and resurfacing. The execution of this process was about the ultimate in graunching. The steam roller, no light weight puffed and jerked mightily. A wondrous sight for a small boy! But as I was to learn the operation repeated over time found relatively weak points in the boiler structure, namely the firebox wrapper front corners which developed cracks where the side sheets formed into the throat plate. Thus, the machine was steamed into the blacksmith’s shop and the trouble spots exposed and the cracks chiselled out and electric welded. Some water-leg stays in the regions also had to be replaced. For this memorable piece of work I had to crouch inside the fire-box and hold a steel dolly against the stays that were being hammered and headed from the outside. I now wear hearing aids, I wonder if that was the start of the defect.
My home town had a wool processing, dying, spinning and knitting mill. In its wool dying section was a large steam driven centrifuge dryer. It was mounted on a short vertical shaft with a crank beneath that rotated in a horizontal plain. The single double acting cylinder with its crosshead and connecting rod and valve eccentric rod were normally covered by a checker plate floor. The slide valve and seating had worn, so it was our job to remove the steam chest cover, remove the valve for refacing and lap the port surface. I worked with the works foreman on this job which finally finished and assembled he cautiously opened up the steam supply and spun the bowl up to what we thought to be its operating speed. The dye-works foreman came on the scene to observe progress and spun the stop valve wide open whereon the whole thing tore into life with the giant bowl howling and the crankshaft vanishing into a blur. We took a quick look for an escape route, but that was the norm and all was well.
Being the new apprentice part of my regular job on Monday mornings was to oil the overhead main and counter-shaft bearings. There were wooden plank cat-walks with no hand rails above the shafts and bearings and because of the height above the floor and the whirling pulleys beneath me I would gingerly crawl from point to point much to the amusement of the old hands. But I became accustomed to the height and underfoot action to eventually sprint through the maze with the best of them.
Friday afternoons were sweep-up days and of course this was again my regular job. This involved tools of the trade, bristle broom, shovel and wheelbarrow. This latter is the point of this diversion away from steam engines. The only part of the barrow that was genuine barrow was the iron wheel. The rest was made from old ¾” inch pipe and the body consisted of a 44 gallon drum cut in half along its length and the resulting semi-cylinder mounted on the frame with much of its length ahead of the wheel. Thus, the wheel carried most of the load and the centre of gravity of the whole assembly was very high. Rare were the times when I made it to the out-door dump site without the outfit taking charge and doing a preview dump. Rather later in a works where I was employed they had created their wheelbarrow a little differently. In this mark 2 version a 44 gallon drum was cut about a third of its height around its circumference and secured on a frame well back from the wheel, in fact so far back that one felt that one was doing all of the work and personally carrying everything except the wheel.
I commenced serving an apprenticeship in the engineering trade in 1935. The works repaired factory steam boilers, serviced the few of the remaining steam engines and repaired some local council road roller boilers. Gas and electric welding and turning and fitting were the main stays of the business. Dairy factory and freezing works machinery installation and maintenance were ongoing services.
My first introduction to steam action in the plant was to dismantle and smash up two in stock “Shand” single cylinder horizontal engines that had never turned a flywheel. Electricity reticulation had taken over and the scrap metal dealers collected.
Some months later the next meeting with steam was with one of the city council road rollers that had been the object of my schoolboy interest as it ploughed up old street gravel and tar bases in preparation for reforming and resurfacing. The execution of this process was about the ultimate in graunching. The steam roller, no light weight puffed and jerked mightily. A wondrous sight for a small boy! But as I was to learn the operation repeated over time found relatively weak points in the boiler structure, namely the firebox wrapper front corners which developed cracks where the side sheets formed into the throat plate. Thus, the machine was steamed into the blacksmith’s shop and the trouble spots exposed and the cracks chiselled out and electric welded. Some water-leg stays in the regions also had to be replaced. For this memorable piece of work I had to crouch inside the fire-box and hold a steel dolly against the stays that were being hammered and headed from the outside. I now wear hearing aids, I wonder if that was the start of the defect.
My home town had a wool processing, dying, spinning and knitting mill. In its wool dying section was a large steam driven centrifuge dryer. It was mounted on a short vertical shaft with a crank beneath that rotated in a horizontal plain. The single double acting cylinder with its crosshead and connecting rod and valve eccentric rod were normally covered by a checker plate floor. The slide valve and seating had worn, so it was our job to remove the steam chest cover, remove the valve for refacing and lap the port surface. I worked with the works foreman on this job which finally finished and assembled he cautiously opened up the steam supply and spun the bowl up to what we thought to be its operating speed. The dye-works foreman came on the scene to observe progress and spun the stop valve wide open whereon the whole thing tore into life with the giant bowl howling and the crankshaft vanishing into a blur. We took a quick look for an escape route, but that was the norm and all was well.
Being the new apprentice part of my regular job on Monday mornings was to oil the overhead main and counter-shaft bearings. There were wooden plank cat-walks with no hand rails above the shafts and bearings and because of the height above the floor and the whirling pulleys beneath me I would gingerly crawl from point to point much to the amusement of the old hands. But I became accustomed to the height and underfoot action to eventually sprint through the maze with the best of them.
Friday afternoons were sweep-up days and of course this was again my regular job. This involved tools of the trade, bristle broom, shovel and wheelbarrow. This latter is the point of this diversion away from steam engines. The only part of the barrow that was genuine barrow was the iron wheel. The rest was made from old ¾” inch pipe and the body consisted of a 44 gallon drum cut in half along its length and the resulting semi-cylinder mounted on the frame with much of its length ahead of the wheel. Thus, the wheel carried most of the load and the centre of gravity of the whole assembly was very high. Rare were the times when I made it to the out-door dump site without the outfit taking charge and doing a preview dump. Rather later in a works where I was employed they had created their wheelbarrow a little differently. In this mark 2 version a 44 gallon drum was cut about a third of its height around its circumference and secured on a frame well back from the wheel, in fact so far back that one felt that one was doing all of the work and personally carrying everything except the wheel.
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