The Restoration Chronicles of 721
By Jerred Ruble of Hanlontown Iowa
I purchased this engine at Leonard Rynda's sale in May of 2004. The engine's number is
721, built in 1893. I have been told by a reliable source this is the oldest known
Minneapolis engine left, but I have no way to verify this other than someone telling me
my claim is incorrect, which I encourage anyone to do.
I received a lead about an engine # 512 thought to still exist. The engine showed up on
the steam-tractors.com
web site. After making several calls and one trip I discovered that all that remains of
#512 is the cylinder with its name plate. I consider this as a remnant and no contest
for my claim that #721 is the oldest surviving Minneapolis steam traction engine.
Here is a picture of the engine (copied from the steam traction site) as it sat for over
50 years at Montgomery, MN.
I will attempt to provide a chronicle of the restoration on this page, updating the page
as the restoration process continues. The work is being done at Heritage Park of North
Iowa. This year's mild winter has allowed the work to proceed in the large
unheated machinery building. You will notice partial pictures of other units stored in
the building.
December 3 & 4, 2005
With the help of Brian Patterson and Eric Bremer, we removed the smoke box ends on both
the front and the rear. Had to torch most of the bolts. This allowed a thorough visual
inspection of the boiler to be completed. These initial set of photos were taken after
the smoke box ends were removed. I plan to do a detailed ultrasonic thickness test this
weekend and assess my options further, but based on the visual inspection, I may need to
have a replacement boiler constructed. To that end I am currently in the process of
making some inquires.
Removing the smoke box ends for inspection.
Visual inspection of the boiler after smoke box removal.
Examining the condition of the boiler.
View of the boiler interior.
Inspecting the smoke box area.
Examining boiler components.
Further assessment of the boiler condition.
Detailed inspection of boiler components.
Examining areas of concern in the boiler.
Inspecting additional boiler components.
Further inspection of the boiler.
Assessing the overall condition of the boiler.
Final inspection of boiler components.
December 11, 2005
The goal today was to remove all the piping from the engine. I only had about three hours
to work on the project. I first took pictures of how all the existing piping was plumbed
so I can use it as a pattern when I get to the piping point later in the summer. I know
it was not the original pipe, but from factory photos I was pretty confident it was
plumbed the way it came from the factory.
Documenting the piping before removal.
Original piping configuration.
Additional view of the piping configuration.
Engine components and piping.
Detailed view of the piping connections.
Additional piping details.
As I removed the pipe, I put all the fittings back together to use as a pattern when I
installed the new pipe. I was a little surprised to find that a mouse had found his way
to the cross head pump.
Mouse nest discovered in the cross head pump.
Removing the piping from the engine.
A problem presented itself as I went to remove the bottom valve for the water column. To
remove the valve I discovered I will first need to remove the gear guard. That project
will need to be left for another day. My three hours was just about up. Other than that
problem though, I did manage to remove all of the other piping. As you can see, it
required a little heat to remove some of the fittings.
Using heat to remove stubborn fittings.
Continuing the piping removal process.
Piping components after removal.
December 17 & 18, 2005
Brian Patterson decided to come over from Emmetsburg, IA to help out a little over the
weekend. We continued with the dismantling. Got the rest of the rear smoke box off,
removed the piston for inspection and removed the preheated ends for inspection. As you
can see, we disturbed another cozy mouse home in the preheated. I was really surprised
to see what good condition the cylinder, piston and rings were in. Front tank will need
some help.
Continuing the dismantling process.
Removing the piston for inspection.
Another mouse nest discovered during disassembly.
Engine components during disassembly.
Inspecting the cylinder condition.
Progress of the disassembly work.
January 4, 2006
Over the Holidays, I made the decision to essentially have a new boiler constructed.
Craig's Restoration Services from Durant, IA was given the contract to do the work. That
decision being made, I will now need to remove the engine and traction components from
the old boiler and deliver the old boiler to Craig so the boiler work can be started.
January 7, 2006
The goal today was to remove the engine. I wanted to remove the engine intact if
possible. This would greatly simplify the reassemble project. Removing the engine would
consist of removing 36, ½" cap screws that held the engine mounting castings to the
boiler. I am sure they had not been removed since installation at the factory in 1893.
Most of them were rusted in pretty good. We had to use some pretty heavy duty brut force
to get them out. We broke only 4 of the cap screws. The rest of them came out but we
ruined the threads in about 90% of them. I'll need to get all new ones mode. I had
several friends stop by to help out. My thanks to Dave Hill, Chuck Holland, Wyndham
Sellers, Bill Haun and Norman Taylor for their help. It took us right at 8 hours to get
the engine off.
Beginning the engine removal process.
Removing the cap screws holding the engine to the boiler.
Continuing the engine disassembly.
Engine components during removal.
Progress of the engine removal.
Further progress on engine disassembly.
Engine components after removal.
Final stages of engine removal.
The engine after complete removal from the boiler.
January 14, 2006
The goal today was to remove the traction components and get the boiler removed and
loaded on the trailer for transport to Durant, IA. Things went relatively straight
forward. The cap screws still came out hard, but we had perfected our procedure for
removing them. We had to remove the rear wheels to get access to the rear axle mounting
brackets. Thanks to Eric Bremer, Brain Patterson, Wyndham Sellers and Chuck Holland we
had all the cap screws out by noon and the boiler loaded on the trailed early in the
afternoon. Turned out to be a short day.
Removing the traction components.
Removing the rear wheels for access to mounting brackets.
Continuing the component removal process.
Preparing the boiler for transport.
Loading the boiler onto the trailer.
The boiler loaded and ready for transport.
Preparing for boiler transport to Durant, IA.
The boiler secured for transport.
January 15, 2006
Today we delivered the boiler to Craig's Restoration in Durant, IA. Craig Dobbins and
Gary Flack gave us a tour of their shop and some of the other work they have in
progress. Sounded like my project would be started almost immediately. That sounded
really good to me as my goal to have the engine up and running at Heritage Park's fall
show seems closer and closer each day.
Here we are unloading the boiler at Craig's shop. That is Craig on the JD tractor.
Delivering the boiler to Craig's Restoration in Durant, IA.
Unloading the boiler at Craig's shop.
February 19, 2006
Brian and Eric were over this weekend to help out on the 15
Rumely restoration. We completed what we wanted to accomplish on that project on
Saturday, so we decided to work some on 721. Didn't have a lot of time so we decided to
polish some brass. Eric took on that project. As you can see he has most of the brass
look'n good.
Eric polishing the brass components.
The brass components after polishing.
May 10, 2007
The new boiler arrived. My IH 806 had a hard time lifting the boiler, but we managed to
get it off loaded and safely on the ground. That's Craig Dobbins and yours truly
breathing a sigh of relief.
The new boiler arriving at the site.
Unloading the new boiler.
The new boiler after unloading.
November 23, 2008
After over of year of down time, my helpers and I started mounting the fixtures on the
new boiler. The boiler is sitting upside down allowing easier mounting of the rear axle
assembly and front pedestal. That's Brain Paterson helping out on this day.
Beginning to mount fixtures on the new boiler.
Working on the rear axle assembly.
Mounting the front pedestal.
Collin Hall and Wyndham Sellers showed up to lend a hand as well. Collin is removing the
masking tape from the intermediate gear fixture while Wyndham lends a hand to Brain
installing the differential shaft.
Collin removing masking tape from the intermediate gear fixture.
Wyndham and Brain installing the differential shaft.
Installing additional components on the boiler.
With the axle assembly installed, it was time to up right the boiler. This process
required numerous small turns with the crane until we had it right side up.
Beginning the process of uprighting the boiler.
Rotating the boiler to upright position.
The boiler in upright position.
Once upright we could install the differential gears and the hind wheels. At the end of
the day we had the engine resting on its rear wheels again for the first time in 3
years. This was short of our 4 wheel goal, but Brian, Collin and I all felt good with
what we had accomplished in a single day.
Installing the differential gears.
Installing the rear wheels.
The engine resting on its rear wheels again.
December 7, 2008
Brian Patterson, Nick Feltus and Eric Bremer put in a day while I was on a business trip.
They painter the top half of the boiler and installed the front wheel. Finally on all
fours again.
The top half of the boiler after painting.
The engine with front wheel installed, now on all fours.
December 14, 2008
Next we turned to cleaning and painting the smoke box and motor parts.
Cleaning the smoke box components.
Cleaning the motor parts.
Painting the cleaned components.
December 27, 2008
I was by myself today. I worked on cleaning and priming the motor and motor parts.
Cleaning the motor components.
Priming the motor parts.
Preparing the motor for reassembly.
December 28, 2008
Motor primed and ready to mount on the boiler.
The motor primed and ready for mounting.
January 4, 2009
The crew today consisted of Brian Patterson, Eric Bremer and Collin Hall. We first
properly positioned the motor and intermediate gear. Marked the holes with a transfer
punch then removed everything to drill the holes with my magnetic drill.
Positioning the motor and intermediate gear.
Marking holes with a transfer punch.
Drilling holes with a magnetic drill.
The fixtures were then reposition and threads tapped with the fixtures in position to
ensure each cap screw would thread properly into the boiler. At the end of the day we
had the intermediate gear as well as the motor installed on the boiler.
Tapping threads for the cap screws.
Installing the intermediate gear.
The motor installed on the boiler.
Progress to date.
View of the restoration progress.
Another view of the restoration progress.
January 11, 2009
To we worked on the front and rear smoke boxes. Nick Feltus and I worked on the front.
Working on the front smoke box.
Installing the smoke box components.
Continuing work on the smoke boxes.
Brian Patterson worked on the rear. By the end of the day we day both smoke boxes pretty
much done.
Brian working on the rear smoke box.
Both smoke boxes completed.
January 17, 2009
Bill Haun and Lucas Munson putting the final touches on the front smoke box door heat
shield.
Working on the front smoke box door heat shield.
Bryce and Lucas Munson installing the front smoke box side heat shields
Installing the front smoke box side heat shields.
Bryce Munson, Lucas Munson and Collin Hall at the end of the day. Front heat shields 90%
installed.
Front heat shields 90% installed.
January 24, 2009
Nick Feltas finishing up the front heat shields
Nick finishing up the front heat shields.
Jerred, Nick and Brian assess the fabrication needed to install the fire box door.
Assessing the fabrication needed for the fire box door.
Brian drilling holes needed to install the fire box door.
Brian drilling holes for the fire box door installation.
January 25, 2009
Complete rear smoke box Sunday afternoon
The completed rear smoke box.
January 31, 2009
Weather turned warm for a day so we took advantage and painted a few parts.
Painting components during warm weather.
Additional painting work.
Freshly painted components.
February 7, 2009
Decided to work on assembling parts of the engine today. Here the clutch and pinion gear
were installed.
Installing the clutch and pinion gear.
Next Bill Haun fit the shoes he had made several months earlier.
Bill fitting the shoes he had made earlier.
Brian and Collin working on installing the governor base.
Installing the governor base.
February 8, 2009
Assembly continued today with the flywheel
Installing the flywheel.
Just about there.
Assembly progress, getting close.
There, looking more like a steamer everyday.
Looking more like a steamer everyday.
March 7, 2009
Lawrence Swanz and Oly Maas took on the job of piping the engine.
Lawrence and Oly piping the engine.
There was no room for error in cutting and treading the pipes. Here they are making the
final adjustments.
Making final adjustments to the piping.
Brian and Eric worked on putting the front tank together in the meantime.
Brian and Eric assembling the front tank.
March 8, 2009
With the engine plumbed to the dry pipe, Nichols Swanz was able to assemble the stack
casting.
Nicholas assembling the stack casting.
Brian and Eric completed the front tank. It really came out nice.
The completed front tank.
After a long day, Collin and Nichols found a comfortable spot to take a little rest.
Collin and Nicholas taking a rest after a long day.
March 14, 2009
Bryce and Lucas Munson came out today to help install the front tank supports.
Installing the front tank supports.
Collin got after doing some intricate painting.
Collin doing intricate painting work.
Painting almost done on the motor.
Painting nearly complete on the motor.
March 21, 2009
Doug and Steven Langenbach from Fynnlanson, MN delivered the canopy today. All I could
say was beautiful.
The beautiful canopy delivered by Doug and Steven Langenbach.
Brain and I worked on assembling the motor after we got done admiring Doug and Steven's
workmanship. Here Brian is install the piston.
Brian installing the piston.
Next we work on installing the connecting rod.
Installing the connecting rod.
March 22, 2009
Eccentric was next
Installing the eccentric.
Then on to timing the motor.
Timing the motor.
Setting the valve
Setting the valve.
Finally connected the pipes at the top of the dome to feed the motor.
Finally we were ready for a test run on air. We plugged all the boiler feed lines and
pumped the boiler up to about 50 lbs of air.
Connecting the pipes at the top of the dome.
The engine successfully ran on air during this test.
April 18/19, 2009
Time to put a little eye candy on the engine.
Collin Hall installing the whistle.
Bill Haun painting the star on the disc.
Bill Haun adding lettering to the cylinder.
The beautifully restored engine.
Nick Feltus applying the final coat of paint to the front tank.
While the rest of us were putting final touches on the paint, Brian worked on the
boiler piping.
May 10, 2009
The day finally arrived for first steam.
The crew gathered for the first steam. From left to right: Monte Topp, Scot Evans,
Nick Feltus, Eric Bremer, Eileen Ruble, Jim
Evans, Lucas Munson, Brian Patterson, and Bryce Munson.
Waiting for the boiler to build steam.
May 17, 2009
How it looked at Heritage Park steam School. Needs a little more eye candy such as the
tank striping and filly dilly. The engine performed beautifully for the students.
The engine at Heritage Park Steam School.
The engine successfully moving under its own steam power.
I purchased this engine at Leonard Rynda's sale in May of 2004. The engine's number is 721, built in 1893. I have been told by a reliable source this is the oldest known Minneapolis engine left, but I have no way to verify this other than someone telling me my claim is incorrect, which I encourage anyone to do.
I received a lead about an engine # 512 thought to still exist. The engine showed up on the steam-tractors.com web site. After making several calls and one trip I discovered that all that remains of #512 is the cylinder with its name plate. I consider this as a remnant and no contest for my claim that #721 is the oldest surviving Minneapolis steam traction engine.
Here is a picture of the engine (copied from the steam traction site) as it sat for over 50 years at Montgomery, MN.
I will attempt to provide a chronicle of the restoration on this page, updating the page as the restoration process continues. The work is being done at Heritage Park of North Iowa. This year's mild winter has allowed the work to proceed in the large unheated machinery building. You will notice partial pictures of other units stored in the building.
December 3 & 4, 2005
With the help of Brian Patterson and Eric Bremer, we removed the smoke box ends on both the front and the rear. Had to torch most of the bolts. This allowed a thorough visual inspection of the boiler to be completed. These initial set of photos were taken after the smoke box ends were removed. I plan to do a detailed ultrasonic thickness test this weekend and assess my options further, but based on the visual inspection, I may need to have a replacement boiler constructed. To that end I am currently in the process of making some inquires.
Removing the smoke box ends for inspection.
Visual inspection of the boiler after smoke box removal.
Examining the condition of the boiler.
View of the boiler interior.
Inspecting the smoke box area.
Examining boiler components.
Further assessment of the boiler condition.
Detailed inspection of boiler components.
Examining areas of concern in the boiler.
Inspecting additional boiler components.
Further inspection of the boiler.
Assessing the overall condition of the boiler.
Final inspection of boiler components.
December 11, 2005
The goal today was to remove all the piping from the engine. I only had about three hours to work on the project. I first took pictures of how all the existing piping was plumbed so I can use it as a pattern when I get to the piping point later in the summer. I know it was not the original pipe, but from factory photos I was pretty confident it was plumbed the way it came from the factory.
Documenting the piping before removal.
Original piping configuration.
Additional view of the piping configuration.
Engine components and piping.
Detailed view of the piping connections.
Additional piping details.
As I removed the pipe, I put all the fittings back together to use as a pattern when I installed the new pipe. I was a little surprised to find that a mouse had found his way to the cross head pump.
Mouse nest discovered in the cross head pump.
Removing the piping from the engine.
A problem presented itself as I went to remove the bottom valve for the water column. To remove the valve I discovered I will first need to remove the gear guard. That project will need to be left for another day. My three hours was just about up. Other than that problem though, I did manage to remove all of the other piping. As you can see, it required a little heat to remove some of the fittings.
Using heat to remove stubborn fittings.
Continuing the piping removal process.
Piping components after removal.
December 17 & 18, 2005
Brian Patterson decided to come over from Emmetsburg, IA to help out a little over the weekend. We continued with the dismantling. Got the rest of the rear smoke box off, removed the piston for inspection and removed the preheated ends for inspection. As you can see, we disturbed another cozy mouse home in the preheated. I was really surprised to see what good condition the cylinder, piston and rings were in. Front tank will need some help.
Continuing the dismantling process.
Removing the piston for inspection.
Another mouse nest discovered during disassembly.
Engine components during disassembly.
Inspecting the cylinder condition.
Progress of the disassembly work.
January 4, 2006
Over the Holidays, I made the decision to essentially have a new boiler constructed. Craig's Restoration Services from Durant, IA was given the contract to do the work. That decision being made, I will now need to remove the engine and traction components from the old boiler and deliver the old boiler to Craig so the boiler work can be started.
January 7, 2006
The goal today was to remove the engine. I wanted to remove the engine intact if possible. This would greatly simplify the reassemble project. Removing the engine would consist of removing 36, ½" cap screws that held the engine mounting castings to the boiler. I am sure they had not been removed since installation at the factory in 1893. Most of them were rusted in pretty good. We had to use some pretty heavy duty brut force to get them out. We broke only 4 of the cap screws. The rest of them came out but we ruined the threads in about 90% of them. I'll need to get all new ones mode. I had several friends stop by to help out. My thanks to Dave Hill, Chuck Holland, Wyndham Sellers, Bill Haun and Norman Taylor for their help. It took us right at 8 hours to get the engine off.
Beginning the engine removal process.
Removing the cap screws holding the engine to the boiler.
Continuing the engine disassembly.
Engine components during removal.
Progress of the engine removal.
Further progress on engine disassembly.
Engine components after removal.
Final stages of engine removal.
The engine after complete removal from the boiler.
January 14, 2006
The goal today was to remove the traction components and get the boiler removed and loaded on the trailer for transport to Durant, IA. Things went relatively straight forward. The cap screws still came out hard, but we had perfected our procedure for removing them. We had to remove the rear wheels to get access to the rear axle mounting brackets. Thanks to Eric Bremer, Brain Patterson, Wyndham Sellers and Chuck Holland we had all the cap screws out by noon and the boiler loaded on the trailed early in the afternoon. Turned out to be a short day.
Removing the traction components.
Removing the rear wheels for access to mounting brackets.
Continuing the component removal process.
Preparing the boiler for transport.
Loading the boiler onto the trailer.
The boiler loaded and ready for transport.
Preparing for boiler transport to Durant, IA.
The boiler secured for transport.
January 15, 2006
Today we delivered the boiler to Craig's Restoration in Durant, IA. Craig Dobbins and Gary Flack gave us a tour of their shop and some of the other work they have in progress. Sounded like my project would be started almost immediately. That sounded really good to me as my goal to have the engine up and running at Heritage Park's fall show seems closer and closer each day.
Here we are unloading the boiler at Craig's shop. That is Craig on the JD tractor.
Delivering the boiler to Craig's Restoration in Durant, IA.
Unloading the boiler at Craig's shop.
February 19, 2006
Brian and Eric were over this weekend to help out on the 15 Rumely restoration. We completed what we wanted to accomplish on that project on Saturday, so we decided to work some on 721. Didn't have a lot of time so we decided to polish some brass. Eric took on that project. As you can see he has most of the brass look'n good.
Eric polishing the brass components.
The brass components after polishing.
May 10, 2007
The new boiler arrived. My IH 806 had a hard time lifting the boiler, but we managed to get it off loaded and safely on the ground. That's Craig Dobbins and yours truly breathing a sigh of relief.
The new boiler arriving at the site.
Unloading the new boiler.
The new boiler after unloading.
November 23, 2008
After over of year of down time, my helpers and I started mounting the fixtures on the new boiler. The boiler is sitting upside down allowing easier mounting of the rear axle assembly and front pedestal. That's Brain Paterson helping out on this day.
Beginning to mount fixtures on the new boiler.
Working on the rear axle assembly.
Mounting the front pedestal.
Collin Hall and Wyndham Sellers showed up to lend a hand as well. Collin is removing the masking tape from the intermediate gear fixture while Wyndham lends a hand to Brain installing the differential shaft.
Collin removing masking tape from the intermediate gear fixture.
Wyndham and Brain installing the differential shaft.
Installing additional components on the boiler.
With the axle assembly installed, it was time to up right the boiler. This process required numerous small turns with the crane until we had it right side up.
Beginning the process of uprighting the boiler.
Rotating the boiler to upright position.
The boiler in upright position.
Once upright we could install the differential gears and the hind wheels. At the end of the day we had the engine resting on its rear wheels again for the first time in 3 years. This was short of our 4 wheel goal, but Brian, Collin and I all felt good with what we had accomplished in a single day.
Installing the differential gears.
Installing the rear wheels.
The engine resting on its rear wheels again.
December 7, 2008
Brian Patterson, Nick Feltus and Eric Bremer put in a day while I was on a business trip. They painter the top half of the boiler and installed the front wheel. Finally on all fours again.
The top half of the boiler after painting.
The engine with front wheel installed, now on all fours.
December 14, 2008
Next we turned to cleaning and painting the smoke box and motor parts.
Cleaning the smoke box components.
Cleaning the motor parts.
Painting the cleaned components.
December 27, 2008
I was by myself today. I worked on cleaning and priming the motor and motor parts.
Cleaning the motor components.
Priming the motor parts.
Preparing the motor for reassembly.
December 28, 2008
Motor primed and ready to mount on the boiler.
The motor primed and ready for mounting.
January 4, 2009
The crew today consisted of Brian Patterson, Eric Bremer and Collin Hall. We first properly positioned the motor and intermediate gear. Marked the holes with a transfer punch then removed everything to drill the holes with my magnetic drill.
Positioning the motor and intermediate gear.
Marking holes with a transfer punch.
Drilling holes with a magnetic drill.
The fixtures were then reposition and threads tapped with the fixtures in position to ensure each cap screw would thread properly into the boiler. At the end of the day we had the intermediate gear as well as the motor installed on the boiler.
Tapping threads for the cap screws.
Installing the intermediate gear.
The motor installed on the boiler.
Progress to date.
View of the restoration progress.
Another view of the restoration progress.
January 11, 2009
To we worked on the front and rear smoke boxes. Nick Feltus and I worked on the front.
Working on the front smoke box.
Installing the smoke box components.
Continuing work on the smoke boxes.
Brian Patterson worked on the rear. By the end of the day we day both smoke boxes pretty much done.
Brian working on the rear smoke box.
Both smoke boxes completed.
January 17, 2009
Bill Haun and Lucas Munson putting the final touches on the front smoke box door heat shield.
Working on the front smoke box door heat shield.
Bryce and Lucas Munson installing the front smoke box side heat shields
Installing the front smoke box side heat shields.
Bryce Munson, Lucas Munson and Collin Hall at the end of the day. Front heat shields 90% installed.
Front heat shields 90% installed.
January 24, 2009
Nick Feltas finishing up the front heat shields
Nick finishing up the front heat shields.
Jerred, Nick and Brian assess the fabrication needed to install the fire box door.
Assessing the fabrication needed for the fire box door.
Brian drilling holes needed to install the fire box door.
Brian drilling holes for the fire box door installation.
January 25, 2009
Complete rear smoke box Sunday afternoon
The completed rear smoke box.
January 31, 2009
Weather turned warm for a day so we took advantage and painted a few parts.
Painting components during warm weather.
Additional painting work.
Freshly painted components.
February 7, 2009
Decided to work on assembling parts of the engine today. Here the clutch and pinion gear were installed.
Installing the clutch and pinion gear.
Next Bill Haun fit the shoes he had made several months earlier.
Bill fitting the shoes he had made earlier.
Brian and Collin working on installing the governor base.
Installing the governor base.
February 8, 2009
Assembly continued today with the flywheel
Installing the flywheel.
Just about there.
Assembly progress, getting close.
There, looking more like a steamer everyday.
Looking more like a steamer everyday.
March 7, 2009
Lawrence Swanz and Oly Maas took on the job of piping the engine.
Lawrence and Oly piping the engine.
There was no room for error in cutting and treading the pipes. Here they are making the final adjustments.
Making final adjustments to the piping.
Brian and Eric worked on putting the front tank together in the meantime.
Brian and Eric assembling the front tank.
March 8, 2009
With the engine plumbed to the dry pipe, Nichols Swanz was able to assemble the stack casting.
Nicholas assembling the stack casting.
Brian and Eric completed the front tank. It really came out nice.
The completed front tank.
After a long day, Collin and Nichols found a comfortable spot to take a little rest.
Collin and Nicholas taking a rest after a long day.
March 14, 2009
Bryce and Lucas Munson came out today to help install the front tank supports.
Installing the front tank supports.
Collin got after doing some intricate painting.
Collin doing intricate painting work.
Painting almost done on the motor.
Painting nearly complete on the motor.
March 21, 2009
Doug and Steven Langenbach from Fynnlanson, MN delivered the canopy today. All I could say was beautiful.
The beautiful canopy delivered by Doug and Steven Langenbach.
Brain and I worked on assembling the motor after we got done admiring Doug and Steven's workmanship. Here Brian is install the piston.
Brian installing the piston.
Next we work on installing the connecting rod.
Installing the connecting rod.
March 22, 2009
Eccentric was next
Installing the eccentric.
Then on to timing the motor.
Timing the motor.
Setting the valve
Setting the valve.
Finally connected the pipes at the top of the dome to feed the motor.
Finally we were ready for a test run on air. We plugged all the boiler feed lines and pumped the boiler up to about 50 lbs of air.
Connecting the pipes at the top of the dome.
The engine successfully ran on air during this test.
April 18/19, 2009
Time to put a little eye candy on the engine.
Collin Hall installing the whistle.
Bill Haun painting the star on the disc.
Bill Haun adding lettering to the cylinder.
The beautifully restored engine.
Nick Feltus applying the final coat of paint to the front tank.
While the rest of us were putting final touches on the paint, Brian worked on the boiler piping.
May 10, 2009
The day finally arrived for first steam.
The crew gathered for the first steam. From left to right: Monte Topp, Scot Evans, Nick Feltus, Eric Bremer, Eileen Ruble, Jim Evans, Lucas Munson, Brian Patterson, and Bryce Munson.
Waiting for the boiler to build steam.
May 17, 2009
How it looked at Heritage Park steam School. Needs a little more eye candy such as the tank striping and filly dilly. The engine performed beautifully for the students.
The engine at Heritage Park Steam School.
The engine successfully moving under its own steam power.