Loco storage

[steamer68]

Hi Rik you have a lovely collection housed in their own display cabinet.

[JMORG]

We use homemade wooden carry boxes with heavy duty hinges and catches. One thing we always do when storing locomotives (especially during winter) is to leave the regulator open when not in use. This prevents a vacuum forming within the boiler and causing stress.

[tom_tom_go]

I leave the blower open on my coal fired loco when not in use.

Never left the regulator open on gas locos and Roundhouse manuals state to close all controls when not in use?

[GTB]

We use homemade wooden carry boxes with heavy duty hinges and catches. One thing we always do when storing locomotives (especially during winter) is to leave the regulator open when not in use. This prevents a vacuum forming within the boiler and causing stress.

If you do the calculation using the temperature range for Gloucester, the pressure differential in a closed vessel is approx 1psi between the winter min. and the summer max. temperatures.

Which is negligible in a pressure vessel designed to operate at 40psi with a safety factor of 7.

While a pressure differential of 1psi won't stress the metal shell, it may be enough for oil to find it's way from the lubricator into the boiler through an open throttle.

Since my locos don't run very often, I drain the boiler and leave the filler plug out when they are stored. I don't leave the boiler open because I'm concerned about stressing the metal, I do it so the boiler dries out. The throttle is kept closed and the reverser is in mid gear.

Regards,
Graeme