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53-704: Service began with the purchase of three-truck Shay locomotive No. 10 from the West Side Lumber Company railway of Tuolumne, California . Built in 1928, No. 10 is reputedly the largest narrow gauge Shay locomotive—and one of the last constructed. In 1986, the YMSPRR purchased Shay No. 15—also a former West Side Lumber Company locomotive—from the West Side & Cherry Valley Railroad tourist line in Tuolumne. The steam locomotives operate daily during

106-482: A flume that stretched 54 miles (87 km) from Sugar Pine to Madera, California . This was the most efficient way to transport rough cut lumber out of the mountains for finishing and transport at the bottom of the mountain. The Madera Sugar Pine Lumber Company practiced clearcutting , which removed almost every single tree within the stands of timber surrounding the YMSPRR track. The thick forest surrounding YMSPRR today belies this history, although large stumps from

159-420: A fossil fuel power plant using a steam cycle for power generation, the primary heat source will be combustion of coal , oil , or natural gas . In some cases byproduct fuel such as the carbon monoxide rich offgasses of a coke battery can be burned to heat a boiler; biofuels such as bagasse , where economically available, can also be used. In a nuclear power plant, boilers called steam generators are heated by

212-448: A steam locomotive . This is because unavoidable temperature and/or pressure loss that occurs as steam travels from the boiler to the machinery will cause some condensation, resulting in liquid water being carried into the machinery. The water entrained in the steam may damage turbine blades or in the case of a reciprocating steam engine , may cause serious mechanical damage due to hydrostatic lock . Superheated steam boilers evaporate

265-405: A boiler is combustion of any of several fuels , such as wood , coal , oil , or natural gas . Electric steam boilers use resistance- or immersion-type heating elements. Nuclear fission is also used as a heat source for generating steam , either directly (BWR) or, in most cases, in specialised heat exchangers called "steam generators" (PWR). Heat recovery steam generators (HRSGs) use

318-503: A chain drive from the engine through the floor to the truck axle. It is not known if he powered one or both axles, but he soon found that the chain drive was not practical and he next tried a belt drive. It did not take long for the idea to become popular. Shay applied for and was issued a patent for the basic idea in 1881. He patented an improved geared truck for his engines in 1901. Lima Locomotive Works of Lima, Ohio built Ephraim Shay's prototype engine in 1880. Prior to 1884, all

371-526: A collection of historic locomotives, including two operational steam locomotives: Shay locomotive The Shay locomotive is a geared steam locomotive that originated and was primarily used in North America . The locomotives were built to the patents of Ephraim Shay , who has been credited with the popularization of the concept of a geared steam locomotive . Although the design of Ephraim Shay's early locomotives differed from later ones, there

424-414: A minimum of time. It is designed to take any curve on which standard cars can be operated." The company emphasized its performance on "steep grades", "uneven track", and "track too light for a direct engine of the same axle load". Shay locomotives had regular fire-tube boilers offset to the left to provide space for, and counterbalance the weight of, a two or three cylinder "motor," mounted vertically on

477-585: A patent on an improved geared truck for such locomotives. These became known as Willamette locomotives . Since "Shay" was a trademark of Lima, strictly speaking it is incorrect to refer to locomotives manufactured by Willamette and others as "Shays". Six Shay Patent locomotives, known as Henderson-style Shays, were built by the Michigan Iron Works in Cadillac, Michigan . According to Lima Locomotive Works in 1925, "The Shay Geared Locomotive has

530-442: A source of many serious injuries and property destruction due to poorly understood engineering principles. Thin and brittle metal shells can rupture, while poorly welded or riveted seams could open up, leading to a violent eruption of the pressurized steam. When water is converted to steam it expands to over 1,000 times its original volume and travels down steam pipes at over 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph). Because of this, steam

583-505: A two-truck tender was necessary because the poor water quality along the line meant that the locomotive had to carry enough water for a round trip. Lewis E. Feightner, working for Lima, patented improved engine mounting brackets and a superheater for the Shay in 1908 and 1909. After the basic Shay patents had expired, Willamette Iron and Steel Works of Portland, Oregon , manufactured Shay-type locomotives, and in 1927, Willamette obtained

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636-406: A wide and varied range of service, being used in industrial, quarry, contractors, logging, mining and plantation work; (also on branch lines and mountain sections of trunk-line railways). It is especially adapted to industrial railroads in and around large manufacturing plants. Its value as a switching engine is due to the rapidity with which it will accelerate a load and to its ability to spot cars in

689-459: Is a clear line of development that joins all Shays. Shay locomotives were especially suited to logging, mining and industrial operations and could operate successfully on steep or poor quality track. Ephraim Shay (1839–1916), was a schoolteacher, a clerk in an American Civil War hospital, a civil servant, a logger , a merchant , a railway owner, and an inventor who lived in Michigan . In

742-522: Is an efficient method of moving energy and heat around a site from a central boiler house to where it is needed, but without the right boiler feedwater treatment, a steam-raising plant will suffer from scale formation and corrosion. At best, this increases energy costs and can lead to poor quality steam, reduced efficiency, shorter plant life and unreliable operation. At worst, it can lead to catastrophic failure and loss of life. Collapsed or dislodged boiler tubes can also spray scalding-hot steam and smoke out of

795-414: Is boiled the result is saturated steam , also referred to as "wet steam." Saturated steam, while mostly consisting of water vapor, carries some unevaporated water in the form of droplets. Saturated steam is useful for many purposes, such as cooking , heating and sanitation , but is not desirable when steam is expected to convey energy to machinery, such as a ship's propulsion system or the "motion" of

848-408: Is by simply using an induced draught fan (ID fan) which removes flue gases from the furnace and forces the exhaust gas up the stack. Almost all induced draught furnaces operate with a slightly negative pressure. Mechanical forced draught is provided by means of a fan forcing air into the combustion chamber. Air is often passed through an air heater; which, as the name suggests, heats the air going into

901-458: Is often used in superheater sections that will not be exposed to boiling water , and electrically-heated stainless steel shell boilers are allowed under the European "Pressure Equipment Directive" for production of steam for sterilizers and disinfectors. In live steam models , copper or brass is often used because it is more easily fabricated in smaller size boilers. Historically, copper

954-416: The condenser . This results in slightly less fuel use and therefore less greenhouse gas production. The term "boiler" should not be used for a supercritical pressure steam generator, as no "boiling" occurs in this device. A fuel -heated boiler must provide air to oxidize its fuel. Early boilers provided this stream of air, or draught , through the natural action of convection in a chimney connected to

1007-433: The 1860s, he became a logger and wanted a better way to move logs to the mill than on winter snow sleds. He built his own tramway in 1875, on 2 ft 2 in ( 660 mm ) gauge track on wooden ties , allowing him to log all year round. Two years later he developed the idea of having an engine sit on a flatcar with a boiler , gears, and trucks that could pivot. The first Shay only had two cylinders and

1060-527: The Shays Lima produced weighed 10 to 15 short tons (8.9 to 13.4 long tons; 9.1 to 13.6 t) each and had just two cylinders. In 1884, they delivered the first 3-cylinder (Class B) Shay, and in 1885, the first 3-truck (Class C) Shay. The success of the Shay led to a major expansion and reorganization of the Lima company. When Lima first received the Shay idea it was not impressed, until John Carnes influenced

1113-564: The Sr. Octaviano B. Cabrera Co., San Luis de la Paz , Mexico. 115 Shays survive today, some a combination of parts of two Shays. This is a partial list: Boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water ) is heated . The fluid does not necessarily boil . The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating , central heating , boiler-based power generation , cooking , and sanitation . In

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1166-634: The West Side Lumber Company after it ceased railroad operations in 1961. After his retirement in 1981, Rudy Stauffer was succeeded by his son, Max, as the railroad's owner and operator. Max Stauffer died on March 10, 2017. In late August 2017, the Railroad Fire , which started near the railroad, destroyed West Side Lumber Company equipment stored on a side track. The Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad features

1219-432: The air intake and firing chute, injuring the firemen who load the coal into the fire chamber. Extremely large boilers providing hundreds of horsepower to operate factories can potentially demolish entire buildings. A boiler that has a loss of feed water and is permitted to boil dry can be extremely dangerous. If feed water is then sent into the empty boiler, the small cascade of incoming water instantly boils on contact with

1272-513: The company to use the idea, resulting in the classic Shay design. In 1903, Lima could claim that it had delivered the "heaviest locomotive on drivers in the world", the first 4-truck (class D) Shay, weighing 140 short tons (120 long tons; 130 t). This was built for the El Paso Rock Island Line from Alamogordo, New Mexico to Cox Canyon, 31 miles (50 km) away over winding curves and grades of up to 6 % . The use of

1325-476: The corresponding feedwater pressure must be even higher, demanding a more robust pump design. Another consideration is safety. High pressure, superheated steam can be extremely dangerous if it unintentionally escapes. To give the reader some perspective, the steam plants used in many U.S. Navy destroyers built during World War II operated at 600  psi (4,100  kPa ; 41  bar ) pressure and 850 degrees Fahrenheit (454 degrees Celsius) superheat. In

1378-489: The end of their usefulness in the US. Approximately 2,770 Shay locomotives were built by Lima in four classes, from 6 to 160 short tons (5.4 to 142.9 long tons; 5.4 to 145.1 t), between 1878 and 1945. Two 15 short tons (13 long tons; 14 t) Shays were built with two cylinders and three trucks. Four Shays, 600 mm ( 1 ft  11 + 5 ⁄ 8  in ) gauge, were built left-handed, all special ordered by

1431-422: The event of a major rupture of the system, an ever-present hazard in a warship during combat , the enormous energy release of escaping superheated steam, expanding to more than 1600 times its confined volume, would be equivalent to a cataclysmic explosion, whose effects would be exacerbated by the steam release occurring in a confined space, such as a ship's engine room . Also, small leaks that are not visible at

1484-401: The exhaust of the combustion chamber. Since the heated flue gas is less dense than the ambient air surrounding the boiler, the flue gas rises in the chimney, pulling denser, fresh air into the combustion chamber. Most modern boilers depend on mechanical draught rather than natural draught. This is because natural draught is subject to outside air conditions and temperature of flue gases leaving

1537-597: The following configurations: To define and secure boilers safely, some professional specialized organizations such as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) develop standards and regulation codes. For instance, the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code is a standard providing a wide range of rules and directives to ensure compliance of the boilers and other pressure vessels with safety, security and design standards. Historically, boilers were

1590-403: The front truck was mounted normally while the rear truck was fixed to the frame and could not swivel, much as normal drivers on a locomotive. He mounted the 3-foot (914 mm) diameter by 5-foot (1,524 mm) tall boiler centered on the car with the water tank over the front trucks and with an engine supplied by William Crippen mounted crossways over the rear trucks. Shay experimented first with

1643-450: The furnace in order to increase the overall efficiency of the boiler. Dampers are used to control the quantity of air admitted to the furnace. Forced draught furnaces usually have a positive pressure. Balanced draught is obtained through use of both induced and forced draught. This is more common with larger boilers where the flue gases have to travel a long distance through many boiler passes. The induced draught fan works in conjunction with

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1696-435: The furnace, as well as the chimney height. All these factors make proper draught hard to attain and therefore make mechanical draught equipment much more reliable and economical. Types of draught can also be divided into induced draught , where exhaust gases are pulled out of the boiler; forced draught , where fresh air is pushed into the boiler; and balanced draught , where both effects are employed. Natural draught through

1749-411: The heat produced by nuclear fission. Where a large volume of hot gas is available from some process, a heat recovery steam generator or recovery boiler can use the heat to produce steam, with little or no extra fuel consumed; such a configuration is common in a combined cycle power plant where a gas turbine and a steam boiler are used. In all cases the combustion product waste gases are separate from

1802-504: The heat rejected from other processes such as gas turbine . There are two methods to measure the boiler efficiency in the ASME performance test code (PTC) for boilers ASME PTC 4 and for HRSG ASME PTC 4.4 and EN 12952-15 for water tube boilers: Direct method of boiler efficiency test is more usable or more common. where To measure the boiler efficiency in indirect method, parameter like these are needed: Boilers can be classified into

1855-460: The longevity of older wrought-iron boilers far superior to that of welded steel boilers. Cast iron may be used for the heating vessel of domestic water heaters. Although such heaters are usually termed "boilers" in some countries, their purpose is usually to produce hot water, not steam, and so they run at low pressure and try to avoid boiling. The brittleness of cast iron makes it impractical for high-pressure steam boilers. The source of heat for

1908-542: The original old growth timber dot the forest floor lining the tracks. Due to the onset of the Great Depression and a lack of trees, the operation closed in 1931. But the graded right-of-way through the forest remained, enabling the Stauffer family to reconstruct a portion of the line in 1961. The current railroad utilizes locomotives, converted log disconnect cars, and other railroad equipment purchased from

1961-415: The overall energy efficiency of the steam plant (the combination of boiler, superheater, piping and machinery) generally will be improved enough to more than offset the increased fuel consumption. Superheater operation is similar to that of the coils on an air conditioning unit, although for a different purpose. The steam piping is directed through the flue gas path in the boiler furnace, an area in which

2014-491: The point of leakage could be lethal if an individual were to step into the escaping steam's path. Hence designers endeavor to give the steam-handling components of the system as much strength as possible to maintain integrity. Special methods of coupling steam pipes together are used to prevent leaks, with very high pressure systems employing welded joints to avoided leakage problems with threaded or gasketed connections. Supercritical steam generators are frequently used for

2067-402: The production of electric power . They operate at supercritical pressure. In contrast to a "subcritical boiler", a supercritical steam generator operates at such a high pressure (over 3,200 psi or 22 MPa) that the physical turbulence that characterizes boiling ceases to occur; the fluid is neither liquid nor gas but a super-critical fluid. There is no generation of steam bubbles within

2120-431: The right with longitudinal drive shafts extending fore and aft from the crankshaft at wheel axle height. These shafts had universal joints and square sliding prismatic joints to accommodate the swiveling trucks. Each axle was driven by a separate bevel gear , with no side rods. The strength of these engines lies in the fact that all wheels, including, in some engines, those under the tender , are driven so that all

2173-413: The steam to carry more energy. Although superheating adds more energy to the steam in the form of heat there is no effect on pressure, which is determined by the rate at which steam is drawn from the boiler and the pressure settings of the safety valves . The fuel consumption required to generate superheated steam is greater than that required to generate an equivalent volume of saturated steam. However,

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2226-407: The steam within. The design of any superheated steam plant presents several engineering challenges due to the high working temperatures and pressures. One consideration is the introduction of feedwater to the boiler. The pump used to charge the boiler must be able to overcome the boiler's operating pressure, else water will not flow. As a superheated boiler is usually operated at high pressure,

2279-506: The summer months, while the railroad's "Jenny" railcars , capable of carrying about a dozen passengers, typically handle operations during the off-season. Passengers can ride in either open-air or enclosed passenger cars. The current railroad follows a portion of grade originally carved into the mountain by the Madera Sugar Pine Lumber Company in the early 20th century. The company originated in 1874, when it

2332-566: The superheated metal shell and leads to a violent explosion that cannot be controlled even by safety steam valves. Draining of the boiler can also happen if a leak occurs in the steam supply lines that is larger than the make-up water supply could replace. The Hartford Loop was invented in 1919 by the Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company as a method to help prevent this condition from occurring, and thereby reduce their insurance claims. When water

2385-409: The temperature is typically between 1,300 and 1,600 degrees Celsius (2,372 and 2,912 degrees Fahrenheit). Some superheaters are radiant type, which as the name suggests, they absorb heat by radiation. Others are convection type, absorbing heat from a fluid. Some are a combination of the two types. Through either method, the extreme heat in the flue gas path will also heat the superheater steam piping and

2438-485: The use of a chimney is a type of induced draught; mechanical draught can be induced, forced or balanced. There are two types of mechanical induced draught. The first is through use of a steam jet. The steam jet oriented in the direction of flue gas flow induces flue gases into the stack and allows for a greater flue gas velocity increasing the overall draught in the furnace. This method was common on steam driven locomotives which could not have tall chimneys. The second method

2491-414: The water and then further heat the steam in a superheater , causing the discharged steam temperature to be substantially above the boiling temperature at the boiler's operating pressure. As the resulting " dry steam " is much hotter than needed to stay in the vaporous state it will not contain any significant unevaporated water. Also, higher steam pressure will be possible than with saturated steam, enabling

2544-406: The water, because the pressure is above the critical pressure point at which steam bubbles can form. As the fluid expands through the turbine stages, its thermodynamic state drops below the critical point as it does work turning the turbine which turns the electrical generator from which power is ultimately extracted. The fluid at that point may be a mix of steam and liquid droplets as it passes into

2597-531: The weight develops tractive effort . A high ratio of piston strokes to wheel revolutions allowed them to run at partial slip, where a conventional rod engine would spin its drive wheels and burn rails, losing all traction. Shay locomotives were often known as sidewinders or stemwinders for their side-mounted drive shafts. Most were built for use in the United States, but many were exported, to about 30 countries, either by Lima, or after they had reached

2650-401: The working fluid of the steam cycle, making these systems examples of external combustion engines . The pressure vessel of a boiler is usually made of steel (or alloy steel ), or historically of wrought iron . Stainless steel , especially of the austenitic types, is not used in wetted parts of boilers due to corrosion and stress corrosion cracking . However, ferritic stainless steel

2703-655: Was often obtained from specialist ironworks , such as those in the Cleator Moor (UK) area, noted for the high quality of their rolled plate , which was especially suitable for use in critical applications such as high-pressure boilers. In the 20th century , design practice moved towards the use of steel, with welded construction, which is stronger and cheaper, and can be fabricated more quickly and with less labour. Wrought iron boilers corrode far more slowly than their modern-day steel counterparts, and are less susceptible to localized pitting and stress-corrosion. That makes

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2756-511: Was often used for fireboxes (particularly for steam locomotives ), because of its better formability and higher thermal conductivity; however, in more recent times, the high price of copper often makes this an uneconomic choice and cheaper substitutes (such as steel) are used instead. For much of the Victorian "age of steam", the only material used for boilermaking was the highest grade of wrought iron , with assembly by riveting . This iron

2809-550: Was organized as the California Lumber Company to log the area surrounding Oakhurst, California . The Madera Sugar Pine Lumber Company once had a large sawmill at Sugar Pine, California , just south of the current YMSPRR. The railroad had seven locomotives, over 100 log cars, and 140 miles (230 km) of track in the surrounding mountains. In addition to the railroad, the Company also transported lumber in

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