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For problems on the engine itself, visual inspections are again the best way to look for problems. Loose bolts, loose or worn bearings, signs of overheating, and clanking and knocking sounds can attest to problems. Signs of overheated metal on the engine can include scarring, discoloration, scraping sounds, and emitting lots of heat from a bearing while in operation. Overheating on the engine itself can usually be attributed to not enough lubrication, so it must be determined why oil and grease are not getting to the affected part. Some engines have mechanical and hydrostatic lubricators that drive oil to moving parts, and these must be cleaned and inspected frequently to keep them performing properly. As stated before, adding a little more oil and grease is less expensive and less of a headache than having a part wear out quickly or fail and need repair. Eventually, bearings will wear out no matter how well lubricated they are; they will begin to knock and clank as the metal bangs together. When rods and cranks begin to knock, it is an indication that the bearings need to be disassembled and rebuilt to their proper tolerance. A competent machinist can perform this task.

Last on the subject of repair is a list of common tools needed to work on boilers and steam engines. Different size welders and cutting torches and the knowledge of using them are a must, when working with steel and iron. A good general tool set with wrenches, sockets, screwdrivers, et cetera is also needed. Some parts on these engines are large, so keep in mind that large tools will be needed to work on them. Specific boiler tools such as tube (flue) rollers, staybolt reamers and taps, pipe and boiler taps, and dies are also needed when repairing and maintaining a boiler and engine. Access to a machine shop (powered by lineshaft steam of course) with lathes and presses will also be of tremendous help, so that worn parts can be repaired and new ones made. When operating, gloves should always be worn to help protect hands, and heavy clothing should be worn to protect the body. Photographs of farm hands or engineers and firemen will show overalls, long sleeves, gloves, handkerchiefs, boots, and hats to keep the heat and cinders at bay.

OPSEC

Yet one more problem needs to be addressed, and it is one common to preparedness-minded individuals. If hungry, desperate people see smoke or hear noise and assume that where there is fire and activity there are also supplies, warmth, and protection or a community to be exploited, depending on how moral they are. Steam engines will obviously produce smoke, since they burn large amounts of wood, coal, or oil. However, there are tricks to reduce the amount of smoke generated. In general, the hotter the fire is burning inside the firebox, the less smoke will be emitted from the smokestack. This is because the entire amount of material is consumed by the fire, and all that is left is hot clear gases escaping out of the stack. Also, if a careful, even firing is used, a lesser amount of smoke will be emitted, as the constantly hot fire will consume the smoke. However, if a lot of “green” coal or “green” wood (fresh fuel) is loaded onto the fire, it will not burn as well or as hot and will produce a lot of smoke. If you carefully observe a fireman on a steam engine, you can tell when he or she adds a lot of new fuel to the fire by observing the color of the smoke. A good fireman will try to use the least amount of fuel distributed the most even way to maintain even heat and not waste fuel. Good firing can be accomplished by experience, trial and error, and mentoring by an experienced person.

Another big problem with OPSEC, related to using steam engines, is noise. When the hustle and bustle of society stops, noise can be heard over a surprisingly long distance. The most common noises on steam engines are the chuff, whistles, safety valves, and motion of machinery. However, there are also ways to mitigate these issues. Keeping the moving machinery well lubricated and in good repair will reduce the amount of noise it makes, and the safety valve can be prevented from going off by not overfiring the boiler. The safety valve should be “popped” every now and then to insure safe operation, but this can be done when circumstances are deemed appropriate. The chuff on a steam engine is created when steam is forced out of the cylinders and up into the smokebox. It is propelled up the stack by an exhaust nozzle, and it creates essential draft on the fire while being shot out the stack. How much noise it makes is very much dependant on how hard the engine is working. If the engine has a very heavy load, the chuff will be very loud. If the engine has no load, it will be almost silent. If loud noise is a concern, care should be taken to not place extremely heavy loads on the engine. If it is impossible to restrict the load on the engine, then the exhaust steam can be rerouted and exhausted elsewhere to dampen the sound. If this is done however, a form of artificial draft will have to be used to keep the fire burning hot in the firebox. All boilers should already have a device on them called a blower, which shoots steam up the stack and can be varied in strength to accomplish this task without any new fabrication.

The last large problem with OPSEC is the size of the engine and boiler itself and the tracks it will make if it moves. The smallest traction engines can be as small as a tractor, while the largest can be two stories tall! Obviously, size limitation must be an important factor when choosing an engine for your community, if the engine needs to be hidden. Also, being made almost entirely of steel, it will sink into the ground and make tracks wherever it goes. This can be somewhat remedied by placing wide boards underneath the wheels as it moves, to spread out ground pressure. Cleats can be removed from the wheels if practicable, and it will reduce the amount of earth being torn up by the engine. Operation over solid ground instead of soft earth will also help alleviate this problem, and reduce the chance of getting it stuck. For railroad locomotives, however, there is absolutely no possible way to conceal its railroad track. A standard patrol measure could be used for operating the locomotive over distance, with lookouts proceeding ahead of the train and people stationed on the front of the engine to look for track problems, sabotage, or ambushes. The best time to use these engines though is when society brings itself out of the fighting stage and enters the rebuilding stage, when towns and communities want to trade with each other again. A good tactical coordinator or OPSEC manager can also find creative ways of protecting all these engines, and plans should be arranged before the balloon goes up.

While this article has hopefully enlightened you as to the choices and operation of boilers and steam engines, it is by no means a comprehensive study. There are tons of resources out in the world that can help teach and give experience about these wonderful machines. Books, old mechanic magazines, and the Internet make available lots of paper knowledge and can be obtained at shows, on eBay, libraries, and by various other sources. However, the absolute best way to learn about steam engines is to work on them and run them yourself. There are antique boiler shows and farm shows scattered all across the United States and other countries, and most of the people are friendly and are very willing to teach new people about this technology. Railroad museums with steam programs are also excellent places to obtain knowledge and experience, and even if your plan is not to acquire or run a railroad locomotive, the experience gained on them can be translated to their smaller cousins of traction engines and portables. In all, working on and operating these machines can be a very gratifying practice and can contribute a rare, needed skill to the community when society has its reset. Please remember, however, that these are NOT toys to be neglected. It seems like a cliché, but a good piece of advice I was told when I first began to work on traction engines and railroad boilers was to treat them like a fine lady. If you treat her well, she in turn will work her hardest for you and rarely let you down. If you neglect her and treat her poorly, she will make your life miserable and even take it in the most extreme circumstance. To conclude, let us remember that survival is not just about the cataclysmic moment, but it is also the story of the aftermath and the rebuilding of society. Steam built this great nation from the ground up once already, and there is absolutely no doubt that it can do it again when called upon.

Heating the Water

While water management is one of the most important aspects of boiler operation, the other is being able to heat the water. Since the age of the steam engine, wood, coal, and oil have been the three main fuels used to boil the water. Each has their advantages and disadvantages, and this must be considered thoroughly for use at a retreat. In this discussion, oil will not be considered as a fuel; the reason for this is, like gasoline, it can be expensive to constantly replenish, needs large volumes of storage space, and takes refineries to process.

The first fuel that is commonly considered for use is wood. Most traction engines and small stationary boilers use wood, and their fireboxes are designed to most efficiently channel the heat. A wood burning firebox will be narrow and tall, allowing wood to be piled up inside to create a large burning mass. The bottom of the firebox will have grates for the wood to sit on, and these usually will be fixed and only can be removed when the boiler is cold for cleaning. A wood-burning steam engine will be the most useful for retreat purposes, as wood is the most common resource available to the average person. While the engines can have a large appetite for wood, they can also expedite the process of cutting, splitting, and moving wood to and from storage and can offset the extra needed supply. Just like with a woodstove, different types of wood will perform differently in a boiler. Pine and other softwood will burn very quick with high heat, but the fireman will have to constantly add more fuel to the fire. Hardwood will burn slightly cooler, but the wood will last longer and give heat over a longer period of time. Most often, boilers will be fueled with scraps of wood left over from other activities, since they are not picky about the size and type of wood used. Again, for our purposes, a wood-fired boiler would be the best option.

Coal is the other common source of fuel for boilers. While only some larger types of traction engines and stationary boilers are built to be fired with coal, most railroad locomotives built after the 1880s were designed to be fired with coal. A coal firebox will not be very deep, but rather will be wider and longer than wood fireboxes in order to give a large heating area. A coal fire works best when kept even and around three to four inches in depth. Piling coal too deep can cause cold spots in the firebed and lead to wasted fuel and less efficiency; keeping the firebed too shallow will cause holes in the fire and lead to uneven stresses on the metal and less efficiency as well. Likewise, if the coal has contaminants in it, such as mud or iron, clinkers can form where the impurities stick together. These clinkers can create a massive clump of waste. These have to be fished out of the firebox to prevent the fire from losing efficiency, as they block air from being pulled up through the fire, and they take up space where burning fuel needs to be. Coal fireboxes will have moveable grates that the burning coal sits on; these grates must be shaken from time to time to let the burned ash fall through them to keep the fire clean. While coal is currently very available, for our purposes it is not the first fuel of choice, as it must be transported to the retreat and can take up a large area for storage. However, it does not need to be refined as oil does, and it will store indefinitely without losing its ability to provide heat.

Regardless of whether the steam engine used will be fueled with wood, coal, or something else that can burn, the most important item is giving constant and careful attention to the way the boiler is operated. The water must be constantly added or taken away to maintain a safe level, and good firing by an experienced person is a must to obtain the best performance from the boiler. Once again, practical experience is the best teacher when it comes to firing a steam engine.

Lubricating the Boiler

Since the importance of water and fuel has been addressed, the next important step in operating a boiler is maintaining a good level of lubrication. Like any vehicle, vintage steam engines need constant oiling and greasing in order to keep operating. However, this is usually done by hand instead of a splash-oil method, and each moving part of an engine needs a different type of lubrication. The specific type of oil needed is called steam oil, as it is used to lubricate the cylinders, valves, and crossheads on an engine where steam will be applied. It is a heavy oil that is designed to be mixed with steam and can be injected into higher heat areas without being excessively thinned. It should be kept in a marked can and applied liberally to all higher temperature moving points. Too much oil is much less expensive and easier to replace than worn out and overheated metal. In common solid bearings, such as on old railcar axles or traction engine axles, regular used motor oil will suffice, if it is clean with no trash in it.

Greaseis also an important lubricant and can be used for crank shaft bearings and rod bearings. Soft grease is the easiest type to work with and can be applied with any common grease gun, but a hard grease called Alemite can be used when bearings will not be accessible for a long period of time, such as on a moving locomotive. Alemite grease comes in sticks and must be injected into bearings with a special grease gun and will release its lubricating properties continuously over an extended period of time. If an alemite stick drops on the ground, do not use it in the bearing, as it has picked up trash from whatever it was just dropped on, and it needs to be discarded. Just one grain of sand in the stick can ruin a perfectly good bearing. As with lubricating oil, liberally applied grease is better than not enough, and a large amount should be stored for use.

Like any vehicle with moving parts, these engines must constantly be inspected for wear and tear. Previously, problems such as scale and corrosion have been mentioned in this article, and these should be looked for on a constant basis. Frequent visual inspections are extremely important, and defects must be scoured for over all parts of the machine. Problems to look for include bulges, cracks, leaks, and wear on the firebox sheets and boiler barrel, which is the main part of the boiler. This includes pitting, grooving, corrosion, signs of overheating, mud, and trash in the boiler; it also includes any broken, cracked, and eroded staybolts, rivets, and fittings. Staybolts secure the firebox to the boiler and are fitted within a few inches of each other. They have a small hole in the center, which is used for inspection. No steam or water should be leaking or fizzing out of the hole, and nothing should be placed in the hole to plug it. If the staybolt is leaking, it means it is broken and should be replaced at the first opportunity. Bulging around the firebox is usually attributed to several broken staybolts in the same area and is very dangerous. If bulging is seen, the fire should be dumped immediately and the cause ascertained. Cracks in the boiler usually form first around corners and fittings, such as firebox corners, firedoors, washout plugs, and holes for appliances. Cracks are usually visible under steam, but inspection for them cannot be accomplished inside a hot firebox. Again, special care should be used when visually inspecting for trouble, and a person with a good eye and experience can spot them before they become a major problem. Most cracks can be repaired and welded up, but this should only be done by a person who has experience welding on boilers, as there are specific procedures that involve drilling holes in the steel to stop the crack before welding.

As technology advanced, better tools like hydrostatic tests and ultrasounding allowed better care of steam engines and boilers. Ultrasound machines are used to determine the thickness of the metal sheets of the boiler and firebox, and they are a must in the modern world for boiler inspections. This allows thin spots to be found and cut out and patched before problems develop or it fails catastrophically. Steam shows and railroad museums are excellent places to ask about ultrasound machines and who can perform them locally. This is a very specialized task and probably will not be as available during a societal breakdown, but if done regularly beforehand they can give you an idea about what is happening to the metal of the boiler.

Hydrostatic tests are another important boiler tool and are used to test boilers for soundness and strength before being pressured with steam. Water is forced into the boiler when it is cool and is pumped up to a pressure greater than the operating steam pressure. Different size boilers will have different pressures, and studies should be done to ascertain what pressure is appropriate for testing your particular boiler. The goal of hydrostatic tests is to determine if there are any weak spots, leaks, or cracks in the boiler before steam is built. If a part of the boiler does fail during the test, water will just come pouring out of the failure instead of having a boiler explosion. If a problem is found, the water can be drained immediately and repairs started, instead of wasting fuel and waiting for the boiler to cool down. This test is also done by a boiler specialist and must be done regularly while society is still well. Also, both tests will need to be done for inspection purposes and paperwork will need to be kept on the condition of the boiler, along with repair lists. Most states have their own boiler inspectors that come and declare if the boiler is safe or not. Also, the Federal Railroad Administration has agents that conduct their own tests on locomotives that are even more stringent than regular “hobby” boiler inspections.