Vulcan Iron Works Steam Locomotive: Reassembly 

Hi Keith … so nice to see a machine come alive without wires, chips, computer screens and the like 👍.

I have learned more about steam locomotives, by watching your videos, than anywhere else. I hope to make a visit to the museum early next year.

Man, with that bright outdoor sun behind you I could see your halo. A prime example of the patience and skills needed to do that kind of work.

This old loco stuff is great

For hundreds of years maybe thousands our next generations may not know how to do what you do but will see the technology used in the past through your video's. For that we as a society owe you so much! Thank you Mr. Rucker.

That was a very interesting video, not the pipe assembly, but the detailled explanation of the various systems. Thanks Keith.

Dear Keith A great video, very well done! I helped restore and now maintain and run a very similar loco on a heritage railway here in Canada. We have a 42 inch narrow gauge, 21 ton, 0-4-0 saddle tank built by Montreal locomotive Works in 1926. The engine used to burn waste oil but I built a stainless steel, steam powered burner to use diesel and this has worked very well for us. The loco only had steam brakes with no provision for braking the 2 coaches, so we actually built a full air brake system after scrounging a proper Westinghouse steam driven air compressor. The relay valves and all the required gauges and control valves we were able to get off a nearby "real railway" -mostly from their scrap line!. The air reservoirs are truck units and we built all the coach truck rigging from scratch. By the way we had poor results using Teflon tape on the pipe joints and have had much better luck using a a mixture of valve (steam) oil (ie: that goes in the lubricator) and powdered graphite mixed up to the consistency of porridge and brushed on the pipe threads. This has given us excellent sealing and the pipes are always easy to undo for winter strip down. Please see www.portageflyer.org and look up "Huntsville and Lake of Bays Railway" on You Tube for some photos and video. All the best. Paul

Great work! Here's a tip for you: Use anti seize on the threads and cones of the unions. They go tighten up with less effort/force, seal better, and come back apart much easier!

I was just thinking "Rube Goldberg" just like John 47. Glad you had pictures. Videos com in handy also as you found out with the lathe reassembly project. Fingers crossed here that all steam fittings don't leak! Greg

Great job Keith. That was a real education. Makes the locomotive much less mysterious but no less impressive! I agree with other folks, had that been me there would have been tools and 4 letters flying. You are a true Gentleman!

Can't wait to see the old girl making steam again. You managed the video just great Keith - thanks for taking the trouble.

Very nice video Keith. It is the first time I see how to assembly the pipes and everything else in the cab. Thumbs up, and congratulations from Brazil Nilton Polydoro

You had me fooled. I would have thought you were a TRAINed pipe fitter. As always, thank you.

Man, that was a whole lot of progress on that engine. The video came out fine, too. Great job!

Nice video! I work with 10,000 psi N2 units with autoclave unions. we have to pull the plumbing off to have the safety valves recertification every year. Thanks for sharing.

You did excellent camera work considering the challenging conditions. Considering the lighting and the fact that there's very little room inside that cab, it came out looking great. I'm not sure if you're the guy behind the vintagemachinery.org forums, but I'd like to extend my thanks to whoever runs that. The advice I received there was very helpful in getting my vintage wood lathe in working condition.

you can also use the teflon tape to lubricate the threads and mating surfaces of the unions. This gives a kinder and more reliable pull as well as preventing siezing and is considered to be good practice in the absence of graphite powder on the threads.

Keith, that was the best treat of the year for me! What little boy (Okay, so I'm 75, but part of me is still that little boy) doesn't dream of working on a steam locomotive? Watching you do that plumbing and hearing your explanation made me realize how little I knew about the construction of a real steam locomotive and how much I could learn in 35 minutes. You are a very talented teacher and in spite of the lighting difficulties, the video was perfect. Thanks so much for all your efforts.

Great video. Now I have some idea of the controls on a steam locomotive. Thanks. I kept waiting for you to knock that wrench off the oiler steam input with your head! Thank goodness that was avoided. I'm sure everyone appreciates the time you put in on this.

Keith the pipework certainly looked like a big challenge to put the puzzle together

Plumbers Nightmare well enjoyed

You give hope that after the emp of a solar flare or HBomb, that enough machinery will survive.

I use to play in a old wrecked locomotive when I was a kid , It was way back in the woods , I lived in a old logging camp .. Fun times , this was awesome to see again .. I am only 45 but I love the vintage stuff ! Thumbs up, Great job Keith !!

Two suggestions: Try using "pipe dope" or "pipe thread sealant" on pipe threads, easier to apply and seals better than teflon tape. The other is "antiseeze compound", used on all fasteners threads, and works great on the threads of a pipe union nut.

I enjoyed this video an awful lot. When will I ever have the chance to watch somebody repair AND explain the reassembly of a stream locomotive. It is a wonderful piece of equipment.

i looked up in the dictionary under "jack of all trades" and i saw a photo of you. a fine job well done.

I have to say that is one of the most informative and enjoyable video i have ever seen. Thank you a thousand times.

Very cool video. I'm starting to realize how much engineering vent into making a steam locomotive work.

That came out quite well even with the challenging backlighting.

I've done enough plumbing to understand the difficulty involved there. Thanks for sharing. Your volunteer work is appreciated. It'll be good to see that engine going again.

Thank you for all the extra work you go through to film this. I work for the railroad and its interesting to see these old relics and the engineering that went into them.

Master Pipe Fitter Rucker - Nice Job! Thanks for keeping the ole' girl running.

The old loco looks great! There is a lot of clocking to be done in all that piping so I am not surprised getting it all aligned back up was a challenge. Will be interesting to see how the powder coating holds up.

Keith, it looked to be a very enjoyable and satisfying jig saw puzzle.

Keith, A very interesting video! I tend to have a nasty temper when things don't work right. If I had been doing that job, there would no doubt be some pipes hurled outside the cab! Fortunately, I wasn't working on the locomotive and cooler heads prevailed! Thanks for the video. Back when that locomotive was first built, they didn't have television, let alone video recording equipment! The cab was not designed with video making in mind. You did do a super job of making a great video, considering the restrictive area you were working in. I'll be looking forward to see the old girl chuffing down the tracks. Have a good one! Dave

boy that really took the mystery out of all those pipes....Nice Video!

YES!!! This Monday just got a WHOLE LOT better!

Pretty good for an apprentice pipefitter! Thanks for all the explanation.

What an education. I am fascinated with the work being done to the locomotive. I had no idea how these old engines operated. Thank you for the videos

Well Mr Rucker done well and well done cheers.

I thought for sure you where loosing it when you pulled out the Sledge hammer (25:41) and then had to remove the part to add some shims. That part was not shown but for some reason I doubt it was because of your frustration or language. God has truly Blessed You with more patients than most!

Again, thanks so much for you time, expertise, and patience! And thanks you for graciously taking us along for the ride! Be blessed!

dear keith, the video turned out very clear, and the topic -- very interesting! i am very glad that the museum decided to restore for many years to come the iron horse -- for joy and pleasure for the multitudes of the guests. it really warms my heart that you invest so much good work and dedication. also, i believe that if the creators guild is ever formed, -- you'd be honoured to become its president. thank you for the video, yours, -toly

Great video Keith, thank you so much for doing it for us. I know it had to add extra hours to the assembly of the plumbing.

G'day, Keith! A really nice job on all the pipe fittings and unions! Honestly would love to see more video on how this Vulcan Iron Works steam locomotive is coming along in it's reassembly! I was wondering did you know... Cedar Point is long been known for its amazing collection of world class roller coasters. However, it also sports a nice relaxing narrow-gauge passenger railroad as well! Opened In 1963, The Cedar Point & Lake Erie Railroad is located at the top of the Main Midway and takes you to Frontiertown located in the back of the park. When you board in Frontiertown, heading back towards the Main Midway, you enter the fictitious town of "Boneville", which is populated entirely by those enjoying "the afterlife"! Yes, its all SKELETONS!!! Hence the name "Boneville"! The train offers constant service all day and you can ride between the Main Midway and Frontiertown and explore that area, or continue through Boneville then back to the Main Midway. Some of the power on the The Cedar Point & Lake Erie Railroad consists of antique narrow-gauge steam-powered locomotives and all of the train's coaches are the open-air type with the last car being handicap accessible. There can be one or two trains running, depending on the size of crowds. CP&LE #44 - Judy K.: Built in 1923, this 2-4-0 (was originally built as an 0-4-0T) was built by the 'Vulcan Iron Works' of Wilkes-Barre, PA and was originally owned by John Marsh Inc. of Lansing, MI. Its original use is unknown. CP&LE #22 - Myron H.: Built in 1922, this 2-4-0 (was originally built as an 0-4-0T) was also built by the 'Vulcan Iron Works' of Wilkes-Barre, PA and was originally owned by the Wayne Coal Company of Clay Bank, OH, used in coal mining. CP&LE #3 - Albert: Built in 1910, this 2-6-0 was built by the 'Davenport Locomotive Works' of Davenport, IA. It's original owner was J.B. Levert, St. John Plantation of St. Martinville, LA and was used to transport sugarcane. This was one of the first two engines on the CP&LE. It's now on static display in Frontiertown. Special thanks to Cedar Point for the historical information on the locomotives. Included here is a photo essay (bit.ly/2e78hNP) of this very nice railroad located inside the best amusement park in the known universe! Enjoy!!! Cheers! :-)

If you are just using the teflon as an anti-seize, they do make anti-seize tape that is applied the same way teflon tape is. Teflon tape is only good up to a certain PSI as well.

Can't wait for another ride with engineer Keith!

Good job Keith! I guess I'm weird but I enjoy working with blk pipe. That is some tight work with those sch. 80 fittings. I've found few "90 degree offset" pipe wrenches really help when the fittings are that close. You can tell you have worked on that engine several times! lol It is second nature for you. Thanks for the great job explaining the operation of all the components your installing. Very challenging and informing video. Plus a lotta work!

load unions w. never size. makes breaking them loose a lot easier! I learned the hard way lol. awesome job and video, Keith!

Very helpful video. To a novice, the array of valves and controls for the steam driven devices is confusing and daunting. This video helps to memorize the location and function of the controls and devices and how they relate to operating the locomotive. I imagine that after a couple of cycles of heat-up and cool-down, re-tightening some of the joints and unions will be necessary.

Having rebuilt a couple of steam locomotives I appreciate all the work involved. All of the video you have done helps pass on, to a new generation, what is becoming a dying trade. I had the benefit of learning from "Old Timers" who worked in the Southern Pacific and Western Pacific Shops. Looks to me like this is a perfect time to plumb in a second sight glass and a fitting for a second steam gage. Keep up the good work keeping steam alive.

I just found your channel a couple of weeks ago. Been watching all I can, plan on watching all of them in time. Loce all of them. This one on this steam locomotive was very interesting to watch. With the complicated maze of pipe, fittings, and valves, your explanation of all the works really simplified the whole works. Not to the point that anyone could get in and operate it, but to get a better understanding of how things work together to make the thing run down the track. Thanks for the excellent videos, keep up the great work.

Mr. Rucker. You are one handy SOB.

Thank you Keith. I feel I can now operate this boiler from your descriptions of the deferent parts.

Mammoth effort, Keith. Excellent job.

I love to see you making chips... But maintaining the locomotive is always a treat! Thanks for sharing so much time and effort Keith, all the best.

Great vid .. Nice to see the piping going in and what it's for... 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Great video! I tell my Wife all the time about my trip their and standing in the cab of this lady. Can't wait to come back.

Whenever you are attempting to reinstall previously installed plumbing - after rebuilding the device that requires the plumbing - the old plumbing will rarely fit.

Keith, what an awesome project this must have been. Thanks so much for sharing, Cliff

Good job Keith like Keith Fenner would say you gotter done.

Teflon tape, but Minium + oil + tow fiber also works. Once the oil dries out the joints are solid, but, they crack open very easily with a bit of penetrant oil. Also, the red oxide gives off a very old school industrial look. :) Nice work on the loco, she looks like a million bucks and the powder coating should last quite a while. I had my antique stove top powder coated and it's been holding on very well for 8 years now despite being an semi-outside use type.

I am very impressed (again) with your knowledge, this time with the locomotive and knowing not only how to put that rats nest of piping back together but also in your knowledge of what all the parts do. As always I enjoyed the video even though I will never work on a locomotive.

Video turned out great. Very educational. All the pipes intertwined together reminds of an old 3 Stooges skit where they attempted some plumbing jobs.

A bit of a nightmare I'd say. Good job. You deserve a pat on the back for that one. Thanks Keith.

The real fun begins when you fire it up and one of those fittings leaks.

Truly enjoyed this video. Thanks for posting Keith

Thanks for the great video that really shows purpose of each valve, pipe and lever in a locomotive cab. It really is pretty straight forward when it is broken down piece by piece like this.

Keith do not worry about the vidio 'we got it'. I always said , I was born to late. NH - New Haven New Hardford ran through our property. As a boy I think it was 1949 or 50 the last steam and a big one. It was a freight line. That was replaced by the F series EMD and they ran that until 1968. Progress more like de'progress that was abandoned in 1969. So my father bought almost 1/2 mile of the old RR bed for $1700. OK the closest thing as being an engineer was to flatten the tires on a 10 dollar 49 Chevy- pull throttle little bit and click click click. Unknown to us kids Fords & Chevys had the correct rail width. Run about 5lbs air and tires just flopped over the rails...We should have tried a Plymouth There is still a working Plymouth loco 10 miles from here as I speak... sam

Thanks, I loved this video. Very interesting to hear you describe how all the components connect and their function. Also great to see the shoulder bolt in place. I can see how the small room for the wrench contributed to the issues with the head of the original bolt. Thanks for persevering with the challenges to take the video.

Three months for all of that work is very impressive. Good job!

Just so you know, this video is one of the most enjoyable of the ones I've seen. I appreciate all your hard work. I don't know how you stay so calm.

A very enjoyable Video as well as informative. Nice to see old things repaired in stead of being scraped! We always learn from History!

This isn't something we get to see every day. Thanks!

Enjoy the video for the rebuild long interest in steam do any of the valves that you are reinstalling need rebuild also

Great video! Thanks for taking the time to bring us along.

Thanks for all the effort you put in making the videos.

Wow, didn't know how much work goes into setting up a locomotive. Great video, thanks for sharing.

Keith great job. Challenging conditions, Great explanations of the workings

6:29 - "...the purpose of teflon tape - a lot of people think that [it] is to make a better seal and that's not the case at all" - Keith, call me a knocker, but if it is manufactured as a sealing tape, and it is marketed as a sealing tape, then it is probably just that - a sealing tape. Pipe threads are very coarse, and you just can't get these joint sealed by itself, no matter how hard you'd tighten them - you just need something to fill the gaps between threads. And yes, this "filler" has to be slick to make tightening of the threads easier, not harder. PTFE tape is slick, but I wouldn't say it's purpose is to "lubricate" threads - if "lubrication" would be the goal, then you could just use some grease or oil, and that would work even better. If you'd need it mainly to prevent seizing, any anti-seize would do (like, say, powdered graphite). The primary purpose of PTFE tape is to SEAL the threaded joint, period. Yes, it ALSO acts as a lubricant and anti-seize, but that's not the main purpose of it. BTW, that tape was never a good solution - while it is slick and heat- and chemicals-resistant, it's main drawback is the fact that once compressed it stays compressed, and there's no way to "raise it up", so to speak. So when you turn the pipe (or fitting) half a turn too far and then you backtrack, the joint is no longer sealed - as the compressed tape just stays compressed. With that "old school" tow and grease method it is different story - when you backtrack your pipe or fitting, that hemp fibres get kinda ruffled and raised up - and the joint stays sealed. Better still, when steam (moisture) gets into the hemp fibres they expand and fill the space between two threads even better. I really see no reason to use that tape on steam pipes - tow and grease would be much cheaper, and it would seal the joints much better. Modern equivalent of that "tow-and-grease" packing, working equally well, is LOCTITE 55 Pipe Sealing Cord - the moment it appeared on the market I stopped using that PTFE mediocrity alltogether. Well, almost - now I use it ONLY on small and tight fitting threads (like ¼" or ⅜" brass fittings), and preferably only in situation when you don't have to get your fittings in any particular positon (= can turn them until they turn no more), AND you need a really airtight seal.

It does look like a nice neat job. The cab interior is very nicely done. You made vids of all that equipment. That steam pipe work was very nice. If this is historic, and a restoration, how about the standard steam viable pipe dope. Those threads just shread teflon tape. All this is intended to do is fill in the roots of the pipe threads. Photos of the completed job look really nice.

I really enjoyed watching you reassemble the locomotive fittings -- even though it seemed to be mainly a plumbing job. Very impressed by your detailed knowledge of the function of each fitting. You're worth everything that they pay you as a volunteer. :) Seriously, however, they're sooo lucky to have you working for them.

I am never convinced about the appearance aspects of loads of white Teflon tape on antique machinery. I understand why it is used and it is a lot better and less toxic than the red lead and hemp which I used 50 years ago. More recently I have found you can now get Teflon tape in charcoal grey, which is a bit kinder on the eye.

great video Keith!

It is interesting how each engine shop had their own "rules" for tool selection. As a kid I hung around one of the old "Q" shops and the rule was, "Pipe wrenches on only pipe bodies and open end wrenches for "nuts" and Unions."

Looks like so much fun !!!!

Fascinating video. Thanks for filming it.

Video was interesting and well done for the difficult lighting. Hopefully there'll be more detail, like how the atomiser works and above all, please do a 'starting up the engine' video!

I disagree with the stated principle of teflon tape. Only NPTF thread forms can be assembled without pipe sealant. Standard NPT or straight thread pipe fittings will require a thread sealant to keep liquid or gas from leaking through the thread form. I *do* agree that the teflon tape provides a lubricant to help get proper torque, but the primary purpose is to seal the thread form.

if i study this video long enough i think i could learn how to drive a train lol. good job keith.

What a great series of Video's on the repair of the steam locomotive. Will it need a new "Pressure Test Certificate" from a certified boiler tester before going back into service. I am sure all the visitor's will be pleased to have such a major asset back in service again! You are all to be congratulated for doing such a great job in such a short time. Ron from across the Pond.

Great video Keith! All your videos are great, but the locomotive stuff is particularly interesting.

Thanks for the video and letting us watch the end result looks amazing and beautifull

I'll bet it bugged you for them to be putting that old iron together without you there. It would've bothered me, for sure. It looks great though. Can't wait to see it under steam. BTW, it was great to visit with you and your friend when you were in Zanesville. I hope you can make it to John Saunders's open house next spring. Thanks, John

Great job Keith. It's awesome you would give up a day on your weekend to do this. Big thumbs up. :)

Fascinating! It can't be easy to put this together and filming made the job even more tricky as you said. Thank you for taking the trouble. I enjoyed every second of the video which turned out really good - especially taking the circumstances (tight space, bad light) into account. I suppose that you filmed most of the footage in manual mode? Your video is also very educational as you explain all the details in great clarity. Best Harald

Wow! Keith that was a great video! Thank You!

Congratulations! Well, done.

Great video Mr. Keith!

Not to worry about how the video turned out Keith, it came out GREAT! It was a pleasure to watch an very informative on the workings of the various systems. Now admit it, you did some of the assembly off camera with the difficult pipes so you didn't have to edit out the cursing...didn't you? ;-) Great job!!