Some of you heard about this and others have asked and rather than send out a million different emails and texts, I thought I'd share this with you as an FYI.

Devin found through a friend this traction engine up in Elk Grove (though I believe ZPR knew about this years ago and referenced it at 2525.  I think it's the same one he was talking about due to it's uniqueness as an oil burner)   It's an 11x11 (bore and stroke) which puts it right around the same size and HP as Pappy.  It's in PRETTY ROUGH shape, having sat outside for around 30 years.  It was set up as an oil burner as you can see from the pics.  The property is being sold along with everything on it which is why something has to be done about it relatively soon.

I think Devin and I are going to go into it 50/50 and in the next week or two it will go to my place, where I'll put a roof over it and get started cleaning it up and taking it apart and slowly reversing the years of damage.  That will keep things financially and space(real-estate) simple and it also won't have to go through KSW committee.

As far as the condition- some of the parts were well protected by all the tar/sludge/bunker oil that spilled on it over the years.  The thin sheet metal portions (tanks and platform) are all pretty much rotted out and will have to be completely replaced and the canopy is 99% gone.  I UT'd the boiler under the shell and along the mudring.  There is some pitting in the mudring- my readings went from .335" to .253" in a couple places, and by no means was that exhaustive, but it seems in considerably better shape than Hortense.  The shell itself, like Hortense, is in excellent shape- it was over .350" pretty much everywhere I tested it (front and back) and I think it was .375" originally.  The most serious (and really the only truly significant damage) is on the inside of the front tube sheet where, it appears, water had run forward and collected there and rusted a thin line where the tube sheet meets the shell.  The shell, actually seemed ok at that same junction, strangely enough. So the only work, at this point, that will involve subcontracting will be the fabrication of a new front tube sheet, similar to what Roots did for the Kelly Springfield. The boiler is a double lap seam, like Pappy, which will no doubt cause heartache with the inspectors, but Devin contacted Cal-OSHA and they said that if we can't find any ASME stamp on it when we're all done cleaning it up, it can be reverse-engineered and a pressure rating assigned to it as well as the subsequent certification ("permit to operate") from their office. I felt this was important as being able to run it amongst the public some day legitimately makes it worth considerably more.

One of the two injectors was missing, though the other is complete and the marsh pump looks like it was plumbed for something related to the oil tank and not necessarily for feedwater (I didn't take the time to follow all the lines).  Also perplexing is the fact that someone took a torch and cut a couple of the support rods- not really sure why- you can see this in the pics.  We pulled the cylinder head (which looks like it has a welded repair on it) and the piston and cylinder look in great shape- still coated with the cylinder oil from the last time it was run.  The engine originally came from Arbuckle CA, about 60 miles northwest of where it sits now in Elk Grove, and the current owner is the second owner.  That's all I can think of right now that's relevant.  Any questions, you can hit me up either vie email or at the shop tonight.

-Troye