Some Thoughts on Cold Weather Operation

Some Thoughts on Cold Weather Operation

by Bill Treadway

The North American Live Steamer, Volume 7 Number 1, 1956

I suppose that running every week all winter puts me int he same class as "mad dogs and Englishment", but there's a reason for it.

My 0-4-T 3/4-inch scale engine had her first steam trials in November 1954. The ensuing winter was spent in building a tender and riding car so she didn't do much running until last summer. Then a length of track was acquired early last fall and it was possible to run at home. This being my first attempt, the novelty has not work off so we get her in steam at every opportunity. But it also has been very educational.

First of all let me say that no problem has been incurred in steaming. The engine steams just as well in cold weather as in hot weather. The boiler on this engine is jacketed and the lagging is glass cloth. This may or may not have something to do with it.

You all know how viscous 600W oil is at room temperature. At 40 degress F it is like grease. Sure I know your lubricator will pump up at 600 pounds or so, but remember this is a static test. The real test is will it pump cold cylinder oil through a 1/16 inch bore pipe. IN other words it's a problem of flow. There's a good way to overcome this and that's to heat the oil. This was easily accomplished by installing a loop of 1/8 inch copper tubing in the lubricator and passing steam through it. The steam was taken from the water gauge blow down--the valve being just cracked in operation. A piece of small diameter rubber tubing provided the piping as a temporary expedient. With hot oil the lubricator had to work but another puzzler arose. Normally there is a fat ring of oil around the stack rim but in cold weather no sign of any at all.

It was obvious the engine was getting oil since it could be smelled in the exhaust. it was finally decided that the reason for tis is the high brass stack on this engine. Cleaning up after a run I noticed a thick cake of soot and oil inside the stack. The stack being cold, the oil was condensing inside of it and not showing on the rim. In addition to the heater I took a hint from our good friend LBSC and added colloidal graphite to the cylinder oil. This is in the form of Pyroil B'. This additive gives the oil a peculiary waxey odor so you can easily tell if it's feeding alright. So much for cylinder lubrication.

For motion lubrication I use regular machine oil. I've seen cylinder oil used here, but again, it's too thick to do the job right. For car wheels I packed the bearings with ordinary chassis lubricant as used at service stations. Nor ordinarily, this engine makes you wonder if there is glue on the rails but one day she was continually losing her feet. A acheck showed the car wheels were very stiff. So a call to a friend who is a specialist in ball bearing lubrication brought a recommendation of the proper grease -- Andok C. This solved the car wheel problem. She runs very easily now and will steam for two hours on a coffee can full of coal and 2-1/2 gallons of water.

Well that's been my experience in operating this winder. Temperatures have ranged from 26 degrees to 45 degrees so as far as sub-zero weather goes we will have to consult our Canadian friends. Remember, I'm very green at this live steam game and perhaps some of these ideas are erroneous, so if you don't agree or have other ideas let's hear them.


 * Bill Treadway
 * 352 Brewster Road
 * Briston, Connecticut