Nathan W – Page 2 – Not Your Average Engineer

May 5, 2013July 4, 2020

Oregon Rail Heritage Center

After visiting OMSI, Nathan and I walked over to the new Oregon Rail Heritage Center where the SP4449 Daylight, the SP&S 700, and the OR&N 197 (among other engines) now live. The 700 is in the photo above. If you’ve never walked around a large steam engine, it is hard to comprehend just how large these beautiful pieces of machinery truly are. Were I born 100 years earlier, I no doubt would have been a locomotive engineer.

The 700 slumbering in her new engine shed.

The SP4449 work list.

Running gear on an old GE Diesel Electric locomotive that also lives in the new Oregon Rail Heritage Center.

A little diesel switcher sitting out in the yard.

The OR&N 197 is in the middle of a full restoration job.

The SP4449 Daylight is in the middle of an overhaul. Every rivet and every weld has to be inspected. All of the metal that holds in the mighty pressure of her boilers has to be checked for signs of wear and aging. The last thing anyone would want would be a boiler explosion on this grand old locomotive.

The space in the front of the engine is big enough to live inside!

Drive wheels on the SP&S 700.

SP4449 drive wheels.

Looking into the cab of the SP&S 700.

The booster engine lives in the rear wheels of the SP4449.

A picture of the booster engine outside of the SP4449.

The text from the above image:

4449 Booster Engine

This booster engine is a small two-cylinder steam engine back-gear-connected to the trailing truck axle on the locomotive. A rocking ilder gear permits it to be put into operation by the engineer. The tractive effort of the 4449 booster engine is 11,500 lbs. It has been used 3 or 4 times since the 4449 was restored to service in 1974 as it uses a lot of steam and water. Engineer McCormack recalls using the booster in 1975 pulling out of Chicago Union station and in 1984 pulling Vincent Hill in Tigard. This may be the only remaining booster engine on an operating steam locomotive.

Some of the SP4449 and SP&S 700 rolling stock out in the yard.

Another diesel engine sitting in the yard. Several people appear to have their hobby engines stored at the facility.

The National Register of Historic Places dedication plaque on the SP&S 700.

Old machine tools that remind me of the tools at Steph’s work in Sydney. Heather and I saw similar tools at the B&O Railroad Museum.

One last look at the SP&S 700’s drive wheels.

May 5, 2013June 9, 2013

OMSI with Nathan to see the Myth Busters Exhibit

While waiting for a flight delay in Portland, Nathan and I went to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry to kill a few hours. There was a Myth Busters exhibit that we visited. It was okay but not great. I think it was more aimed at kids rather than adult engineers. I think that this was a champagne bottle machine gun.

An Electric Eel on the upper floor in the permanent exhibits.

A cow in the mezzanine.

Please DO NOT plug in the cow. It runs all over the building and no one can catch it.

Myth Busters shark.

The old overhead crane in the power house.

Another Myth Busters machine.

A duct tape canoe.

Rocket car motors.

Fan back pack.

March 8, 2013August 20, 2016

Reed Gold Mine, Site of the First Documented Commercial Gold Find in the USA

Last week I went to Charlotte, North Carolina for training at EPRI. Somehow we ended up with a Dodge Challenger as our rental car. Perhaps there are other versions of this car with a better engine and a manual transmission. Aside from the nice looks, we found our particular rental car gutless.

After our training wrapped up early Friday afternoon, we had a couple of hours to kill before our flight back to the west coast. Nathan, my coworker, found a list of 50 free things to do in the greater Charlotte area. One of the listed activities was a visit to the Reed Gold Mine in Midland, NC on the Little Meadow Creek. A short drive later, we arrived at the site of America’s first commercial gold discovery and mine.

Out front was an OR cart. We looked around but couldn’t find the AND cart. (Boolean algebra humor)

In the little museum we found many interesting pieces of machinery. Back when the mines were active in North Carolina, everything was powered by steam and compressed air.

Old sluice boxes outside on the lawn.

The mighty Little Meadow Creek where a very large 17 pound gold nugget was found in 1799 and sold in 1803 for $3.50 when it was worth $3600.

Placer mine pits still visible. I imagine that this whole little creek bottom was turned over several times in the hunt for gold and gold dust.

A couple of ore carts. This mine site never used carts but some have been brought from other mines around the state.

An adit entrance to the mine. Amazingly, the state park allows people to wander around inside part of the mine un-escorted!

Looking into the mine with Nathan standing in the middle of the frame. The mine would originally have been no more than five feet high. When the park was opened, the mine was excavated further to allow people to walk through the mine without bending over in order to get a feel for how it would have been in the old days. This is way different than what Zach and I found at the Daydream Mine in Australia! At least Nathan and I didn’t see any bogan light shows here like Zach and I did in the Capricorn Caves.

Looking off down another tunnel.

This was a large gallery with several adits and drifts heading off in different directions following veins of quartz.

A filled-in adit with rubble from other portions of the mine.

An old ore bucket.

The tunnels are always at a nippy 45 degrees.

A vertical shaft where a steam engine once hauled buckets full of ore to the surface. Now the shaft serves as an emergency escape option in case of mine collapse.

An ore cart and mine tracks setup in the mine to show how it could have been used. This mine never had such equipment. Everything was done by hand.

Some representative pneumatic drills of the type used in North Carolina. This mine most likely never used such mechanization.

Heading down another tunnel.

Looking down the stairs into the mine from the top of the exit passage.

The exit to the small part of the mine that is setup for tourists to visit.

The top of one of the mine shafts with a replica winch setup. This reminds me a bit of the Big Winch in Coober Pedy, Australia. We did not run into Slobodan at this mine.

Another shaft filling with debris and long in disuse.

The chimney at the old engine house.

The Engine Shaft once reached a depth of 150 feet. The 100 feet of the shaft that was below the ground water table had to be pumped dry in order for the miners to work.

The chain link fence and signs indicate old mine shafts that have become overgrown and partially caved in.

Another view of the engine house.

The bottom stones from Chilean ore mills. It is very similar technology to how some parts of the world used to (and some still do) grind grain.

Old ore mill stamping equipment.

Neat cam shafts that used to raise the stamps high in the air before sending them crashing down on the ore below.

A pile of stamps behind another cam shaft.

Stamp mill boxes.

This place is riddled full of old mine shafts. It’s hard to believe that the whole area was also farmed up until the 50s or 60s. Now it has become a forest again.