The museum has purchased a new boiler water injector for the fireman's side of #9. It will replace the injector that has been on the engine since its return to service and has often been a source of trouble. Recently it suffered a complete failure of a major component. One of our many talented members quickly machined a new part so we were able to return the engine to service without any disruption to scheduled operations.
As many of you know, new locomotive injectors of a size suitable for our small engines have not been manufactured in many years. We have had to rely on old injectors which are not in the best condition. Also, it is difficult to test and troubleshoot problems with them.
Because of the critical role that the injectors have in ensuring a safe and reliable operation, it was decided to make this investment when we were alerted to the availability of a new injector that will provide reliable operation for years to come.
The new injector has been manufactured by Anthony Duarte of Eccentric Engineer. He manufactures injectors and other components for the Live Steam hobby and recently produced a full size replica of a Number 4 Nathan Simplex injector which should be ideal for our engine.
www.eccentricengineer.comAs finances permit, we plan on purchasing more of these for #9 engineer's side, #10, and #11.
As you can see, these are truly works of the machinist's art. The first picture gives a good idea of the complexity of these devices and the level of skill and knowledge required to successfully reproduce them. It also shows why it is not easy to figure out what might be wrong with one.
(this image borrowed from EE's Facebook page)
Our injector fresh from the oven:
The check valve:
