Trains LIVE — Stay bolts — 4-15-2023 — Back in our March 15, 2023 episode we visited Spec Machine in Middleton, Wis., for an update on Chicago & North Western steam locomotive No. 1385. The Mid-Continent Railway Museum (North Freedom, Wis.) holds this steam locomotive in their collection and is restoring it to operation. As we discussed, there are numerous scientific principles at work within the operation of a steam locomotive. One of those is the states of matter, how they change, and what this change does to a steam locomotive. Today on Trains LIVE we look at the changing states of matter in relation to stay bolts on a steam engine.
Come along as we see how heat impacts the boiler and firebox on No. 1385. Stever Rauderbush, of Spec Machine, and Pete Deets, of the Mid-Continent Railway Museum, explain the role of stay bolts and how they function. While what happens with stay bolts is basic science, how it impacts steam locomotive operation is an amazing experiment to watch. This is steam locomotive 101!
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Trains LIVE is a regular video segment, recorded live and unscripted from Kalmbach Media. The series began in July 2022.
Trains LIVE features Bob Lettenberger, Trains associate editor, Kalmbach Media staff, and guests talking about railroads and trains in a casual, behind the scenes format. On Trains LIVE we will ask the questions you would like to ask and take you into places not normally open to the public. Trains LIVE also takes you on the road to museums, trackside locations and other railroad-related venues. It is unscripted and presented every other Wednesday at 2 p.m. Central time.
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I hate to get technical, but I have to on this one. The video states that water gets bigger as it turns to liquid. That is not correct. Put a water bottle in the freezer and you’ll see this is not true. Water is one of the few examples of a type of matter that actually gets bigger when it freezes. Most things do get smaller when they become a solid, but water is one of the few exceptions to this due to the lattice structure that forms in the hydrogen and oxygen molecules when it turns into a solid (ice). This is actually quite important. If water got smaller when it froze (more dense that liquid), the ice on all of our oceans, lakes, and rivers would sink during the winter. This would allow water to keep circulating in these bodies of water much more quickly. The result would be solid masses of ice everywhere, and not just a coating of ice on top.