| |
For the First Time in 57
Years,
a new 38 Class Boiler Takes Shape
20 April 2010
On 24 October 1952, boiler No.
3825A successfully completed its hydraulic test at the Boiler Shop
at Chullora Workshops. That moment signalled the completion of the
last 38 Class boiler to be manufactured by the NSW Government Railways.
Half a world away and more than
57 years later, a new 38 Class boiler takes shape inside Dampflokwerk
Meiningen, Germany.

|
Above
and below: 3801s emerging new boiler on the factory
floor at Dampflokwerk Meiningen, Germany. These images and
others marked * by Achim Decker.
|


|
Just
like 3801s old smokebox tubeplate, this new tubeplate
has been bored with 36 large holes for the superheater flues
and 142 small holes for the firetubes. However, the flanging
design is new and much improved.*
|

|
The
new firebox tubeplate.
|

|
The
new foundation ring will be welded to the bottom of the firebox,
providing a lower join between the inner and outer firebox.*
|
The following three images,
are of pressed-steel components before they were placed in position
on the emerging boiler assembly. In this page's top two images of
the boiler, these components may be seen forming part of the overall
assembly.

|
The
pressed-steel outer firebox backhead: the back wall
of the boiler.*
|

|
The
throatplate, ready to be welded to the leading, lower edge
of the firebox, creating the space for the combustion chamber.*
|

|
The
Belpaire ring will be welded to the leading top edge of the
firebox creates the interface between the round boiler
barrel and the squared Belpaire firebox.*
|

|
The
backhead or rear wall of the inner firebox
a view of its inside surface. The firehole door has not yet
been formed.*
|

|
The
all-welded boiler barrel and firebox
at an earlier stage of construction, before the fitting
of the throatplate.
|
|
|