Postscript on a Project: Ron Shupard’s wood refrigerator car fi rst appeared as a work-in-progress shot in the November-December 2012 PLS Gazette. This is how it looked this past July on the new entrance track to the carbarn.

Allen Underkofl er

FIRST CLASS

ThePLS GAZETTEP.O. Box 26202Collegeville, PA 19426-0202

January–February 2014 • Th e PLS GAZETTE 1

Green Signals Ahead

I would like to wish everyone in-volved with PLS a very Happy New Year — 2014.

At the time of this writing it’s Janu-ary 31, 2014 and it looks and feels like winter may never come to an end. Winter started off mildly which gave us a chance to work on the many projects we have underway at PLS. As you read through this issue of the Ga-zette you will fi nd several articles and updates with some very nice photos showing the progress we are mak-ing on those projects. None of these projects, if not competed by the fi rst run day scheduled for April 27th, will cause any serious delay in being ready for the 2014 running season on the mainline tracks.

However, the Building 3 Transfer Table project that was supposed to get underway in early January has been delayed by the very cold and snowy

JANUARY–FEBRUARY TOPICS: Green Signals Ahead 1 Donations 2 Notice of Elections &Meeting 2 Membership Cards 2 Membership News 2 Renewals Due 2 Membership Gauge 2 New Year’s Day at PLS 3 2014 Calendar 4 2014 Budget 5 Steam Dynamics 5 Bridge Update 5

January–February 2014

weather. Th e maintenance required on the transfer table, the device used to raise, lower and move engines and cars from Building 3 storage or from trucks, trailers and automobiles to the steaming bays and/or the track that leads to the rail yard and mainline is a critical piece of equipment. As with any aging piece of mechanical equip-ment we have identifi ed a number of worn parts that will need to be re-placed. Some of these parts are custom made and will require machine shop work to bring them back to like-new condition. Other parts will have to be ordered. It is also possible that we may fi nd other parts or components that need additional work and can only be identifi ed once disassembly has started. Unlike our other projects, we must have the transfer table up and running as we approach the Spring running season that is only about 10 weeks away. I am reasonably confi dent we will be ready in early April. Any member who is planning on returning equipment to Building 3 before April 19th should call or e-mail me to be

sure the transfer table is operational before making the drive to PLS.

I would like to remind all regular and associate members that the morn-ing of April 19th has been identifi ed as Spring Clean-Up. Since this winter has had a large snow fall and many windy days, there are a lot of twigs and tree branches on the ground that need to be picked up and moved to our chipping area. Any help you can give will be greatly appreciated. Don’t forget that the aft ernoon of April 19th is a membership meeting and all are encouraged and welcome to attend.

As noted elsewhere in this Gazette the fi rst membership meeting for 2014 is Saturday March 15th. Th is is an important meeting as all regular members will have an opportunity to vote in the annual election for those running for open offi cer and board of director positions. I encourage all regular members to come out and vote.

I look forward to seeing all of you on the PLS mainline.

Frank Webb - President

Lee Nonnemacher

New Year’ Brigade: Bruce Saylor, Bob Hillenbrand, Ron Shupard, Tyler Romasco (Bob Freer’s grandson) and Joe Gotlewski show up for the annual PLS New Year’s Day Run. More photos on page 3.

ThePLS GAZETTEA newsletter of the Pennsylvania Live Steamers, Inc.

2 Th e PLS GAZETTE • January–February 2014

Notice of Elections and Annual Meeting

PLS elections will be held during the annual membership meeting on Saturday, March 15, 2014 at 12:30 P.M. To be elected are president, secretary, treasurer and three board members.

Nominees for the offi ces are as fol-lows:

President – Frank WebbSecretary – Bob MorrisTreasurer – Walter Mensch

Board of directors:

Jim Connelly Steve LeathermanLee Nonnemacher Hank RileyJim Salmons* Ron Shupard

* Denotes incumbent running for second two-year term.

Club Membership News

PLS welcomes new Associate mem-bers Gene Lonchar, Mark Silverman, Michael Collins, and Dean W. Rupp.

Congratulations to Robert Bent who was granted Honorary membership by the Board of Directors.

Membership GaugeAs of January 31, PLS has:

102 Regular Members 199 Associate Members 9 Honorary Members

MembershipRenewals Now Due

As a reminder, membership renew-als were due by December 31, 2013. In order to remain a member, we must have your paid renewal. If you do not renew, this will be your last issue of the PLS Gazette. Please take the time to complete the renewal notice that you were sent in early December and forward it with your dues. If you have misplaced your renewal notice, you can receive another one by e-mailing secretary@palivesteamers.org or by writing to PLS Inc. at the address be-low on this page.

Please do not forward dues with-out the renewal form. We must have the renewal form completed for our records.

Your membership cards will be sent to you when your dues are received.

Membership CardsMembership cards were mailed in

early February. If you have sent your renewal and have not yet received your membership card, please e-mail secretary@palivesteamers.org or write to PLS at the address below.

DonationAcknowledgements

PLS wishes to thank the following members for donations received dur-ing December and January: Guy God-schall, Jay Shupard, Pat Heller, Robert Blackson, David Brush, Michael McDevitt, Jack Richards, Bob Small, Wayne Baldwin, John Caldwell, Wayne DeVilbiss, Pat Murphy, Roy Nelson, Paul Nichini, Richard Poletto, Th omas Diedrich, James Doherty, H. Robert Wallace, John W. Wessels, David Tay-lor, Raymond Gross, Robert Heiden-reich, Joseph Natale, Douglas Pyatt, Joseph Springer, Judy Taylor, Deborah Voynar, Brian Ziegler, Tom Caldwell, Tom Cavella, Robert Clark, Mark Col-

lins, Wanda Gammon, Robert Gray III, Jeff rey Guzy, Edgar Hendler, Elaine Linkewich, Francis Mahoney, Ronald Marburger, Raymond Matus, Albert Rieger Jr, Ross Rowland, Dolores Stahl, Jeff rey Stahl, David Staplin, Bryan Del Monte, Richard Moore, Larry Moss, Jared Schoenly, Ryan Bednarik, Henry Blanco White, Robert Goepel, Brit-tany Grimm, Steve Leatherman, Harry Quirk, Joseph Rohanna, Alan Rede-ker, Darryl Smith, Carmen Visalli, Mike Condax, Ron Hoinowski, John Henchar Jr, Th omas O’Leary, George A. Spohrer, Buddy Borders, Sue Bor-ders, David Laird, Duane Quenzel, Carl Bruhns, Ronald Drenth, Virginia Kulak, Casey Quenzel, Steven Quen-zel, Stephen Roadcap, James Connelly, Sharon Connelly, Chris Becker, Doug-las Clark, Carolyn Mlynarczuk, John

Bortz Jr, Lee Nonnemacher, Kathleen Parris, Frank Webb, Ed Kabak, Wil-liam Shields, Gita Talmage, Marc Carpino, Eugene Heiler, and Levi Wolf. Th anks also to the Time Bandits Club and to Rita Bixler.

Recent donations in memory of Win Becker were received from Newell F. Godschall Jr and Gloria Razga Houseman.

Pennsylvania Live Steamers, Inc. President Frank Webb 77 Roundwood Circle, Collegeville, PA 19426 president@palivesteamers.org

Secretary Robert Blackson 303 North Tulpehocken Road, Reading, PA 19601 PennsylvaniaLiveSteamer@comcast.net

Treasurer Walter Mensch 1348 Sheep Hill Rd., Pottstown, PA 19465

Gazette Editor Allen Underkofl er Box 609, Kimberton, PA 19442-0609 pls@apunderkofl er.com

Pennsylvania Live Steamers, Inc. • P.O. Box 26202, Collegeville, PA. 19426-0202 • 610-454-0477 • www.palivesteamers.org

Board of Directors: John Bortz Jr., jonyx@netzero.net; Sharon Connelly, connellywood@verizon.net; Bob Freer, W3YLT@Juno.com;Ron Henderson, ronjhenderson@verizon.net; Jim Salmons, jshay6@verizon.net; Bruce Saylor, bgsberk@comcast.net.

January–February 2014 • Th e PLS GAZETTE 7

Above: bridge being inched across the cut on its dolly wheels. Below: the bridge is shown in-place.

6 Th e PLS GAZETTE • January–February 2014

Multi-Gauge Bridge UpdateThe bridge shown under con-

struction in the November-De-cember Gazette was put in place

on December 28, 2013. Participating in this eff ort were George Cooper, Bob Hillenbrand, Walt Mensch, Bob Mor-ris, Jim Salmons, Bruce Saylor and Ron Shupard. Installation of the wooden deck and track replacement will be completed as weather permits.

— Lee NonnemacherAll photos: Lee Nonnemacher

Right: The bridge being unloaded from Bruce Saylor’s trailer.

Below: The bridge is being moved to its intended location, pulled by a

tractor.

January–February 2014 • Th e PLS GAZETTE 3

New Year’s Day at PLSAs it was a nice, albeit cold day,

several PLS members decided to get together, as they have in

the past, for a little running on New Year’s Day. As the outside facilities (air and water) necessary to run steam locomotives are turned off for the winter, everything operating was either gasoline or electric powered.

— Lee Nonnemacher

Right: Bruce Saylor operating his train with Bob Hillenbrand acting as con-

ductor. Below Left: Joe Gotlewski on his road switcher. Below Right: Lee Nonnemacher taking a turn around

the railroad with Bruce Saylor’s train.Not shown is Guy Godschall who

arrived and ran his “A” Unit after this photographer left for warmer places.

Lee Nonnemacher

Lee Nonnemacher Bruce Saylor

4 Th e PLS GAZETTE • January–February 2014

2014 Complete Calendar of EventsJanuary

Saturday, Jan. 18 Board of Directors Meeting - 9:30 AM

February

Saturday, Feb. 15 Board of Directors Meeting - 9:30 AM

March

Saturday, Mar. 15 Board of Directors Meeting - 9:30 AMMembership Meeting - 12:30 PM - Elections

April

Saturday, April 19 Board of Directors Meeting - 9:30 AMMembership Meeting - 12:30 PMSpring Clean UpAfternoon/Evening Run*

Sunday, April 27 Run Day - Members & GuestsBoiler Testing(Rain Date May 4)

May

Saturday, May 17 Board of Directors Meeting - 9:30 AMMembership Meeting - 12:30 PM

Friday, May 23 Spring Meet - Members & Guests

Saturday, May 24 Spring Meet - Members & Guests

Sunday, May 25 Spring Meet - Members & Guests

June

Saturday, June 21 Board of Directors Meeting - 9:30 AMMembership Meeting - 12:30 PMAfternoon/Evening Run*

Sunday, June 22 Run Day - Members & Guests(Rain Date June 29)

Wednesday, June 25 TCA Convention Visit – Noon-2 PM

July

Saturday, July 19 Board of Directors Meeting - 9:30 AMMembership Meeting - 12:30 PMAfternoon/Evening Run*

Saturday, July 19 Club Picnic – 2 PM (following meeting)(Rain Date July 20)

Sunday, June 27 Run Day - Members & Guests(Rain Date August 3

August

Saturday, August 16 Board of Directors Meeting - 9:30 AMMembership Meeting - 12:30 PMAfternoon/Evening Run*

Sunday, August 24 Run Day - Members & Guests(No Rain Date)

Friday, August 29 Fall Meet - Members & Guests

Saturday, August 30 Fall Meet - Members & Guests

Sunday, August 31 Fall Meet - Members & Guests

September

Saturday, Sept. 20 Board of Directors Meeting - 9:30 AMMembership Meeting - 12:30 PMAfternoon/Evening Run*

Sunday, Sept. 28 John Bortz, Sr. Memorial Run Day -Members & Guests(Rain Date October 5)

October

Saturday, Oct. 18 Board of Directors Meeting - 9:30 AMMembership Meeting - 12:30 PMFall Clean UpAfternoon/Evening Run*

Sunday, Oct. 26 Run Day - Members & Guests(Rain Date November 2)

November

Saturday, Nov. 15 Board of Directors Meeting - 9:30 AMMembership Meeting - 12:30 PM

Friday, Nov. 28 Turkey Trot Run – Gauge 1 only – (rides not available)

December

Saturday, Dec. 20 Board of Directors Meeting - 9:30 AM

* Rides may not be available at afternoon/evening run days fol-lowing membership meetings due to possible limited participa-tion by equipment owners. All members and their guests are welcome to attend with the understanding that rides are not guaranteed at these events..

January–February 2014 • Th e PLS GAZETTE 5

PLS Budget For Fiscal Year 2014

DonationsRun Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 575.00Special Run Day . . . . . . . . . . . . 200.00Pot Luck Dinner . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400.00Picnic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.00General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,000.00Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350.00

DuesRegular Member . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,400.00Associate Member . . . . . . . . . . . 8,400.00

SalesBoiler Treatment . . . . . . . . . . . . Coal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50.00Steam Oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50.00Soda Sales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,000.00Snacks non-run Day . . . . . . . . . 350.00Snacks Run Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . 900.00Kitchen (meet weekends) . . . . . 1,600.00Table Sales Taxable . . . . . . . . . . . 500.00Table Sales non-Taxable . . . . . . 1,500.00Miscellanous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.00

Storage Track FeesBuilding # 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,636.00 Building # 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,330.00Building # 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 432.00

RecyclingAluminum Cans . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.00

Total Income . . . . . . . . . $ 35,903.00

UtilitiesElectric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 2,300.00Oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,400.00Septic Tank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,000.00Portable Toilets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 900.00Telephone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350.00Dumpster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 900.00Miscellaneous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200.00

MiscellaneousContingency Fund . . . . . . . . . . . 1,000.00Picnic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300.00Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200.00Pot Luck Dinner . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250.00

MaintenanceBackhoe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50.00Machine Shop Supplies . . . . . . . 50.00Building # 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,000.00Building # 2-7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500.00Gauge 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200.00Track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 750.00Mowers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300.00Signals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300.00Gas Mowing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250.00Gas Track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.00Club Locomotive . . . . . . . . . . . . 200.00Landscaping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200.00Trees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,000.00Fire Extinguishers . . . . . . . . . . . 200.00Misc. Property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500.00

CommunicationsGazette-Postage . . . . . . . . . . . . . 600.00Gazette-Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . 600.00Other Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500.00Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.00Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 900.00Community Support . . . . . . . . . 200.00Web Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 700.00Misc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300.00

CorporateLegal & Professional Fees . . . . . 1,000.00Offi ce General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200.00Property Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,500.00Sales Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50.00Offi ce Postage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500.00Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,500.00Corporate Misc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.00

Food & Merchandise SuppliesKitchen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 750.00Snacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400.00Soda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 600.00Sale Table Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,000.00Steam Oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.00

Special ProjectsShed for Loader . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800.00 Bldg. 1 Canopy Extension . . . . . 6,000.00

Total Expenses . . . . . . . $ 37,800.00

Income Expense

Steam Dynamics

Reading Bob Th omas’s article [March-April 2013 PLS Ga-zette] on the Indicator used

to record “cards” of events inside a working cylinder of a steam or inter-nal combustion engine it occurred to me that having taken indicator cards in a professional capacity on a steam engine I am today a member of prob-ably not a very large group. My experi-ence was on a triple expansion marine engine and even in the days of steam at sea it was not usual to take indicator cards, the reason being that there are essentially no adjustments that can be made on a reciprocating marine engine while it is running. A marine engine most of the time starts against essen-tially no load, just the friction of the engine, line shaft bearings and propel-

ler bearing, so there is no need for “full gear” at starting. As the rpm rise the horsepower demand is proportional to the cube of the rpm and the cutoff built into the valve gear is a match for this characteristic. Th ere is provision to make some adjustment of the HP cylinder’s cut off , but that requires a couple of wrenches and is in reality set once and then left alone.

When maneuvering the ship the engine may have to go from say ahead to astern with the ship in motion and then the engine does have to start against a load, but there will be vacu-um in the condenser and so starting presents no problem. When the engine is not running the vacuum decays, as the air pump is driven by the engine and sometimes if the HP piston is close to dead centre the engine will not start. Th e IP (intermediate pressure) cylin-der is then given a shot of direct steam

and the engine will then usually start. If it doesn’t then the LP (low pressure) cylinder is given a shot of steam. If the engine still does not start then the links are reversed and it is deliberately started in the opposite direction to that ordered by the bridge and then imme-diately reversed to the correct rotation. Inevitably the “Wrong Way” alarm on the bridge will sound and that is always bad forthe blood pressure of those up there.

It is standard practice on a marine steam engine, whether reciprocating or turbine, to use the engine as a brake by reversing it to check the ship’s motion. For some reason which has never been made clear to me that is considered very bad practice on steam cars, even though they are generally heavy ve-hicles with poor brakes. Anyone know why?

— Murray Wilson