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STEAM LOCOMOTIVE RECONSTRUCTION

Cannon was contracted to completely rebuild the Royal Hudson (#2860) engine, and all the running gear, including the brake line rigging, connecting rods, crown brasses etc,
The #2860, (built in 1940) and the #3716 are in demand by both TV and film industry.

Since the mid 70's.Cannon has been actively involved i rebuilding parts for old steam locomotives, including the first Royal Hudson (2860) and the 3716 engine, originally built in 1912.

A few years back, Cannon completed one of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken in this field.
oOur Company was contracted to strip down, and then totally rebuild or remanufacture virtually every aspect of the #2816 engine , to its original design, and according to the original specs.
No updated or modern equiplment., including gauges, were used for this project.

With only a couple of original drawings to work from, Cannon put in thousands of man hours over a year and a half to bring this steam locomotive back to it's former lustre.
Built in 1928 in Montreal , the train had been out of commission for decades.

SOME BEAUTIFUL LOCOMOTIVE PICTURES

This stripped down shot of the boiler, gives little indication of the engineering complexity involved in its operation. Flexi bolts of various lenghts were placed through each hole , and ultimatly served. along with other equipment, as an early warning system for boiler problems.

Sizing up a monumental task

It's difficult for many people. including engineers, to appriciate just how demanding and exacting the second Royal Hudson project was. For example, the horse -shoe shaped bearings inside the wheels had to be specially recast, remachined and the press fitted in with dovetails. And the guide bars and slippers on the wheels demanded razor thin tolerances to ensure proper clearances. In fact, vitually every part of the train had to be rebuilt to tolerances tighter then 1/64 of an inch.

This very old Lady was in rough shape before we began a near total restauration on it. Keeping costs within budget was always a challenge.

The Royal Hudson was not designed as a workhorse. It was built for speed, and test runs on a flat stretch of land proved it could burn up the tracks at an impressive 120 mph. The original engineers understood that a mechanical device, aided by cams, had to be installed underneath the engine to pull it, and the rest of the locomotive, to the side the train was turning towards. Without it, the train wouldn't remain upright for long. Remanufacturing he device and the cams was a significant challenge for Cannon.

But perhaps the most difficult aspect of the entire project was the boiler. By any measure, the boiler is truly an astounding feat of engineering. Different layers of metals were required for inside and outside boiler walls. According to the original design, literally thousands of small holes had to be drilled through the outside walls. The job required, among other pieces, stay bolts , acorn nuts, and threaded flexi bolts of various lengths with balls attached to them. The balls, which sit inside a cup similar to a ball joint, have to be able to absorb the rattling movements of the train. Should a problem occur, the flexi bolt will break and steam will shoot out the hole. The design made locating the source of the problem easy, but a nightmare to repair.

A WORK IN PROGRESS



	Š2003 Cannon Manufacturing Ltd.