Best way to preserve steam locos?

I am writing from South Africa where we have a number of steam locos in various conditions. They have basically stood exposed to the elements and have suffered rust damage etc.

Going forward it is important to preserve those locos still in a reasonable state. Cost is a factor - this needs to be done as cheaply as possible. Units will stand outdoors in most cases, exposed to extreme temperature variation (-5C to 30C) and heavy rain.

Bitumen coatings are an option, as are tar/diesel mixtures. Are there any other suggestions, recommended methods, or papers that could assist us?

Any help/suggestions would really be appreciated!

Cheers,

Kevin

 

Can only suggest paint, but before applying use a phosphoric acid type rust killer/primer first, otherwise you are wasting your time and money.

 

Thank you....

 

A material that used to be widely used is Dinitrol. Which is a bitumous paint similar to underbody seal used on cars and is sprayed on. It's very effective, but takes a lot of removing, and tends to harden and peel in the sun over a few years. The main advantage is that it can be applied quickly on large surfaces. e.g. works very well on ships.

 

Thank you for all the suggestions so far.......

 

IIRC there was a story going around in to 70's/80's to the effect that the general external condition of ex GW Barry engines was worse than ex LM or Southern due to the better cleaning regimes at GW sheds. Better cleaning = less oily grime = less rust prevention. Maybe it's an urban myth, but certainly a generous covering of oil and grease will help to avoid rusting, but it hardly adds to the visual impact.

 

I suggest that it would very beneficial to remove any lagging on the boiler and cylinders so that it can't soak up water and keep it in close contact with the metal of the boiler.cylinders etc.

 

Gentlemen - thank you for the input so far. Keep it coming please!

 

Ensure the firebox, ashpan and smokebox are clean if possible washout the boiler dry out and box up again trying to remove as much oxygen as possible, remove any fittings that might attract unwanted attention from thiefs keep the loco covered in good layer of oil, try and get loco undercover!

Richard

 

If a shed is out of the question can you get hold of a large polytunnel to fit over them? - may sound daft but it is very effective. Keeping the water out in the first place is the only long term answer as all well intended answers involving oily substances will never stop water going where it is least welcome.

When we were involved in ex barry locos it was clear that in the end water gets under even the thickest layers of railway gunge and starts corrosion.

The worst areas for rot though have to be sodden asbestos or other lagging which never dries out. It has been suggested that the current restoration costs of 43106 have increased by £70,000ish due to an inactive period of outside storage! - now thankfully a thing of the past.

 

75069 seems to have suffered in a similar, if not worst, manner. Ashpan left full and lagging along underside of boiler barrel allowed to collect water over a long period.

 

Leaving the ashpan full was nothing short of negligent - whatever happened to the owning group?

This loco has been sheeted in more recent times though & it must remain to be seen on boiler stripdown just how much it has actually corroded.

Thank goodness for the Engine House at Highley where out of ticket locos are now stored in dry museum conditions!

 

there was a pair of barclays stored in sheffield that where preserved by dousing them with old engine oil i think they went to wirksworth.