Setting the Pace

While we get closer to the Belle's cruising season, it was time to give some "tlc" to one of the oldest (known) pieces of equipment we maintain: the main engines' throttle valve. As many on here know, this valve was salvaged from the Gordon C. Greene. However, this valve was not new when the GCG received it. It, along with the GCG's main engines, came from the Ferd Harold. If this valve was new when the Ferd Harold was built, then that would put the valve's date as early as 1881. While this valve was a common design used on steamboats, you're certainly not going to order this from anyone nowadays. Thanks to Atlas Machine Co. this valve was given some much needed work when Atlas put their generous and skilled efforts towards rebuilding the main engines for the Belle's centennial. You can see from the first picture this valve sits on rollers to allow for the expansion and contraction of the main steam line. I made some marks, as we've done in the past, to see the movement of the valve once we start heating the boiler back up. I'll try to post some pictures showing how much it moves once we get steam back up. Other pictures show the globe and seat. A nice feature of this valve is the seat being removable for service or replacement. No surprise, this valve was designed with the mindset much like the main engines' builders to have parts made simple and serviceable for a long life, though I doubt in the wildest imagination of any the its designers and builders expected it to be in service for over 130 years! Most of this valve is usually covered in insulation, so most people will not see it "naked" like this.