Operating historical railroad equipment comes with many complications; one being the availability or lack thereof of spare and consumable parts like cast iron brake shoes for steam engines. With members that volunteer at both museums, a wonderful collaboration between our Niles Canyon Railway and the Knight Foundry in Sutter Creek, CA, came to being.
Operating historical railroad equipment comes with many complications; one being the availability or lack thereof of spare and consumable parts like cast iron brake shoes for steam engines. With members that volunteer at both museums, a wonderful collaboration between our Niles Canyon Railway and the Knight Foundry in Sutter Creek, CA, came to being.
The Knight Foundry is a preserved late 1800s foundry and machine shop. It is the last of its kind to be fully water powered. The foundry remains active in casting and offered to help cast new brakes shoes for our steam locomotive. This process took place on January 20, 2024 with members of our NCRy on site to watch and document the process from start to finish.
A great collaboration, and a place to put on your places to visit in CA. The Knight Foundry offer tours twice a month of this historical gem, and more info can be found on their website. Thanks to the members of the Knight Foundry for their collaboration!
Here is a gallery of images of the cast iron pouring event on January 24, 2024.
All images by Christopher R. Hauf. Used with permission.
The view from the blast furnace charging deck of the Knight Foundry as their team of volunteers was getting ready to do a cast iron pour that included brake shoes for our Niles Canyon Railway and other shoes for Railtown among other items for their museum.The view from the blast furnace charging deck of the Knight Foundry as their team of volunteers was getting ready to do a cast iron pour that included brake shoes for our Niles Canyon Railway and other shoes for Railtown among other items for their museum.The sand cast molds for our brake shoes are ready and waiting for the iron to be melted and poured as visitors look on.The Knight Foundry buildings. The first building is the foundry and the buildings connected to it are the historic machine shop.The blast furnace charging deck where coke and iron materials are loaded through the door in the furnace chimney near the floor. On this day, the iron was coming from recycled brake rotors.With “suitcase weights” placed on the and collars around them to hold the two-part molds together, the brake shoes molds wait for the pour.Along with our brake shoes, the foundry was also casting different items needed by the museum and of interest to their volunteers like these small Knight Foundry anvils seen as the two-part mold or cast flask where the bottom is called the drag and the top is called the cope. Pots and other cookware were also being cast among some of the items.The coke is the blast furnace is getting to the point where the iron could soon be put into the furnace.The charging team works on the charge deck to make sure the levels inside the blast furnace are at the proper height. The “charges” which were cut up brake rotors were all measured on out on the floor, so they knew exactly how much to put in each time to get a proper amount of molten iron out to fill the ladle for pouring.Pouring the brake shoe molds. Two people handle the ladle while a third holds back the slag from coming out of the ladle on to the mold.More items are poured by the three-person team while the fourth member has a shovel with sand to cover any spills.Pouring the brake shoe molds. Two people handle the ladle while a third holds back the slag from coming out of the ladle on to the mold.Liquid cast iron leaves the blast furnace and is poured to the ladle which is the transferred by a hand operated crane to be poured.Breaking the plug… The exit path for the molten iron is formed in clay and is also plugged with clay to stop the flow. Here the clay plug is broken to allow for the molten metal to flow. A new plug will be placed when enough material has left the furnace.Pouring the brake shoe molds. Two people handle the ladle while a third holds back the slag from coming out of the ladle on to the mold.More molds are poured.Pouring the brake shoe molds. Two people handle the ladle while a third holds back the slag from coming out of the ladle on to the mold.After the pour, the foundry is full of wood smoke from burnt forms and supports.After the pour, the foundry is full of wood smoke from burnt forms and supports.The steam locomotive brake shoe pattern that the Knight Foundry made for our shoes. These are using the sand cast process to form the cavity for the material.
Update 3/26/2024
Learn even more about this collaboration in the great piece from Joe Rosato Jr. of NBC Bay Area.
