All Steamed Up
by Willy Vinton
Yesterday felt like a good day to blow off some steam, so we fired up our 1909 Stanley Model R roadster. We had a little issue with dirty nozzles and had to clean them a couple times to get it fired up. This is what happens when you flood it and have to burn it out to get it ready to fire again.
Whenever you fire up a steam car, it attracts a crowd. We had at least 20 people come out of the museum when they heard that we were firing up the Stanley. Only a few had the courage to stand close.
Once we had 350 psi of steam preasure, we were ready to put it in motion. Drip valve open throttle up and away we go! This is a fun car to operate and everyone enjoys seeing and hearing it running around Wedgewood Resort.
Ed, one of our docents, takes his turn with the Stanley. I think it takes him about a week or more to get the smile off his face after getting a chance to excercise this 102-year-old steam car. We got the Stanley out for a total of 2 good days of running, around 3 hours of running time total. She's now back on the floor for another winter. 
After the Stanley is run, we have to blow the boiler down to clean out all the deposits that may have settled in the bottom. Its always impressive to see and hear a blown down. Too bad the noise can't be captured in a picture!
If you find this interesting, make sure that you keep up on this blog site to see when we are going to fire up our steam cars next season. And remember that this may be the best way to let off steam, out in the back lot alone......
Yesterday felt like a good day to blow off some steam, so we fired up our 1909 Stanley Model R roadster. We had a little issue with dirty nozzles and had to clean them a couple times to get it fired up. This is what happens when you flood it and have to burn it out to get it ready to fire again.
Whenever you fire up a steam car, it attracts a crowd. We had at least 20 people come out of the museum when they heard that we were firing up the Stanley. Only a few had the courage to stand close.
Once we had 350 psi of steam preasure, we were ready to put it in motion. Drip valve open throttle up and away we go! This is a fun car to operate and everyone enjoys seeing and hearing it running around Wedgewood Resort.
Ed, one of our docents, takes his turn with the Stanley. I think it takes him about a week or more to get the smile off his face after getting a chance to excercise this 102-year-old steam car. We got the Stanley out for a total of 2 good days of running, around 3 hours of running time total. She's now back on the floor for another winter. If you find this interesting, make sure that you keep up on this blog site to see when we are going to fire up our steam cars next season. And remember that this may be the best way to let off steam, out in the back lot alone......