Many thanks to Sharon Evans for calling a cyclone separator a cyclone separator and not a dome. As you can see from her communication, she did not thump my dome hard at all.
As always, thanks for keeping me on track.
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- Cyclone Separator
- Cyclone Seperator.jpg (59.93 KiB) Viewed 1934 times
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Following a bit of online searching, it seems that the cyclone separator for sand works much like grain separators found in Kansas or the sawdust collectors found in many wood-shops. An excellent engineering discussion of the theory of cyclonic separation is found in this video. Apparently this process of separating for usable sand is done under pressure and also takes advantage of the force of gravity. As a result, the sand appears to be blown through and out of the hose leading to the storage container in the locomotive. This might explain why the "tank" requires pressure testing. What a neat idea, the final result is that the sand is cleaned and transported at the same time. This is better than throwing around 50 pound bags of sand and emptying them into the dome opening . Empty sand bags can be seen in the sand bunker next to the sand house.
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For those wary of performing work at high places, then working on the cyclone separator and its platform is probably not for you and me. Yet this Friends Volunteer goes about his tasks without looking about or down below. He is too busy concentrating on the task at hand. The south facing camera, which is mounted on the tipple, is not PTZ controlled. Which means the direction the camera faces cannot be controlled remotely. Thus, we can see no more than this. I did learn from watching this video that physically sound knees are necessary, if you expect to work from a ladder any length of time.
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The work of the volunteer crew of Friends is a never ending task. Here is some of that work,and more importantly some of those Friends. Click on this link:
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http://www.coloradonewmexicosteamtrain.org/FriendsForum/viewtopic.php?f=149&t=4848
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- Work Session E.jpg (16.47 KiB) Viewed 1944 times
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Fill up your tank with a front end loader? That's what they do daily at Cumbres-Toltec Railroad. Except in this case the tender is loaded with chunks of coal. Having taken on water, Locomotive 489 heads to the coal bin, where a front end loader adds three large scoops. The day is about to begin for riders on Train #216, with a stop for a great lunch at Osier.
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