I saw photos of the Kepner collection on Facebook. We all have seen some photos, so nothing much new.
However, I did see this boiler. I know nothing about it, but just think whomever ended up with it needs to know it is not properly designed, and probably should not be fired.

But it would be fun to hydro!

Is it because of the unsupported flat sidewalls in the wagontop end?

The tapered course and "wagon top" sides of the firebox are flat, unsupported areas (at least from what I think I see in this photo).
As Kelly mentioned, a hydrostatic test may cause deformation in these areas.

Who knows what else may lurk?

I would like to know who built this culvert.

I'm not too crazy about the outer corners on the backhead. When it's pressured up, these are always under tension, creating stress risers. "Buyer beware"... There also looks to be a horizontal seam running across those unsupported areas on the side sheets.

Wonder if that thing was made in Rhode Island?

Howard P.

Could this "engine" be what it is from?: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=43881&hilit=+Mock
J/K, though Fred Kepner picked up a little bit of everything.

Looks more suited for a pig roast. Adapted from an oil tank?

So I'm really confused by this. Much of it looks like a BBQ, but there's also enough stuff on there that look somewhat legit to make me wonder if somebody actually built this as a boiler?

Obviously Mark's right, this is lawn art. But I'm curious about what appear to be staybolts on that bottom potion. Ignoring the whole "I don't think the Form 4 is gonna pencil out", how would that even work at all. You've got one, then right beside on a 90 degree corner, you have another. How can that even be built? The whole row is that way. Are they even real, or is it all decorations?

In the violin trade, something that isn't a fully functional violin, but looks kind of like a real violin is called a "violin shaped object", or VSO for short....

Not sure how one can say it’s a “bad boiler” just from a couple of photos. Is it odd? Yes. But it does have a NB stamp on it. Built by the GABCO B&E Company in 1967. Looks like it was built for a 15” gauge locomotive.

If anybody wants to make a little wager, I'd bet that BSO couldn't get a legitimate code stamp TODAY.

We can't be sure from just a couple of photos, but those large flat surfaces on the firebox sides have no visible means of support, and so are highly suspect. The outer rows of staybolts on the backhead would be expected to fall outside of the firebox, which leads to the question of what they are tied to on their far ends. But you are right, an in-person inspection is needed to be sure.


Seriously? You have seen it in person? I'm not doubting you, I just find it astonishing that it would sport a stamp from back in the age when people supposedly still remembered how to build boilers.

I understand that a certain contractor (now a guest of the Federal Government) built and delivered a new full-sized boiler to Ecuador, which didn't have any tubes installed and also didn't have any backhead or front tube sheet braces at all, yet was Stamped, even though that is supposedly impossible without the third-party inspector witnessing the boiler under hydro pressure. This was related to me by the Ecuadorian mechanical engineer hired by the customer to try to make a boiler out of that culvert. He told me face to face that he had always though "Made in the USA" meant something until he saw that boiler.

We have the exact same terminology in the guitar world. It also applies to any guitar that is somewhat “functional” but cannot be set up properly or play well. AKA kindling.