Notes of explanation:
Hue - pronounced WAY
Hui - pronounced Hughy
Hua - pronounced Huwa
Dati - IndoDutch term for Papa
Baki - IndoDutch term for Brother
Onkla - IndoDutch term for Uncle<hr/>
From Book 2
The Tribal Council approved the project, but the BIA Agent did not have the authority to do so, the plans and bid package was sent to Washington for review. Concho reminded the Agent that the system was proprietary and that Best Sons' Engineering held the patents on the design. They settled down for the bureaucratic cat-and-mouse game that was part of any job that involved the petty bureaucrats in government. Both men had to make hurry-up and wait trips to Washington, DC. Fortunately, Thomas Two Trees had given notice to the Tribal Council and was now employed by Best Son's Engineering, so he could ride herd on the two little boys whenever Paul and Concho had to go to Washington. Finally, after three months of wrangling, the project was approved, allowing the Tribe to spend their own money to construct a power system on their own lands.
Chapter 1 - CONSTRUCTION BEGINS
With approved contracts in their hands, the three men, Concho, Paul and Thomas began negotiating with labor contractors and suppliers. They projected that actual construction would take a year to complete, David Parks assigned four of his men to act as liaisons with the contractor personnel, Gor Guftason, Bill Yates, Ted Fellows and Manny Lee. They were all seasoned employees and they all had construction experience on the Hilo Steam Project.
It took three weeks to clear the construction site, the tough lava rocks defied all but the largest bulldozers available. They got the floors poured and a temporary roof over the work site before the winter weather set in. By using propane space heaters, they were able to continue work during the cold winter weather on the high, wind-swept plateau of Northern Nevada.
The steam generator was shipped by American Piping and Boiler in Honolulu in early February. It sat on the pier in Oakland until there was a break in the weather and then was shipped in three pieces on the railroad to Sparks. The pieces were put on LoBoys with two tractors pulling each LoBoy. They were escorted by the Nevada Highway Patrol the entire distance, several bridges over canyons had to be strengthened to take the load.
The trip from the railroad yards in Sparks to the job site took eleven days and they knew getting the electric generators and equipment onsite was going to be equally harrowing.
Despite inclement weather, construction continued, and there was a steady stream of concrete trucks between the Lone Star Concrete plant in Wadsworth and the construction site.
When the steam generator arrived at the worksite, two large, heavy lift cranes were ordered up.
They lifted the temporary roof off the Boiler House and began the tricky job of placing the several sections of the steam generator into place. Thomas watched in amazement as Concho and Paul calmly directed the effort, the two men worked as a well-oiled team, made only slightly more understandable when they told him this was their third such installation!
As soon as the steam generator sections were in place, the iron workers swarmed over the building, installing the permanent roof. Before the day was out, the entire building was totally enclosed, the cranes had lifted the prefab roof sections into place in a matter of a few hours.
Sammy and Corbin were in the 6th Grade and doing well in school, Sammy had sold a few more drawings and was working on "his masterpiece". He wouldn't let anyone but Corbin see it, but Concho knew that Sammy had purchased colored pencils and charcoal sticks.
Unknown to Concho, Paul had helped Sammy arrange a showing in the school auditorium for Spring Break. Of course, Janet Nelson, the School Principal was in on the secret and she contacted Professor Garland at the University.
The day of the show, both boys disappeared early, Paul had insisted that Concho take the day off and stay in Sparks that morning. At 11 am, Paul took Concho over to the school, Concho kept asking him what was going on and all Paul would do was smile.
The two men walked into the auditorium, to be met by a large crowd. Paul drew Concho over to a display at one side of the room, there stood Sammy and Corbin, both wearing huge smiles.
When Concho looked at the drawing that Sammy was standing beside and the signature at the corner read Sammy Best, he was stunned. It was a large-sized color pencil and charcoal drawing of Pyramid Lake!
Professor Garland was standing nearby, speaking excitedly on his cell phone, he pointed the cell phone at the drawing and took a picture of it.
The cell phone rang and he answered it, his smile grew larger and, as he disconnected his call, he walked over to Sammy and Concho and said, "Mr. Best, I have been authorized by the University to offer $30,000 for Sammy's drawing, will you accept?"
Poor Concho's mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out, finally, he leaned down and hugged his son, "Sammy, your drawing is wonderful, we must show it to your Grandpapa!"
Someone tapped Concho on the shoulder, "He already has shown it to me." Concho twirled around and found himself nose to nose with his Dati, Danny!
It was all too much for Concho, he had to find a chair to sit down.
Concho felt a hand on his shoulder, he looked up and found Thomas standing next to him, Thomas smiled and said, "Let's go for a walk." Thomas winked at his son, Corbin, and then walked from the auditorium.
They sat outside on a bench, next to the parking lot. "Thomas looked squarely into Concho's eyes and said, "Cho, will you be my partner?"
Conch began to shake, "yyyyYyYyessssss!" he managed to stammer out.
When Concho finally regained his composure and they returned to the auditorium, it was decided that Sammy would retain ownership of the drawing, but it would be on loan to the University for display.
The remainder of Sammy's drawings sold and another $50,000 was added to his college fund.
They all went back to the house, Concho's head was still swimming, so much had happened in such a short time. He sat in the living room trying to sort it all out in his head.
Sammy came in and climbed up on his lap, "Dati, it's alright, we know you like Onkla Thomas like I like Corbin and now he will be my Dati too." He hugged Concho and said, "Onkla Paul is gonna the only lonely guy in the house!" Sammy giggled and ran off before Concho could even think of a reply.
Danny was staying with them for a few days and he came into the living room and sat down. Both men were quiet and then Danny said, "Son, I have only ever wanted the best for you, even when you were a little boy living with us in Peru. You are a man now, with a son of your own, if you are not true to yourself, how will you ever guide Sammy into his own manhood?"
Concho lost it completely and began to cry, Danny went over to him and held him in his arms.
When Concho's tears began to slow, Danny said, "Concho, you must be true unto your own self."
Danny got up and went into the other room. Concho sat there for some time, pondering what his Dati had said, he then rose and went looking for Thomas.
He found him standing along the fence in the backyard. He put his arms around Thomas and hugged him to himself, "Thomas, yes with all my heart, I want you as my life partner. May we grow old together in grace and time and we teach our sons that same lesson."
Thomas returned Concho's hug and said, "Cho, you are mine and I am yours, only in death may we be parted." They stood there, secure in each other's embrace, they did not see the several sets of eyes watching them from the kitchen window.
Sammy and Corbin knew that they were now brothers.
The next morning, Concho, Thomas and Paul rode up to the job site, when they arrived, there was a crowd of workmen milling around the door to the Boiler House.
When they asked the men what the problem was, they replied, "Snakes!"
They peeked in the door, and everywhere they looked, there were coiled rattlesnakes and two welders standing on the top of the welding bench, hanging on to each other in fear for their lives! The snakes had come into the building to escape the cooling temperatures of the night.
Thomas grabbed a CO2 Fire Extinguisher and began moving into the building, shooting the frigid gas at each snake. He cleared a path to the welders and they escaped at a dead run, probably needing to change their underwear. Concho and Paul grabbed some more extinguishers and started moving into the building from a different direction, by the time they had finished, they counted over 200 frozen rattlesnakes! It was going to be a continuing problem throughout the contract!
They knocked the workers off for the day, with pay and told them they would begin again the next day. They hired six young men from the tribe to walk snake patrol each night. The men would have fire extinguishers and they were to stand at each doorway and blast any snakes that tried to enter.
A final solution to the snake problem was suggested by Sammy when he said, "Fry'em!" They dug a trench at the opening of each door and formed up a concrete channel. They then laid a 2" pipe in the channel and connected it to the hot gas system. Any snake trying to cross the hot pipe, was immediately cooked as the hot gases were almost 6,000 degrees. Of course, they were not that hot by the time the hot gases had flowed into the pipes, but it was still sufficient to cook the snake.
The young Indian men then became collectors of cooked snakes, neither Concho nor Paul were quite courageous enough to ask them what they did with the cooked snakes!
The electric generator and supporting equipment arrived at the Sparks Rail Yard.
They had to order up 4 LoBoy trailers and 8 tractors to move the machinery from Sparks to the plant. It was, again, an 11-day journey as the heavy loads were eased up the highway. Only one load at a time could be pulled across the spans over many of the gorges and the state would not allow the caravan to move after dark.
They brought the cranes up over an alternate route from Wadsworth, so the cranes were ready as soon as the LoBoys were pulled onto the job site. They offloaded all the machinery and set it in the approximate position on the foundations, they had notified Mitsubishi and had asked especially for Mr. Oto to supervise the alignment.
Mr. Oto was nearing retirement and a younger man, Sai Fume accompanied him.
They set the turbine condenser and then dropped the turbine down on top of it. After bolting the two together, they leveled it on the foundations and began making preparations to lift the generator. It took the combined effort of three cranes to maneuver the generator into place and shim it to mate up with the turbine shaft coupling.
Thomas had never been involved in such large pieces of machinery, when he looked up and saw the generator being lowered through the roof and onto the foundations, he decided he would stick with Geology!
The Mitsubishi electricians wired up the system and the generator leads up to the main disconnects, Sierra Power had run lines in and had connected to their side of the disconnects. They had everyone stand back when they "hotted up" the lines, they would not be able to "phase" them until the generator was running.
No sensible Electrician nor Engineer would trust drawing to determine phase!
Concho ordered the pole switches to be opened and locked and he insisted that he be given the only keys.
It was another month before the cooling water lines and pumps were installed to the lake. As soon as they were, the heat exchangers were filled with fresh water and a flow was established through the condenser.
The boiler was filled with clean water and "boil out" chemicals, then hot gas was slowly admitted to the steam generator. They steamed the steam generator for a week, circulating the "boil out" chemicals to remove all oils and greases left from manufacture. They then "blew" the boiler down to blow off all the materials removed by the chemicals and then refilled the boiler with fresh water.
They again began admitting hot gases to the exchange section and brought the steam pressure slowly up to 150 psig. They left it there, admitting steam to the evaporators in order to fill the reserve feed water tanks with pure distilled water that would become the make-up feed water for the system, absolutely pure water had to be used as the steam section working pressure was 1800 psig and 600 degrees of superheat. Any contaminant at those pressures and temperature would destroy a system in a matter of hours!
After two weeks of blowing off steam to the atmosphere, they began warming up the turbine generator under the watchful eye of Mr. Oto and Mr. Fume. A day later, they rolled the turbine and brought it up to 100 rpm in 10 rpm increments over two days.
After a week, the system was shut down and the bearings were pulled for examination.
They flushed the oil system and put fresh oil in the sump before starting the turbine again.
They then began bringing the turbine up to speed, over the course of a week then flashed the exciter and brought its voltage up to 125 volts. The main generator showed 3800 volts and exactly 60 cycles. For a short time, they closed the breakers to the substation to check line voltage and phase rotation. Two leads had to be changed to match the system phase rotation.
They then shut the system down again and, as soon as it had cooled off, they rolled the bearings out of their shells and checked for wear. Everything was within specification, so Mr. Oto released the system to Concho Best, Best Sons' Engineering Supervisory Engineering Manager.
They left the system run idle as they trained the operating crew from the Indian Tribe. Concho called Danny and asked if he wanted to come for the start up and Danny said he would, but he, Concho, was in charge!
After two weeks, the operators that had been hired by the Tribal Council felt they were ready, so Concho notified all concerned, including officials from Sierra Power Company.
Chapter 2 - STARTUP
Concho started making arrangements, this was a momentous occasion for not only the Indian Tribe, but also for the State of Nevada. Much of their electric power was imported over the Sierra Crest from California and the long transmission lines were subject to frequent outages during winter storms. The generating station at Wadsworth and the small Diesel Generator at the state Capitol of Carson City were not sufficient to supply the northern part of the state when the import line failed.
By adding The Pyramid Lake Natural Steam Electric Generating Station to the system, they could supply all their people with electricity in the event of an import failure. The addition of such a large generator on the system would provide stability and prevent phase angle shifts caused by the earth's magnetic flux and solar radiation reacting with the long transmission lines.
Concho asked Paul to make a speech at the dedication and Paul refused, "Cho, this is your party, you have managed this system from the very beginning. Without you, it would have never been built."
Thomas was standing beside Concho and said, "Love, we will write the speech together, but you must give it. You and only you have guided this project. Without Concho Best, it would have never been built!"
The Opening and Dedication was set for August 28th, a little over a year since they first started the construction phase of the project.
As they were getting ready to leave from Sparks, Sammy came up to Concho and said, "Dati, I have something for you."
Corbin carried out a color pencil and charcoal drawing of the new power station. Sammy said, "Dati, this cannot be sold, this is for you!"
Again, Concho was gobsmacked, the drawing showed every detail of the power system and even the people who built it. He hugged his now 12-year-old son and told him he would treasure the drawing forever.
They drove up to the Generating Station. Dignitaries from the State of Nevada, Sierra Power Company and the Federal Government, as well as the Tribal Council, were there.
Concho made sure that it was Paul who was going to throw the breakers and he gave him the key to the pole switches.
The plant was steaming along, all pressures and voltages were ready for connection, Concho stepped up to the microphone. "Ladies and gentlemen, Governor Baskins, Tribal Elders and BIA Officials, we are here to engage a new system, a new era to Nevada and to the Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation. With the help of my associates, Paul Duncan and Thomas Two Trees, we have constructed for you a new era in energy. This generating station consumes no fuel, creates no air pollution and can, if needed, supply all of Northern Nevada with electricity for so long as the Earth itself abides. I call on you, Engineer Paul Duncan, on my count, to energize this system, Five, Four, Three, Two, ONE - ENERGIZE!"
As Paul threw the control switches, the crowd could hear the huge breakers engaging and the whine of the turbine as it began to accept the electric load.
Concho spoke again, "Ladies and gentlemen, the system has the load, we are providing power for all of Northern Nevada, the Carson Diesel is shutting down and the Sierra Crest Tie Line is reversing. Power is flowing back into California!"
The next morning, the Tribal Council formally accepted the new system and had United States Treasury Documents for the amount of the contract and also for the T & M charges. It had been a hard year but Best Sons' Engineering and particularly Concho Best and Paul Duncan had established themselves as the preeminent experts in the construction of Natural Steam Power Plants.
TBC
This group of Engineering Pioneers will continue their exploits as part of BEST SONS' ENGINEERING COMPANY.