1 : 1 scale modeling
Thanks for the replies.  Just look at 664,,,,,Now she's all shiny Icon_e_biggrin

   

Some members of Tri state were with us today to do a once over to the prime mover of 663, to determine the cylinders with the leaky rings. In this pic you can see the covers removed on what's called the "air box". There's a total 16 of these, one for each cylinder. This chamber is pressurized by the blower to force air into the cylinders for combustion.
   

This close up shot will help explain what we did and how it works.
   

Inside the air box near the bottom of the inspection cover is a waterline, this is for engine coolant. Just above it are the vents that allow the air into the cylinder as the piston travels below them. The piston travels back up, fuel is pumped in by the injector, everything explodes, the piston is forced down and back up again, and a set of valves open on the top of the cylinder, and the fumes are exhausted out into the muffler and out the stack.  It's through these vents that when we roll the engine over by hand that we can view the piston rings that are supposed to keep the engine oil out of the combustion chamber. Some of these rings are worn out and allowing oil past them.  We were able to ID two cylinders with bad rings in them, The people from Tristate will do a compression test to double check our findings. This will also locate other bad rings , as we can only view about 35% of the rings surface through these ports.

With 664 all set for excursion season and 663 in good hands I was able to focus on our long neglected "B".  She was not able to be moved inside before the shutdown, so she has been parked outside all winter. Up until today it was either too cold, or we were too involved with the other units to get back to getting her started. After the new fuel pump/start switch was installed last fall we realized that the starting cabinet would need to be rewired to accommodate its functions. so that was today's project for me.
      

A new governor is also on the way that will go into the "B" which will be needed to get her started. We will not be going up to Scranton next weekend as it's Easter, so see you in 2 weeks.
 My other car is a locomotive, ARHS restoration crew  
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beautiful Engine!!!!
Is the museum planning anything for the Golden Spike celebration??
~~ Mikey KB3VBR (Admin)
~~ NARA Member # 75    
~~ Baldwin Eddystone Unofficial Website

~~ I wonder what that would look like in 1:20.3???
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Sorry Sir, but I do not know. Maybe when the excursion schedule is finalized something will be announced.
 My other car is a locomotive, ARHS restoration crew  
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I'm a little behind on this, I have been meaning to post this for a bout a week now.  There was a derailment on the DL's Carbondale branch (former D&H). Nothing too serious, no injuries, just some mangled track and a few bent up freight cars. Below is a link to the CCTV footage of the wreck. The point of interest to this thread, besides that we run on these rails, is that in the power consist is ARHS RS-3 #1554. She is on lease to the DL in exchange for them doing the restoration work to her.

https://wnep.com/2019/04/09/train-derail...na-county/
 My other car is a locomotive, ARHS restoration crew  
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That's great that it was caught by that camera. The investigators have it a bit easier.
~~ Mikey KB3VBR (Admin)
~~ NARA Member # 75    
~~ Baldwin Eddystone Unofficial Website

~~ I wonder what that would look like in 1:20.3???
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Out with the old.....
   

And in with the new.
   

We spent a shortened work session today removing the old governor from the "B", crating it up as a core return, then installing the new one in it's place. When you look at the picture of the old one you will see a set of gauges near the top. Those are used in adjusting the injectors, it's an old way of doing a tune up on the 567 block that no one ever does any more. 

 The governor on a diesel locomotive is the brain of the engine control and MU system. It takes the throttle input from the engineer and sets the engines rpm to the correct notch. This is done by a group of wires (5 total ) that connect through the MU system so that all units in the consist react the same. Also on early EMD's the engineer can shutdown all units in MU from the throttle by moving it past the idle notch in the opposite direction from run 1 to 8.  In case of a loss of throttle input, the governor will automatically drop the prime mover down to the idle rpm.  Another feature unique to EMDs that's handled by the governor is the load regulator. It's a hydraulically controlled rheostat that weakens the field windings of the traction motors when starting from a dead stop.  This gives a soft start effect to the train control, reducing the chance of a jolt and breaking the train in two.  This feature can be cut out with a small modification for switching jobs when instant full power is needed.

Starting next week some track work will start on the tracks that lead into the restoration shop. All of the switches and most of the rail/ties will be replaced. This will make operations interesting as this project will take most of the summer.
 My other car is a locomotive, ARHS restoration crew  
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Ooooooo Nice and pretty!!!!
Yup! A very important part!
~~ Mikey KB3VBR (Admin)
~~ NARA Member # 75    
~~ Baldwin Eddystone Unofficial Website

~~ I wonder what that would look like in 1:20.3???
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That's an interesting read on the functions and capabilities of the governor, Steve.  I always enjoy learning new stuff, even if it doesn't apply to my modelling interests, so thanks for including it.

Wayne
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This thread is not about modeling, but I think it would be nice to have the photos saved to the academy as a reference material for those who would like to super detail an f unit. I'm wondering if, with e-paw's permission, the photos and e-paw's notations could be copied out of this thread and put into the Academy for easy reference?
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That's all fine with me.
 My other car is a locomotive, ARHS restoration crew  
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Russ, Sounds like a great idea to me!!
I Copied this thread to The Academy. We can periodically update the tread in the Academy.
~~ Mikey KB3VBR (Admin)
~~ NARA Member # 75    
~~ Baldwin Eddystone Unofficial Website

~~ I wonder what that would look like in 1:20.3???
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Last Monday we were back at it with the "B".  Lots of piping that was removed by the copper thieves was replaced. This piping is used for everything including rain water drainage, control air, oil ( hydraulic  and lube ) and braking.  This pic shows an impromptu twister session that started while some of the copper lines were replaced that run up to the brake stand.

   

The big thing that we took care of was checking  all the interlocks in the electrical system that allow you to start and shutdown the prime mover.  After going over miles of wire and checking the action of about a half dozen relays and the emergency shut down circuit.  We hooked up some jumper wires from 664 so we could make our first attempt at rolling over the engine. With the engine pre-lubed, we opened all the cylinder cocks so there would be no compression, and kept the fuel pump off. Then for the moment of truth, we hit the start switch.
----------The engine rolled over nice and smooth, no clanking or hesitation. Just nice, even, constant motion,,,, exactly what we wanted. We have one more thing to address before we attempt our first start. It's a holding circuit that keeps the fuel pump turning while the engine is  running. We just didn't have enough time in the day to get that together.

Another bit of goings on is that the Nickel Plate geep 9 #514 is back in service. 

   
 My other car is a locomotive, ARHS restoration crew  
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So cool!!!!! Glad you are finally getting these beauties running!!!
~~ Mikey KB3VBR (Admin)
~~ NARA Member # 75    
~~ Baldwin Eddystone Unofficial Website

~~ I wonder what that would look like in 1:20.3???
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Well this is it,, we have set the date . The hopefully momentous day will be this coming Sunday the 16th when we will start the "B's" 567 block. Our check list is complete, we will fill the cooling system with water, run some jumpers from the "A" unit and go through the starting sequence.  We are expecting lots of smoke, enough to put any Alco or steamer shame, as she has not had a fire up in at least 40 years. Anyone who would like to witness the event is welcome to join us. The units are parked in the yard along side of the roundhouse in between the main entrance and where the yard shuttle is boarded. This area is open to the public and can viewed from either ground level or the 2nd floor observation platform of the museum. It can also be seen from the pedestrian bridge that leads into the mall food court, but it's probably better from the other locations .  We normally get there around 9am and it will take us an hour or so to get everything set before we actually hit the switch. People taking Video are more that welcome.

 One of the thinks I took care of yesterday was to strip the fan control cabinet and get just enough of it wired so that when the prime mover is started I can test the cooling fans.    
They run on AC power that comes off the main generator. This was also another project. Towards the front of the generator are a set of brushes/slip rings that provide the proper current, they were missing Icon_cry , and needed to be reinstalled. Not an easy place to get to (thanks GM). This pic shows two of them in place.
   
Here zoomed out a bit.
   
And now the whole generator / compressor work area.
   
Just loads of fun to do that.
 My other car is a locomotive, ARHS restoration crew  
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