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Thanks for the photo ride-along, Steve. Thumbsup Thumbsup

Wayne
Well it's a new year and a new winters worth of work in the restoration shop. We have avoided another government shut down, " for now ", and have pushed ahead on a few projects.

This weekend we set about swapping out some worn valve bridges in 664's prime mover. It's an easy task that only takes a few minuets to do on each cylinder. When your done you end up with a bucket of scrap metal like this. My boot size is a 10 1/2 to give you a sense of scale for the pic. 357

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We have also received the new fan controller for 664. We will probably start the install on this unit in two weeks ( the museum is closed next weekend ) . It is basically a brain box that turns on and off the roof top cooling fans depending on the temperature of the engine. The brass probe on the right is what replaces the original temperature sensor in the unit.

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Another project was to remove all the old generator brushes and clean the commutator. We will replace the brushes with new ones next work session after the solvent has all dried up.

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All clean...

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On top of that the Steamtown crew has dropped the prime mover back into the NKP Gp-9 # 514. I'll get a few shots of that next time.
Well there will nothing to post here for a while as a government shutdown has put a hold on all work in the restoration shop. When all the children in DC stop their whining and do their jobs we will get back to work. At least with the government closed for business they can't mess anything else up.



Just a memory of better days.

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I have some catching up to do here. Now with a temporary fix to the budget, witch expires at the end of this week, we were able to get some things done. I've got two weeks of pics to get this thread up to speed, I was tied up without much time to post.

To start off with a shot or two of NKP 514s heart transplant.
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And now to the bulk of the work.... The generator cleaning and brush change out on 664 is now compete.[attachment=31609] We have a few members that read this thread that have done this before and know all about the two sets of brush holders that are nearly impossible to reach. If you are looking at the generator from the compressor end they sit at about the 6 and 7 0'clock position. If the human body was built with an extra joint between the wrist and elbow with a set of eyes in your fingertips it wouldn't be so bad, but we will have to make do with what mother nature decided we need. I did manage to cobble together a new tool to help with this task.
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One person reaches under the generator with the steve'o'matic , hooks the brush holder with the Ty-wrap and pulls it open. The other person is now able to insert the new brush from the other side . The notch in the other end can be used to push the holders open, this helps a bunch in some instances. This thing worked great , just wish I thought of it sooner. Nope Nope Nope Nope

Another project going on in 664's cab is the rebuild on the window regulators. In this pic the fireman's seat and sidewall have been removed, as well as the window glass and guts. They cleaned, lubed, and replaced with new window tracks. The engineers side will be next[attachment=31607]
The new cooling fan control was mounted on the rear of the main electrical cabinet. I temporally ran the cable through the door for the ground fault reset, when I get the proper fitting I will drill out a hole next to the controller for it to pass through.
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I also ran some new conduit from the same cabinet to get wire to the fan control cabinet at the rear of the loco.
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At the fan cabinet I tested all the contactors as we were having some problems with the fans not coming on. The four contactors are numbered 1 to 4 from left to right they handle the operation of the four fans , 1 in the front to 4 in the back. I found that the #1 contactor was not always getting signal to pull in, and the coil in the #2 contactor was bad so it would never pull in. The problem with the #1 fan is caused by a bad finger switch ( I'll go into that latter) It will be fixed with the new controller. The coil in the #2 contactor will need to be replaced.
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By the way The "NFG" label on the #2 contactor Is an Italian abbreviation used in the electrical industry. It stands for " NOO FARGIN GOUD ". These labels will help us stay on track as another government shutdown is being expected by the end of the week.

The cable that leads into the cabinet ends at a terminal block shown here.[attachment=31612]
The power terminals at the top will go to a fuse and the fan and shutter wirers will be run to the fan cabinet.
Here's a bit about the finger switch I was mentioning earlier.
This is how the cooling fans on all F and E units were controlled as built by EMD/EMC ( except the FT's that had belt drives with manually controlled clutches ). A plunger attached to a set of contacts is placed on the cooling water outlet of the engine block. As the water heats up the plunger moves out in gauging the contacts (fingers). The hotter the engine, the more contacts get connected, the more fans come on. These contacts are calibrated to turn on fans in 3 degree steps. At 172 degrees the first fan comes on the next at 175 and so on. I have a diagram of the switch here.
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This switch in our engine (664) is worn out and no longer working as it should. It sometimes binds and the contacts are pitted, this causes all sorts of engine cooling problems that's leads to the engine shutting down.

Here is a drawing/wiring diagram of the new controller. It's meant to be able to be used on several kinds locos with different numbers of fans and can also handle multi speed fans. So it takes a bit of reading and looking at charts to figure out how to set it up for our application. [attachment=31617]
Great Stuff!!!!!!

Thanks for catching us up.
By the way - NFG Also stands for: Not For Guido, another Italian saying Eek Crazy Crazy
I believe that in Quebec the expression translates as Notre Dame de Grace. There may still be a NDG Laundry.
:o :o :o :o :o :o I forgot one :o :o :o :o :o :o :o

We also have a new visitor at Steamtown, an O&W 44 tonner. Another restoration group similar to ours has purchased this unit and is just starting the restoration of this project. I don't know much about this unit ,but as I learn more, I will post it here. It's getting to the point that the internal combustion units are starting to out number the tea kettles.
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Toptrain and I spent the day finishing up the Quantum fan control install. We ran it through it's self test feature and the system checked out OK. Just some minor cosmetic things to button up and install the bad contactor coil and it will be 100%.

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I will be most likely working Saturdays and Sundays over the next three weeks so I won't be able to get up to the museum. There should still be at least another session or two going on in this time and I will update this when I get back.
Lots have happened over the last few weeks, sorry only one picture. The window rebuild is complete, except of the engineers side. We did not get the chance to start that one, hopefully we will get to that this summer. The brake stand in 664 was up for it's rebuild, I believe it's every two years. The old one was sent out as a core for new parts. The new fan control install is complete and working, but we ended up having to install two extra relays to get the hot engine alarm and shutter control to work properly. It looks like we will be in the market for another one for the B-unit..... Speaking of the "B",,,,, we have had some off and on progress on rewiring the main cabinet, working on it as time allows. In July we will have a retired NS employ coming up to work with me and complete the job. He feels it can be done in about 20 man hours.
 

         This years excursion season has begun, and a few things turned up with 663 that need attention. Some leaky engine covers, plugged drainage holes for rain water, and the #1 cooling fan was not running. The first two repairs were just a matter of swapping out gaskets and clearing dirt out of weep holes. The last one required a little more work. After some investigating I found that the problem was the contactor for that fan had one set of contacts that were so worn out that they would not close.
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In the above pic I have blocked off the #1 contactor in the "ON" position, you can see that the center set of contacts are just barely touching, and the set on the far left have about a 1/8 inch gap separating them. These contacts are easily replaceable if you have an extra joint between your wrist and elbow and small fingers, I have neither. But with a little frustration and language not meant for small children the job got done.
 "These contacts are easily replaceable if you have an extra joint between your wrist and elbow and small fingers, I have neither. "

Not that I wish to volunteer, but a cybernetic hand with optical and various tool attachments would be handy at times. Wink

Keep up the good work.
Cheers, the Bear. Smile
hello again,, lots of work being done on the "B" over the next week or so as we have a retired NS mechanic coming in to help finish up the main cabinet and a few other things. The F's have been busy pulling two excursions a week on top of switching duties and filling in for the steamer on the yard shuttle when needed. this has lead to a few problems popping up on 664.  The electrical plug on her governor has developed a ground that caused the engine to shutdown while it was out on the main a week or so ago.  This plug is what sets the engine speed when the throttle is notched up and down. It is also tied into the MU system so that all engines in the consist stay in the same throttle setting. I was able the make a quick fix to it by cutting back the armor, shoving some rubber gasket material into it. and taping it up this will have to be replaced, luckily it an easy fix.
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This also seams to be the year of cooling fan problems as the #3 fan tripped out when the controlled called for it to come on. after removing the cover I found that the BAR had done a temp repair that will need to be addressed. they cut and spliced a feeder wire from the fan contactor and left it where it could vibrate against the power buss. The insulation wore off and caused a short. I will have to remove and relocate this splice to a better spot.
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And now a few pics from our last trip to Moscow,,,, PA that is..


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We also have some news that in September we will be celebrating our F-3's 70 birthday at our 2018 convention.
we have been pushing to get our "B" as ready as possible for the big event as she will be added to the consist for the first time. We will be running a special excursion to the Tobyhanna army depot pulled by our ( and the worlds only ) A-B-A set of F3's.  Although the "B" may not be able to add any tractive effort the prime mover will be started and running during the trip. We will have 4 photo run byes and tours of the units fallowed by a BBQ dinner. This will be held on the 8th and 9th of September at Steamtown in Scranton PA.
This weekend and next, the two A units will be out of service for some shop time. 663 is getting a new air pressure regulator for the control system air, and some window work. 664 is getting some rewiring work done to the fan control cabinet. and the #3 cooling fan will have to be replaced also. I finished the rewire job today, next week we will be the cooling fan and the B unit will get some attention also.
         Speaking of the "B" ,,,,,, We have completed all of the traction / high voltage wiring and even did some sheet metal work to the underside of the unit. We also identified a lot of control wire that is not needed and can be removed. That's next weeks work.

 This mornings time was takin up by a turntable move as the f's needed to switch direction to make some of our work easer. What did make this a little difficult is the fact that 663 could not move under her own power without control air, and that we had to keep dodging the yard shuttle that loads on the turntable lead. Here's a  few shots of that.
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As far as the rewire job goes here is a before pic.

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I numbered 5 items that needed attention here, all these things have been like this for years as done by the B&R 30 to 40 years ago and are now failing.
#1-  is an uninsulated connection that is arcing to the bad insulation on #5 ( that is now striped back )

#2- Bad insulation on a wire that has been squashed between the #3 and 4 contactor that needs to be repaired and relocated   

#3- is a unused connection that is not connected to it's terminal and needs to be removed

#4- needs new wire run to the bottom of the contactor and new insulation

#5- same as #4

No wonder that this unit shutdown on us a few times this year. Nope

Here is the after.
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