1 : 1 scale modeling
And a quick, behind the scenes look into the workings of a railroad museum, in the form of a switch list.    
 My other car is a locomotive, ARHS restoration crew  
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Wow, the last time I posted on this thread was back in the middle of December. Not much to post about but at the same time lots. With the presidential hiring freeze and budget cuts Steamtown is holding in there by good intentions and the stubbornness those who work and volunteer there. We are set for big things to come with the acquisition of the CP trackage by NS and the reopening of the Lackawanna cut of in Jersey (that will take a few years, but is happening), passenger service will be returning to the Poconos. I, along with others, are trying to plant the seeds into the heads of certain people of an excursion from Steamtown to Hoboken with our f-3 trio. Kind of Phoebe Snowish. Thumbsup We could bring back DL&W coaches to the station that haven't been there in 40 + years.

But now a few shots of what we have been up to.
B-unit batteries... The batteries have been prepped for removal. This doesn't sound like much until you do it. They each weigh in at over 300 pounds and have swollen, cracked, and welded themselves into place. They haven't held a charge in about 40 years, and don't even get me started on how corroded the bolts are that hold the cables on. The cables will have to go also. Normally there are 8 batteries, luckily 3 of em are missing. That's 3 less to deal with.    

I believe I have brought this up before but 2 of the batteries are marked as coming from the B&O. How B&O stuff ended up on a B&M engine, we don't know.    

Once they are out and the cables replaced, we can put power to the unit and find out what works and what doesn't.

The Steamtown crew has been working on the compressor coupling for 663. This unit has been out of service for some time now and because of the unique coupling used on the early F units they are trying to machine a new one in house.

As for 664 we are replacing some of the aluminum anti slip floor treads in the engine room. Some of them are marked with the old EMC logo. They are cracked and warped creating a tripping hazard. They will be replaced with diamond plate.    

After they were removed, we coated the steel underneath them with rust converter. What EMD was thinking about when they decided to place dissimilar metals on top of each other, in a battery environment, that does get wet is something I don't know. In a few spots we will cut the steel floor out and re-weld a new sub-floor in, because of the amount of rot that has happened.    

We also removed the blower motor and housing for the #3 traction motor. The oil leek common to all early EMDs keeps ending up in the #3 blower and then spraying into that traction motor. This causes all kinds of havoc.    

As you can see we cleaned, repainted, and gasketed, the entire motor and housing. What cannot be seen in the pic is that we installed a dam behind the ductwork that will divert the leaking oil into the sump where it belongs and keep in out of the blower. I don't think that EMD ever thought that this blower would ever be replaced before the units were traded in for replacement loco's or they would have engineered it in a way that it could be removed without a HUGE amount of work.

As for the FA-2 it was sent over to the DL who were going to do a large part of the mechanical restoration for us. As they were checking the prime mover for start up they discovered that the LIRR was running this block for some time with bad bearings. The fact that it never seized up is amazing, that 244 is one tough engine. Just last week we received a working replacement prime mover as a donation from another short line. It looks like we will do the swap out.
 My other car is a locomotive, ARHS restoration crew  
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ePaw
One of our TV stations runs a show called Full Steam Ahead. Last 2 weeks the summary on the guide said that they would be at the Steamtown opening. That never showed, but the program was interesting, if irritating.
Were you filmed for it?
David
Moderato ma non troppo
Perth & Exeter Railway Company
Esquesing & Chinguacousy Radial Railway
In model railroading, there are between six and two hundred ways of performing a given task.
Most modellers can get two of them to work.
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I saw the first two episodes of that show, David, but missed the third one. The fourth episode was on this past Saturday (April 1st), and I believe that there are two more yet to be shown.
The fourth episode dealt with mail delivery (with lots of working examples) and touched on dining car service, too. The entire series shows lots of preserved British steam and lots of it running, too. The Saturday episode featured 60103 on the London to Edinburgh run, both in historical b&w footage and recent video with the presenters of the series, which was made in 2016, I think.

Wayne
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I didn't know anything about a TV show being filmed, maybe it hasn't been started yet. This time of year would be a good time to film, as we are in a big push to get ready for operating season.
 My other car is a locomotive, ARHS restoration crew  
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That show was a BBC production, Steve. I'm not sure if it was filmed last year, or first aired in Britain last year. It aired here in Ontario on TVO, which is our provincial equivalent to your PBS network.

Wayne
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Hi all lots to keep you up to date on... More work on the "B" has happened, New battery cable has been delivered. The battery charging receptacle has been removed and getting rebuilt, The fuel pump is currently in my garage, locked in a vice, getting worked on ( I need to get a few pics of it ). The main generator has been cleaned and meggered, and tested OK.
    That's a before pic I'll get an after next weekend.

I do have a correction to make on my statement on the FA. Any problems with the engine look like they can be repaired, and she will not receive a new block. The new Alco prime mover will go into our Reading RS-3 currently sitting in Steamtown's yard. The donated 244 is on the floor in the restoration shop and appears to be in very good shape.

AND THE BIG NEWS OF THE DAY

After several years of being out of service 663 has had a new compressor coupling installed, the generator and compressor were successfully dialed in. She was started and run up to notch 8 with no vibration. Next week the compressors plumbing will be put back together. She will get her 92 day inspection and returned to service. This is a huge thing as this will allow me to test the MU system through the B-unit allowing us to run the B dead in tow on excursions between the two working A's.

I don't have any pics of this but here's a link to Tri-state's page talking about the event.
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 My other car is a locomotive, ARHS restoration crew  
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Here's a few pics of the fuel pump on my work bench. Normally it is attached to a 72 volt DC motor, but that is waiting it's turn in a motor shop in Jersey for a rebuild.

She was completely frozen with rust. These pumps are simple and super robust, a little rust ain't enough to keep it out of service. After a soaking in a CRC product called "KNOCK 'ER LOOSE" for about a week, a few taps with a hammer, and a twist of a pry bar she broke free.
   

A look at the inner workings of the pump.    

Here is a shot of the coupling end that normally attaches to the pump motor.    
 My other car is a locomotive, ARHS restoration crew  
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Aren't these old pieces great to work on. You having the electrical experience should make these all a breeze. I used to do the 14 EL brake and components on our S-1 as well as most of the mechanical but if I ever had something other than the small contacts on the relays needing cleaned I had to call for help. I know your efforts are appreciated.
Charlie
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Morning!!

After another fine day at the shop I have a few more pics for ya. First off here is the After shot of the generator after being cleaned. You can now see the red insulating paint that was hidden under the compressor oil and carbon grime.    

A new gasket was cut for the pump that I have been working on at home. She will be permanently installed into 664 as a pre-lube pump once the motor comes back from the rebuild.
   

The big job that was accomplished on the "B" this week was to rewire the battery feeds from the boxes to the main cabinet, and to run new cable from the starting contactor to the generator. On locomotives like this, there is no starting motor as in a car. You back feed power from the batteries to the generator to get it turning like an electric motor. This provides the rotation of the engine block to start the diesel engine. The rewire went very well only a few sticking points, like this one...     In the pic that little nut holding the wire clip to the underframe of the "B" doesn't look like much until you realize that it's here.     tucked waaaaaay up over an air tank next to a frame member. The wires in the pic are the positive battery cables running to the battery boxes.

While all of this was going on the crew from Tri-State was working on the compressor plumbing for 663. They were having some gasket issues and may need another week to get the proper parts to finish up.

Due to some kind of dispatching dispute between the park service and the Delaware Lackawanna RR. Steamtown is not able to cross over one of the tracks called the Chamberlin branch. This section of track runs next to the roundhouse and completely cuts the yard off from the rest of the park property. So for the time being the only park operation will be a caboose hop from the turntable to the tower near bridge 60 at the north end of the park. 664 and 26 will provide the power for this 1/2 mile round trip. Hopefully this will be resolved soon as this has already interfered with this years excursion season, cancelling a few trips.
Here's a shot of the 26 on the table getting ready for the days work.    
 My other car is a locomotive, ARHS restoration crew  
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Hello all again. More progress to talk about.

The repairs to 663 are now complete, the Steamtown crew will give her the 92 day inspection during the week , and she will be placed on the caboose hop . This will be sort of a shakedown run as to make sure that all the bugs have been worked out after sitting still for three years.

The Delaware Lackawanna has given Steamtown permission to cross over the Chamberlain to access the rest of the yard during weekday hours only. This means that the normal yard shuttle is back up and running Monday to Friday. But, on the weekends, we are back to only the caboose hop. Things like excursions and the Carbondale branch are still out of the question until this is resolved.

During yesterdays work session we stripped all the wire from the conduit near the end door on the "B".     This was then replaced with new and all the devices tested and reinstalled. The larger wire to the left is from the now unused MU receptacle that was over the end door and a receptacle used to connect the dynamic brakes to other engines. The switches seen here are for the headlight and engine room lights. We will do the same to the other end possibly next week, depending if we get a crimper to install the terminals on the battery cables we installed last week. We are also planning on reinstalling the generator brushes as soon as we can get them in. The only difference will be that the other end will need a spot to plug in the pre-lube pump.
   
While this was going on another member did some copper work replacing the air line to the horn. This was stolen by copper thieves while the unit was parked in south Jersey. Sorry for the strange angle but it was the only way to get it all to fit in frame. I drew an arrow pointing to the horn valve.    


It was a very Rainy day yesterday, as it has been for the last week or two. During a quick break from the rain I ran out to the board walk to catch 664 on the caboose hop.
   
   
 My other car is a locomotive, ARHS restoration crew  
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Steve, where is the horn on the unit?
Charlie
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another query: Is the wiring standard house wire or do you need something heavier?
David
Moderato ma non troppo
Perth & Exeter Railway Company
Esquesing & Chinguacousy Radial Railway
In model railroading, there are between six and two hundred ways of performing a given task.
Most modellers can get two of them to work.
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If you are looking at the end where the cab would normally be, it would be in the upper left corner facing down. That is the standard EMD location, some railroads opted for it to be mounted in other locations. Other railroads, like NS, removed it including the headlights and bell during rebuilds if the holster cabs were removed. But then, the locomotive could not be moved independently, only MUed to another locomotive with a cab. I'll get a pic for you next weekend to show it better. The bell is mounted to the frame, under the locomotive, between the truck and battery box.

The wire is called DLO wire. It is a finely stranded wire that is very flexible. Each strand of wire is coated in zinc to prevent corrosion. It's capable of remaining flexible even after being heated over and over again for years at a time. The maximum wire size is 500 mcm on most locomotives, but most of the control wire is either #12 or #14.
 My other car is a locomotive, ARHS restoration crew  
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Didn't get a chance to post last week so I'll get everyone up to date.

As promised here is a shot of the "F" end of the "B", where a cab would normally be. The horn is in the upper left corner. This pic also shows the original location of the MU receptacle above the door, The B&M had relocated it to the more traditional location where it is much easer to reach just, above the air hoses. We did the same on the other end.
Speaking of the air hoses, looking at the ones under the "MU" socket,, the line closest to the coupler is for the main reservoir and the two smaller ones are for applying and releasing the independent brakes. They are repeated on the other side. The larger hose under the coupler is the train line, or automatic brake. The Headlight is visible next to the door, and is in the same location on the other end. To the left of the upper "MU" socket is another receptacle for the dynamic brakes, soon after these units were put into service the separate dynamic brake sockets were disconnected as it was found that they could be controlled through the existing MU jumper.    

With the wiring completed for the light switches on the end door we cut and primed a cover From some steel to cover up the junction box.    

New terminal ends were crimped onto the battery lines that were pulled the other day.    

And with the help of a forklift eight temporary batteries were wrestled into place.    

We had a set of builders plates printed up for each engine, these were fastened into their proper locations.    

Tri-State's F-3 #663 now has a good inspection and is ready for service. It was going to be used this week on the yard shuttle but, it was decided that the cab seats should be removed and reupholstered, They were in terrible shape. I believe this is being done in Jersey where Tri-State keeps most of it's equipment.
 My other car is a locomotive, ARHS restoration crew  
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