1 : 1 scale modeling

[Russ Bellinis]

I've been reading about all of the weather that started with the big rainstorm we had recently that dumped snow on Las Vegas after it left Cali and headed east. Did you get more washouts as a result of that storm?

[e-paw]

Not to my knowledge sir. Our operating season ended in  December,  it will resume again in about 2 months. All the areas that had repairs done due to the storm had either new drainage added or the existing drainage upgraded.  The host railroad has also been replacing ties and welding rail joints over most of the main.  So I am looking forward to a nice relaxing ride over the Pocono mian this upcoming summer.

[e-paw]

Afternoon gents.. At the request of Dr. Wayne I have done some research on F unit grab irons for a friend of his that needed some info for a modeling project.  I measured the diameter  of the grabs and found that they are all 1 1/8 inch except,,, for the long ones going into the cab, and the ones that are located at the rear ladders that lead into the engine room ( I'll get to that latter). I took a few pics to clarify this, but I will focus on the standard EMD grabs as each railroad added and removed as they felt necessary. I tried to get the pics to show the locations and size of the grabs. If you have any questions just ask and I'll do my best to answer them.

First the nose..... Here 664 does the honors, these are the stock locations for EMD's. One on either side of the nose door, and one on the anti climber on either side of the unit.
   

   

   

Now for the front ladders. These have a diameter 1 1/8 inch at the ends where they attach to the unit and a larger section measuring 1 1/2 inch for the long vertical section. I have shown the welded joint where they meet here.
   

   

[e-paw]

Now for the rear ladders.. I walked over to 663 for this one. They have the same measurements as the front ladders of 1 1/8 and 1 1/2 inch.
   

On the rear corners we have two of the 1 1/8 inch over the rear steps.
   

Now back to 664,, this grab is only found on boiler equipped units, and only found on the fireman's side. We believe it was to hook a ladder onto to gain access to the roof for servicing the boiler hatch. It's located on the roof line just past the rear engine room door.
     

 And a close up of the same grab.
   

[e-paw]

On to the rear of 664.. We have a set of horizontal grabs stacked one over the other on either side on the rear door. these are to protect the MU lines and give you a footing to access the rear door.    

This one shows the same set of horizontal grabs plus one additional grab located on the frame of the rear doors right side. The roof ladder is also shown but this is not a standard grab . It was added by the BAR  after the purchase of this unit.
   

Now onto the roof....Here are the eyebrow grabs over each window.
   

   

[e-paw]

If you are doing a cab interior you can also do the two grabs near the doors..Once again same 1 1/8 as all the others.
   

   

[doctorwayne]

WOW!!!  Thanks so much for that information, Steve, and for the plethora of photos illustrating all of those safety appliances, too.  

I had always suspected that the cab and engineroom handrails were pipe rather than rod, like the grabirons, but never realised that the attachment points use the same diameter of rod, fitted (and welded) into the ends of the pipe portion.
 
Great information to know for those who enjoy adding details to their diesels, and the photos are definitely a help with that work, too.

Wayne

[ngauger]

I agree, some great pictures!!! Thanks for posting!

[Charlie B]

Thanks Steve, that took a lot of time and effort and was well done. 
Wayne, could you put these in a separate thread so we can find them at a later date? 
Charlie

[doctorwayne]

If anybody wants those photos and the information readily available, simply scroll back to the top, then click-on page "19".  You can then right-click on page "20", and "Bookmark", or "save link as...", etc.  It will, of course, take you to all of page 20, but the photos in question are near the top.
And, after a quick check, I also discovered that you can right click on the particular post's number at the top right of that post, #288 in this case, and save only the post itself.

Wayne

[e-paw]

Or if you like, you can right click and save my pic ( or pics ), Just please give me credit if you repost them please...

[e-paw]

WOW have we been busy…..


Here is the power for that will be used for most of the year on the excursions as 663 will be out of service until the bad power pack can be located and changed out. In a week or two 664 and 514 will go out on a shakedown run with the x- blue comet combine. 664 will be used to check the MU system of the GP-9 as it has been rewired and as a rescue unit if any issues arise from it's rebuild. Otherwise, it will just be along for the ride. The CNJ combine has received a new wheelchair lift that will need to be tested at each station along the line, as each platform is at a different height and spacing from the railhead (some /most don't even have platforms). If this is done on the weekend I will ride along and provide some pics.
   

The walkway project is complete in 664's engine room , except for the decorative plates with the EMD/EMC logo on them.  Those will be added when we receive them from the fabricator. The same welding contractor is now replacing the walkways on the 514, This should be finished in the next few days. The fireman's side is complete as seen here.
   

The section in this pic is of the short hoods walkway after the old plates were removed. They have since been replaced with new steel at the time of this post.
   

664 now has her rear truck remounted under her. We spent the better part of yesterday reconnecting all the airlines, traction motor cables, and sand lines. We replaced as much of the old hardware and equipment with new as we could. This truck now also has one new wheel, 2 rebuilt traction motors, one wheel that has been re-cut on a lathe, and one new set of brake shoes. Next week we will take her outside where we can run her up to operating temperature and test each cylinder with a heat gun as we have an injector that is not working right and sending fuel out the stack. This bad cylinder will show as running colder than the rest. It's an easy fix that sounds a lot worse then it is. Some work also needs to be done to the sand hatches along with a load test, and a bath.

On the steam side,,, the drivers for the B&M Pacific have been inspected, turned, re-quartered, and primed. Just after I took this pic they started to receive a coat of black paint.
   
The Baldwin 0-6-0 is also getting some side rod work done in preparation for the operating season.

[e-paw]

B&M drivers are painted.
   
This paint was applied with brushes and rollers just like you would paint your home. It's an oil based product that you add a hardener to, like an epoxy. It's tough, durable, and weathers well. But, after listening to the painters that did the work , I found out it is extremely difficult to work with. 

We completed all the small tasks that needed attention on DL&W 664 in order to get her ready for this years excursion season. Our only hiccup was that we are unable to determine witch cylinder has the bad injector. All of our readings were within 3 or 4 degrease of each other. The bad one should be about 20 degrease cooler. A more involved test will be in order.

We finished up with giving 664 a god washing, the black oil spots are very visible all over her from 663's bad rings.  
   

All day yesterday as we were doing our thing,,, 663 was being used to give some Chew-Chew Training as a refresher for the train crews. This will be her last day of operation for a while as next week we will remove her governor and place it back in the "B"  (where it came from) so we can get her started. Soon 663 will be spotted under the crane and her main hatch removed so that engine work can begin.
   

[Charlie B]

Thanks for the update Steve.  I can't figure why you are allowed to paint drivers, but you aren't allowed to paint couplers because it might hide a crack.  My FRA inspector loved seeing trucks painted silver because he said you could spot a crack instantly because it would bleed rust. I would think if that is the case shouldn't they require couplers to be painted silver....
I always enjoy your photos and updates. 
Charlie

[ngauger]

Love these updates!!! You all do great work!!!
and.... yeah - I've heard that at the RR Museum of PA, that paint is difficult to apply.