04-01-2017, 10:06 PM
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. 
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.
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