We Get a Lucky Brake

I was wrong. (Yes, it's happened before.) On further testing, I decided the problem with the 308's braking system was indeed the feed valve, which was stuck open. (The clock at the #2 end wasn't reading correctly; this won't be a problem in regular service.) I removed the feed valve and took it to the shop for disassembly and cleaning. Here are the parts of the control portion spread out on the bench. Unfortunately, I couldn't get the valve portion apart, so it still doesn't work properly. However, Bob Heinlein got me a spare which he had rebuilt and adjusted a couple of years ago, and when installed in the 308, the braking system now works OK. I wanted to take the cars outside for testing, but it started to rain off and on, so I'll rely on the results of static testing for now. Thanks, Bob!!!

Here's a picture of our air brake test stand, which among other things works well for testing feed valves. The feed valve is a regulating valve which is supposed to supply a constant 70 lbs of air to the brake system; if it sticks open, instead you get whatever pressure is in the main reservoir, which goes up and down. When that happens, the brakes don't operate correctly (although you can always stop! Sometimes, however, the car stops when you don't want it to.)

After that, I went back to the 277 and finished painting the ceiling on the right side of the main compartment, as seen here. I should now be able to install the baggage racks, and after some more painting on the walls, maybe even some of the seats.