Ed Oslowski has been working hard on the interior of the 277, mostly the front compartment, and here he is, Mr. North Shore, planning what to do next. He wants to keep working on the car after the IT extravaganza this Saturday, which is great! I helped him a little with sorting parts and figuring out the window numbering system.
Locks on some of the cars are being changed, so at first I was unable to unlock the 319. Norm Krentel and I are planning to work on the control system for the 36 this summer, so I spent a couple of hours sorting parts and then started meggering the contactors. Of the six (out of 13) I did, one coil appears to be open, but the others are fine. All of them have good insulation between the coil and the frame. And they are heavy -- about 100 lbs apiece.One interesting aspect of the DB-15 contactor is that the frame itself is part of the motor circuit, and may be live whenever the main power is on, even if the control circuit is off. That's why they're always mounted in wooden contactor boxes. DO NOT open a box when a pole is up on the train!
Later I got a new key and was able to do some more paint stripping in the vestibule of the 319. I hope to start painting it soon.
Jack Biesterfeld continues his thorough restoration of the B&M wooden diner in Barn 3. 
He is working along the side of the car, stripping off the outer layer of the old paint, and applying a new coat of Pullman Green. The dim lighting makes it difficult to see it very well.
When the diner was converted to camp car service, the kitchen was gutted. We probably won't have the money to replace it, so Jack built a beautiful 1" scale model of what the original kitchen looked like, based on the Pullman plans. It's now on display inside the car. He used to build model boats and is quite good at this sort of craftsmanship. This picture isn't very good, since I'm shooting through the window of the car. You will have to see it for yourself!
Finally, here is the progress on the B&G extension. The roof is complete and the north wall was installed today.
So how does one fix an open contactor coil?
ReplyDeleteIf a connection is broken right where the wire connects to the screw terminal, we might be able to fix it ourselves. Otherwise the coil would probably have to be rewound. About ten years ago Bob Kutella found an electrical shop that rewound a contactor coil for us for free, so we can hope.
ReplyDeleteWill the several altered/missing windows at the kitchen end of the diner be restored as part of the present exterior work?
ReplyDeleteI think Bob Kutella knows more about this than I. Bob?
ReplyDeleteI'd wondered about the use of wood contactor boxes with DB-15s, as the box under "L" car 1024 is also made of wood.
ReplyDeleteInteresting also in that, from looking at pictures, the original installation of DB-15s on the AE&C's first order of shorties apparently had *no* contactor boxes. They were simply hung under the cars, out in the open!
This is a retouched photo but shows what Greg is referring to:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.davesrailpix.com/cae/htm/cae138.htm
You can see the row of contactors under the car. Somewhere I read that this system lasted only until the first winter! What were they thinking?
Well, from what I understand, the DB-15 contactor and GE-66 motor were originally developed for the New York elevated (or subway...I forget which). You can probably get away with such things on an "isolated" operation like that...when you're running at ground level and dealing with snow, grade crossings, mud splatter etc., it's a slightly different matter!
ReplyDeleteFor the B&M diner, #1094, Bob reports that over the winter they made two new windows for the area that has missing windows and openings. Someone will have to re-frame the openings but the plan I think is to see them restored and in place as originally built.
ReplyDelete(For some unknown reason he's been unable to post a comment here. We're working on it.)
Thank you Mr Hicks, for relaying the messages I was having trouble with. We will see if this one goes through.
ReplyDeleteBob Kutella