Fixing the Controller

The main accomplishment today was fixing a controller on the 308. We owe Rod a lot of thanks for providing the expertise to fix the problem. Now let's see if I can explain it.

The brass part (red arrow) is a collar on the controller handle shaft. When you press down on the big button, a series of levers pushes this collar down, if possible. The wider part of the collar then lines up with a roller on the throttle mechanism, and when the handle is moved to the first point, the roller is pushed out by the step that the red arrow points to, and that closes the contacts (white arrow). This step, however, tends to get worn down. This particular picture shows a controller that isn't too bad.

Rod had to braze the piece up and then grind it to the right shape. This took several adjustments, but it's now working. He also adjusted the large spring (black arrow) that pushes up on the collar. In the past, motormen (including myself) were unhappy with how hard it was to keep the button down. By carefully grinding the spring, this problem has been fixed. Thanks, Rod! I plan to inspect the 308 next week, and for part of the summer we'll be running the 319 and 308 as the wood train.

And then I spent some time sorting parts and cleaning up in the container, and cleaning the floor in the 319. The 319 and 309 are scheduled to run again next weekend, and then I should have a chance to paint the floor in the main compartment.