More Bearing Work

Frank writes...

Work continues on getting the new axle cap bearings on the 309 to cooperate. A huge THANK YOU goes out to everyone who worked on the car on Saturday. The #2L bearing, which was installed with difficulty a few weeks ago, continued to run hot on a Saturday test trip. After the trip it took more than two hours to remove the bearing, as it was practically clamped to the axle, but the guys managed to get that done Saturday evening and replaced it with one of the old, worn bearings. The new #2L bearing halves will be soldered back together and machined again, first to open up the inside diameter and also to shave down the thickness of the collar.

So, late on Sunday afternoon, it was time for another test trip, this time to check out the two new axle cap bearings on the #1 axle. Thanks to Joel and Richard for all their help with this! Above, the car is spotted out at signal 251. What a beauty!

Unfortunately, the news - while not terrible - was not great. The #1L bearing was running warm (though not hot, like the #2L bearing had been running). The first attempt to address the issue was for me to crawl under the car and try putting more oil in the waste. Sure enough, the waste wasn't quite as wet as we'd like. It turns out there's a small pinhole or crack in this axle cap casting that prevents much oil from accumulating in the well. Whoops. We put the car back on the pit so we can remove that axle cap, inspect it, and plug the hole. We also want to check out the wear pattern to make sure the bearing is wearing properly. The photo above was taken by Zach and shows Richard, with yours truly somewhere there under the end of the car.

In other news, progress continues on rebuilding the grid box for the 319. Above, Will (left) and Brian spent a lot of time between them using the surface grinder to even out the contact surfaces on all our #4 grid elements. Roland did a bunch more grid elements on Saturday, with the result that as of Sunday evening, this job is complete. Many thanks to Brian, Roland, Will, and Joel for all their work on this! Joel is ordering new mica tubes this week, so with luck, it won't be long until the new grid box can be assembled and put back under the 319, returning it to regular operation.

In other news, family members and friends of the late Bob Heinlein gathered for a memorial trip on IT 415.

Thanks to Ray, Julie, and Joel for their work organizing this.

And finally, here's a photo of the rapid progress on the South Storage Building:

Before you know it, the storage building will be complete and full of south. Right?

Two Days in One

I was out on Tuesday, and moved the 309 westward so I could start on replacing the bearings for the #1 machine.  That was easy enough.  

After moving the car, however, things became more difficult.  The #1 case was too far to one side (north) to fit the replacement bearings, which have much thicker flanges (as designed) than the old worn-out ones.  I tried a couple of different methods of moving the machine, but none of them worked.  

Here we see the nice shiny bearing section of the axle.  (This is the gear side.)  But my inability to get the new bearings inserted was rather aggravating.  The other weekday guys were succeeding with their usual tasks, apparently.  So there was no post for Tuesday.  

But on Thursday things started to go better.  Having pondered the problem, I rigged up a better system for moving the motor case, and parts began to fall into place.  Here we see the two halves of the gear-side bearing in place, before reattaching the cap.  It was still a lot of work, but when progress is being made you just gotta keep going.

I have observed that when trying to insert the bearings, as in the picture above, there are exactly two possible situations.  Take your pick:

1) The bearing is so tight that repeated pounding with large hammers has little effect.

2) The bearing is so loose that it rotates under gravity and tries to jump out of the machine.

Towards the end I was somewhat tired, but Phil Albamonte wandered by to see what I was doing, and helped by finishing up tightening the huge bolts that hold the caps in place.  Thanks!

The car should therefore be ready to move itself outside, where we can check the waste bundles and lubricate the motor caps.  Success!

Under the 309

On Saturday, a lot of work got done on the 309.  I was busy most of the day and only got a chance to take two pictures.   The main thing is that we got the next bearing for machine #2 installed.  Dan Fenlaciki was an invaluable help here, as he can keep pounding parts into place longer than anybody I know.  In the picture below, you can see the bright outer surface of the bearing flange, but unfortunately that's about it.  But in any case the car can now move under its own power again.

We also had a lot of help from Ted and Ashtin, who did most of the inspection work on the car.  I was glad to assist them, of course, but it's always good to have new people participating in the inspection process.  They often notice something I've overlooked.

Joel said that the 309 will be staying over the pit this next week, so I'm hoping to install new bearings on the #1 motor if I can.  Stay tuned!

I Had Better Luck With This Last Time

The 309 has been moved over the pit for inspection, and I would like to take this opportunity to replace three motor bearings.  One was done several months ago, when the car was still in the barn.  It ought to be easier over the pit, but you never know.

Here are some progress photos taken under the car.  We start by removing the motor cap on the gear side of motor #2.  You can see where a small jack has been placed to take the weight off the bearing.

Then the three bolts holding the motor cap in place can be loosened.  The cap is carefully pulled out and placed on wood blocks, then slid out of the way to the left.  Be careful not to knock it over, it might land on your foot.  When it's removed, we see the half of the bearing that has the opening for lubrication.  That's where the waste bundles press against the axle and keep it wet.

Then, the other old bearing half can be removed, and we see the axle.  It doesn't appear to have any scoring or uneven wear, so that's good.

The problem now, however, is that there's not quite enough room between the motor frame and the inside surface of the wheel to fit the new bearing in place.  That's because the old bearings were all very worn, allowing too much slack action for the motor, side to side.

I tried to move the motor frame somewhat to the left, but so far without success.  I'm hoping the shop guys can rig up something better, or maybe just put more muscle into it.

Of  course, several other weekday guys were hard at work, but I didn't take time to photograph them.  You just have to be there in person.

New Bearings

I finally got the remaining three bearings for the 309 machined -- aren't they pretty?

Now I need to drill two alignment holes in each one, using the big drill press.  I have the holes located already.  The original bearings have four holes so that they're interchangeable left to right, but these replacements are carefully machined with different inner diameters, since that's the way the axles were turned down, so they each have a specific destination.  And then they can be unsoldered and installed.

The Heat Is On

The next step in the long-running 309 bearing project is to solder the bearings halves together so that they can be machined accurately.  To do this, we need the big oven.  Without it, I don't know what we'd do.

We have special solder paste which can be used to attach the two halves.  Then the work has to be joined, and these are heavy cast brass parts.  That's why the oven is necessary.  Here's what the bearing looks like inside the oven.  The halves are joined with pipe straps so they'll remain perfectly aligned.

It takes a long time for the oven to get up to temperature, and then a long time for the work to cool down again.  So I wasn't exactly overworked.  But I don't want to walk away from the hot oven for very long.  One problem is that it's impossible to see what's going on inside.  I certainly don't want to open the door when the temperature is near 600 degrees.  But today the first of the new bearings was put together.

Of course, several other projects were in progress.  As always, Tim was at work on his L cars.  And here Victor shows off the horn for the CGW snow plow which he plans to install.

Victor and Bill have also been hard at work on the Pennsy tool car.  It's been at least partially painted and lettered, as seen here.  As tool cars go, this is a jewel!

Photo by Bob Albertson

And work continues on the interior of the 277.  Back about 15 years ago, I spent some time restoring one side of the main compartment -- work which stopped when the Trolleyville collection suddenly became available.  Gregg recently restored the baggage compartment, and now work on the main compartment has resumed, being done by Steve Smunt, whom I remember from the early days, and Paul Hough.

I went over there to look at what they've done so far, and provide some advice and assistance.  It's really good news that work continues on one of the premier items in the collection.

Finally, it was another beautiful fall day at IRM.  The pumpkin train will be running again this weekend, so don't miss it!

Sunday Scenes

I was out of town for the past two weeks, but now it's time to get back to work.  One of the current projects, as noted before, is to reupholster all of the seats in the three CA&E St. Louis cars.  Here's what the interior of the 451 looks like before starting.  I worked for a while on this.

The Shay was fired up for the first time this season on Saturday.  Here we see some visitors watching as it pulls the caboose train out of Barn 9.

The 36 was over the pit for inspection.  Most of it went well, of course, but our sharp-eyed inspectors noticed that a leaf spring on the trailer truck had several broken leaves, so this car is out of service until that can be replaced.  Finding a leaf spring of the correct type may not be easy.

The next project was to install the new bearings in the 309.  Here we are sitting on the tail track, waiting for our turn over the pit.  This is still the pride of the fleet, I think.

Turning around, we have a sight you probably don't see at many large museums: our Executive Director is mowing the lawn.  Keeps him out of trouble.

Since the construction of the Barn 4 extension, the trolley wire over the pit lead track has been deactivated.  So getting equipment in and out requires the help of a locomotive.  Here the 36 is slowly on its way back to Barn 8.  You can't see him, but Frank is in the cab of the 36, so he can apply the brakes if necessary.  

 to be continued....

Frank writes...

When I arrived, I helped adjust the brakes on the 36 and take a look at the broken leaf spring. The car can move around without any real risk, since only one of the three leaf springs on that side of the truck has any broken pieces, but we still don't want to run the car at high speed in this condition. For better or worse, fixing this will likely require more time than anything; we need to find a shop truck, put the 36 on that, then take apart the 36's truck to replace the spring before reversing everything. At least the affected truck is the trailer truck, so we won't have to pull motors.

Anyway, let's pick up where my father left off. When we got the 309 on the pit, we jacked up the motor to pull the axle cap. I owe a huge THANK YOU to Zach and Will, who helped with this dirty and exhausting job. Zach had done this kind of truck work before, which was good, because that meant one of us knew what he was doing! We got the axle cap off and, luckily, we were able to slide the new bearing into place without having to pull the motor farther away from the axle. The photo above shows the new bearing in place after the axle cap was reinstalled.

Here are the halves of the old bearing. Obviously we'll hang onto this, both in case we have any issues with the new bearing but also long-term just to have as a working spare.

The car motivated itself outside the door so that we could oil all the axle caps. It's nice to see a CA&E car on third rail territory without that pesky overhead wire over it, isn't it?

Zach took this photo of yours truly putting oil into the axle cap with the new bearing. It was just about time for dinner at this point, so we moved the 309 back over to Barn 8. At some point we'll want to do a few test trips, regularly checking the bearing temperature with the laser thermometer, to make sure that this bearing is performing as expected.

And now for something completely different.

After dinner, I grabbed the vermilion/orange paint we had matched a couple of months ago and headed over to Shaker Heights 63. I was able to roll the entire side of the car below the belt rail, minus the doors, in about an hour. It will obviously need at least one, possibly two, more coats, but that was expected given how poorly orange tends to cover. I'll also need to follow up with a brush to get all the nooks and crannies, but that's also just part of the process. Stay tuned for more updates on the orangeification of the 63.

309 Bearing Update

 A couple of steps were required to prepare the new bearing castings:

The edges that were soldered need to be filed flat.  Also flashings on the drilled holes need to be filed off.  That wasn't too hard.

But the bearings also have little notches to allow oil to weep from the axle bearing surface to the face of the collar, which presses against the hub of the wheel.  Actually, when I removed this old bearing, all of the notches were plugged with oil and dirt, and I don't know what can be done about that in the long run.  But for now, I'll put notches in the new bearings and hope for the best.  Somebody must have thought they were important.

They're not evenly spaced or identical in size and shape, so they can be made with a hacksaw and file.

And when that's done, we have an old pair and a new pair, ready for installation.

Unfortunately, when time came to actually install the new bearings, I was unable to get the top half more than a couple of inches in.  I can't see where it is binding up, but I suspect the motor needs to be moved away from the axle a little.  I'm able to lift the motor easily enough, but not move it horizontally.   And in cases like this, 1/16" might as well be a mile.  I have one or two other things to try, but this may have to be done over the pit.  And that involves some delay.

Fortunately, the old top half can still be inserted, since it's so much thinner.  I left the car with the motor sitting on the old top half:

The 309 cannot be moved like this, of course, and it's been red-tagged.  But it will not be hard to put the old bearing back together when we have a chance to put it over the pit.

On the whole the bearing project is going well, and I'm planning to locate a foundry to produce more castings next week if I can.  If you have any constructive suggestions, you can PM me and we'll discuss it back-channel.

309 Bearing News -- At Last!

It's been four years since we last reported on the effort to produce new motor bearings for the 309.  And in case you don't remember that far back:

The problem is as follows: on the #1 truck, the axles were turned down by the railroad in the areas where the motor bearings ride.  As a result, the bearings are very loose -- as you can see here:

There's about a 1/2" gap between the axle and the lower bearing surface.  This allows the motor to jump up and down depending on which direction you're traveling and whether the motor is powering the car.  So new, thicker bearings are needed.  We have plenty of badly worn ones in stock, but nothing that would help this situation.  We had a rough casting produced by a foundry in Chicago, and the two halves were soldered together in preparation for machining, back in 2019, but then the project ground to a halt.  Until now. 

I decided to make this a priority, and repossessed the casting.  Within a week I had located a machine shop that could do the work, and in another week the machining was finished to my satisfaction.  I should have taken a picture of the rough casting, but didn't.  Anyway, the finished product was beautiful.  Here it is on my bench at home.  Of course, the two halves are still soldered together, but it's almost impossible to see the joint.

The oval gap in the bottom piece is for lubrication of the axle by the cotton waste bundles in the motor cap.

On Thursday morning I brought it to the Museum.  The first thing that still needed to be done was to drill the holes for the alignment pins that keep the bearing from rotating relative to the motor, and I wanted to double-check the alignment.  You need a big drill press for this job.

Next, let's squeeze ourselves under the car to see if we can remove the old bearings.  The first thing to do is to unbolt the motor cap and slide it out of the way, on a platform made for the purpose.  The motor itself is jacked up slightly with an old auto jack so that it isn't resting on the bearings any more.  And you can now see the old bearings still on the axle:

First, I remove the bottom half and set it on the shelf.  The upper half has now slid down around the axle and is underneath it.  That's excellent, since I was afraid it might be hard to remove.

The upper half is slippery and there's nothing to hold onto, but eventually it can be lifted off the axle and set on the shelf.  Now we see the bare axle behind it.  It has no visible flaws.

For safety, I insert some wood so the motor can't drop onto the axle if the jack gives way somehow.

Now it's time to unsolder the new casting.  First, I use a spare GE 66 motor cap to check that the holes were indeed drilled in the right spot.  It fits nice and tight.

Then the casting was placed in the big oven, the temperature was set for 550F, and we wait for the temperature to slowly climb to the setpoint.  After a couple of hours, the casting separates into two halves, and we wait another couple of hours for the parts to cool down. 

 Then they're taken home for cleaning up the solder joints and the newly-drilled holes.

Meanwhile, lots of things were going on, and among them was dumping more gravel in Barn 4 so the new floors can be poured.  Most of the weekday guys were helping with this arduous task.  I didn't want to be too far from the big oven while it was heating up, but after it was turned off and started to cool down, it was safe to venture out and help a little with shoveling.  But the other guys did most of the work.

The tie crane (above) pushed a dump cart back and forth: outside to have the bins loaded by a big front loader, then inside the barn so it could be dumped by hand and leveled.   And as you can see, the route leads right over the pit.

It's hard work, but that's the price we pay for progress.