Western Railroad Discussion > Update on locomotive M & R at OERM (SCRM) 6/13/19

Three items of note with regard to locomotive maintenance occured last Saturday with Dave, Carl and John in attendance.
The SP #3100 has become the large locomotive of choice for weekend operations. It has two areas of concern right now. 1) The Low Water shutdown derector is currently bypassed due to insufficient pressure in the cooling system. Over the years the filler pipes have lost their pressure seaL That means the old filler pipes nead to be cut off of the expansion tank and a new piping braised in place so a pressure cap can be installed. This will pressurize the cooling system so that when the low water is reconnected it will work properly. Right now when the system is activated, since the cooling system is not pressurized, it shuts the engine down. Due to our slow operating situation, this repair is not urgent at this time. 2) We have been unable to contact the contractor who sent us a replacement wheelset for the front truck to come out and install it! This means that the possibility exists that we will have to install it ourselves. Obviously this is a choice we would rather not make. A professional railroad contractor could come out and do this job in one day. It would take us several weekends to accomplish the replacement! Stay Tuned!!!! 3) Taka and Carl removed the batteries from SF #108 so a battery filling system could be installed. As normally installed, the batteries have to be fork lifted out of the locomotive's nose to be serviced. There is only about twp inches of clearance above the batteries. Taka installed the system as shown in the photo with an adjustment he came up with to keep the filling system from being blown out of the battery when the pump is activated! The pump puts out about 30psi when running which dislodges the filler inserts--hence Taka's cable ties! The company that makes these systems need to have a way to reduce the pressure when it is operating! Once the system was installed, Taka tested it and then the batteries were fork lifted back into the locomotive!
While all of that was going on, the painting contractor continued the prep work on SP #1006 We are aiming for mid August for a completion date!

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It's hard to believe the 1006 is expected to be finished in a month.   That's day that has been a long time in coming and it will be a sweet looking engine perfect for your operating museum.

Thanks for the ongoing updates.

Amen!!

Bill Deaver
Tehachapi, CA

TomPlatten Wrote:
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> Three items of note with regard to locomotive
> maintenance occured last Saturday with Dave, Carl
> and John in attendance.
> The SP #3100 has become the large locomotive of
> choice for weekend operations. It has two areas of
> concern right now. 1) The Low Water shutdown
> derector is currently bypassed due to insufficient
> pressure in the cooling system. Over the years the
> filler pipes have lost their pressure seaL That
> means the old filler pipes nead to be cut off of
> the expansion tank and a new piping braised in
> place so a pressure cap can be installed. This
> will pressurize the cooling system so that when
> the low water is reconnected it will work
> properly. Right now when the system is activated,
> since the cooling system is not pressurized, it
> shuts the engine down. Due to our slow operating
> situation, this repair is not urgent at this time.
> 2) We have been unable to contact the contractor
> who sent us a replacement wheelset for the front
> truck to come out and install it! This means that
> the possibility exists that we will have to
> install it ourselves. Obviously this is a choice
> we would rather not make. A professional railroad
> contractor could come out and do this job in one
> day. It would take us several weekends to
> accomplish the replacement! Stay Tuned!!!! 3) Taka
> and Carl removed the batteries from SF #108 so a
> battery filling system could be installed. As
> normally installed, the batteries have to be fork
> lifted out of the locomotive's nose to be
> serviced. There is only about twp inches of
> clearance above the batteries. Taka installed the
> system as shown in the photo with an adjustment he
> came up with to keep the filling system from being
> blown out of the battery when the pump is
> activated! The pump puts out about 30psi when
> running which dislodges the filler inserts--hence
> Taka's cable ties! The company that makes these
> systems need to have a way to reduce the pressure
> when it is operating! Once the system was
> installed, Taka tested it and then the batteries
> were fork lifted back into the locomotive!
> While all of that was going on, the painting
> contractor continued the prep work on SP #1006 We
> are aiming for mid August for a completion date!

I'm always looking forward to your updates. Thanks for sharing!

Regards,

Dave