Western Railroad Discussion > What do you do when a traction motor bearing seizes up?

........Call RJ Corman. The BNSF SD70MAC, 9774, had a seized traction motor bearing in Mandan,ND. In the BNSF locomotive servicing world, Mandan IS in the middle of "nowhere". So RJ Corman was called to bring two sidewinders and related equipment to change the traction motor. Those BNSF workers are sure trustworthy.

Bismarck Bill

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For me, it was order the hook...but that was long ago.

TAW

Ha! Tom beat me to it…Call the “Big Hook”! What a shame that there aren’t anymore on the BN.. they were pretty important pieces of equipment. Wonder how much it cost them to pay the contractor instead of handling it all in house?

Posted from iPhone

If you cant trust RJ Corman, then who can you trust?
Thanks for the interesting photo posting.
ALLEN

 then who can you trust? Hulcher. upkpfan
 

Here is an ISCO truck lifting a U33C at Palmdle on the SP in 1979.
You can see the traction motor/wheelset underneath.
Another option is to try and cut off the pinon gear with an acytelene torch but that is risky and expensive.
But maybe better than trying to skid the frozen wheel many miles to a spur where a lift can be made.

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railstiesballast Wrote:
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> But maybe better than trying to skid the frozen
> wheel many miles to a spur where a lift can be
> made.

I had that happen to 375 around Oban one night. I still remember th engineer was "Triple H" Hunter. No radio back then...well, not in the dispatcher's office. A phone call from the head man at Oban revealed that HHH decided to skid the unit to Rosamond and set it out.

The next day, I caught hell for having 375 set out a unit at Rosamond. No! Never! Don't delay 375 for that. Take it to Bakersfield.

But Chief, it was birdsnested and locked up.

Have them cut out the traction motor and go to Bakersfield. Don't ever stop 375 like that.

But Chief, it doesn't work like that.

Just don't do it again.

Now, I know that he caught hell from at least the Supt. if not The City for the delay to 375, but c'mon, the Supt. WCM was promoted from locomotive engineer!

TAW
 

I was working on Amtrak 35, the Desert Wind. I was up early to get the diner open for breakfast before arrival in Las Vegas. Right away I thought I could smell something burning and told the Conductor about it. He shrugged it off, he couldn’t smell anything and said it was probably the heaters coming on. He pretty much dismissed my concern.
Well, unfortunately, I was right- a traction motor on our (single) F40 seized up when we stopped in Vegas. It was decided that rather than annul the train and bus our passengers on to LAX (something Amtrak did in those days), the pinion gear would be torched off and a UP SD40 would take over, the F40 providing HEP.
It was a long hard day I’ll never forget, but not because of our lowly issues- it was the same morning the Space Shuttle Challenger was lost.
SR

Posted from iPhone

On three axle trucks, I've seen the center axle jacked up and blocked so it clears the rail, saw the same thing with the rear axle. Then they they can be moved to a set out track. Another time I saw them torch off the bottom 6" of the wheels on both sides, to clear the rail.

Posted from Android

I slid a cw441c 15 miles at 10 mph to the nearest yard....and then had to shove a cut of cars out of the way to get to a track the big hook could get to. The power we had left couldn't pull the train so we went home and another crew came out with more power.

bmarti7 Wrote:
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> Those BNSF
> workers are sure trustworthy.

There *might* be one BNSF worker there…to provide track protection.

It's not very likely they are putting in a new combo.  They'll simply put in an idler wheelset and install a new combo (traction motor and wheel set) in a shop facility.  

Hulcher and Corman do not charge nearly as much for pre-arranged work like this as they do for an emergency like a derailment.

Under direction from the chief dispatcher I've had an engine with a locked axle dragged to the nearest setout track to clear a main line up.  The wheel set is ruined anyway, so sliding it a few miles doesn't really matter.       

Rathole Wrote:
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> It's not very likely they are putting in a new
> combo.  They'll simply put in an idler wheelset
> and install a new combo (traction motor and wheel
> set) in a shop facility.  
>

This has been my experience(s) as well. Put in an idler wheelset and get it to the shop.

It sucks though to move at "restrictive speed" until you reach a place to set the loco off (depending on where it happens......there isn't always a track handy). 

Rathole Wrote:
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> It's not very likely they are putting in a new
> combo.  They'll simply put in an idler wheelset
> and install a new combo (traction motor and wheel
> set) in a shop facility.  
>
> Hulcher and Corman do not charge nearly as much
> for pre-arranged work like this as they do for an
> emergency like a derailment.
>
> Under direction from the chief dispatcher I've had
> an engine with a locked axle dragged to the
> nearest setout track to clear a main line up. 
> The wheel set is ruined anyway, so sliding it a
> few miles doesn't really matter.       

What does it do to the rails?

sf1010 Wrote:
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>
> What does it do to the rails?


If your not careful, it can "chew up" the rails (in other words, make them rough/unusable).

Which can lead to derailments.....

Posted from Android

If it's sliding it's not going to "chew up" the rails.  If it's got big flat spots and rotating then yes, it can break rails.  

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ns1000 Wrote:
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> sf1010 Wrote:
> -------------------------------------
> >
> > What does it do to the rails?
>
>
> If your not careful, it can "chew up" the rails
> (in other words, make them rough/unusable).
>
> Which can lead to derailments.....
>
> Posted from Android

Nothing as long as it's just sliding at slow speeds.  Just walk it over any turnouts, especially facing point moves.  Wheels slide on the rails all the time due to unreleased handbrakes and other causes.  It's when they are rotating with slag buildup or big flat spots you might well have some big problems.    

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sf1010 Wrote:
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>
> What does it do to the rails?

Thanks Rathole...

I'm still suffering from sleep deprivation.....:</

Posted from Android

Understand!  I've been there a time or two myself!   

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ns1000 Wrote:
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> Thanks Rathole...
>
> I'm still suffering from sleep deprivation.....:</
>
>
> Posted from Android