Eastern Railroad Discussion > Sometimes a Vulture Gets the Worm

The Indiana Northeastern has been home to Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society Nickel Plate Road SD9 358 while having some electrical problems worked on.  They made an engine only successful test run on Thursday, April 11th.  I learned too late on Saturday, April 13th about a training and orientation excursion move on Saturday and then later found out that the SD9 encountered additional electical issues and was sidelined.  I made a run to Pleasant Lake, IN on Sunday to see if there was anything left.  Much to my surprise a crew was on IN GP9 2216 repositioning 358 and several passenger cars.  Beautiful original New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad "Cadillac" SD9 358 basks in the morning light with several FWRHS passenger cars and IN 2216 in the distance.  A definite antithesis of the old adage "the early bird gets the worm."

FDF

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First-class scene - The passenger cars in the background add even more interest to this view.
Bob

That's the problem with old electrical systems ---- you've got to operate them 
almost daily --- to keep the moisture in the air from corroding the 
exposed copper contacts from oxidizing, and to keep the electrical 
insulation warmed, and dried-out.

Extended lay-up periods are ruinous to reliable operation.
You are forever chasing-down nuisance electrical contact 
failures.  It's not fixed with 'new' relays,  they'll corrode 
just as quickly.  You can add a new electrical relay,
"right out of the box" , install it, and after a month of 
non-use the contacts are all green with oxidation !

Spurious "ground relay" drop-outs can be caused by 
moisture in the insulation ....  

Everything is wired correctly, but these spurious failures 
are forever chasing you  ---- it seems like it takes forever
to get the machine dried out ..... You need to take it to a desert
for a month --- then try it.

Its not as if it's a 'thing' that you can replace, and your troubles 
go away.   The longer it lays unused, the more gremlins 
crawl in to enjoy watching "you pull your hair out!"

You can fire-up a steamer after a winter lay-up, all drained,
etc.. and be hauling your first happy customers and 
making money the next day.

It will be a year of frustration getting a diesel thoroughly 'dried-out'...  
Then a week of non-use, and you're back to chasing the false
ground-relay alarms and more corroded contacts that no longer
carry the current..

I don't have the patience to put up with diesel artifacts ..

​W.

wcamp1472,

What about a nice dry enginehouse? I'm not an expert like "wcamp", but I can't believe it is that much of an environmental problem? I've dealt with sensitive electronics for 50 years but I haven't had moss growing on relay contacts even with 5 volts or less circuits. Not to mention the amperage in a locomove control circuit. Maybe in the tropics?
​Nice photos of good looking loco, Thanks!

Gonut



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/14/24 19:59 by Gonut1.

That’s a sharp looking locomotive!

Dan

Posted from iPhone

Nice shot!!