Passenger Trains > F40PHR231 (the Engine) Arrives at Brooklyn!!

At long last, F40PHR231 arrived at the Brooklyn roundhouse EARLY Saturday morning.

1st Photo-Portland and Western spotted the 231 with the cab toward the turntable. Doyle used the Track-Mobile to push 231 on the turntable. Chris (F40PHR231) spun the engine around on the turntable so that the cab end of 231 will be closer to the roundhouse\'s east side door.

2nd Photo-Chris cuts through the tack welds used to secure nose access door from unwelcome guests during transit.

3rd Photo-Look at the treasures discovered inside!! The 5 chime horn and....

4th Photo-the bell.

5th Photo-Chris mounts the horn in the proper place.

6th Photo-After mounting the bell and hooking up the main resevoir to the roundhouse compressor, we tried the bell and horn. The bell worked. The horn didn\'t. Here you see Chris and Skylar trying to locate an air leak that could be heard coming from under the cab. Eventually, the horn started to work after opening and closing numerous valves. In the process, we discovered some undocumented modifications to the air system.

7th Photo-Chris is in the engineer\'s seat. Lots of work to be done before 231 will be able to move under its own power.

john97330

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WAHOOO! she\'s home! congrads! Can\'t wait to see her on exursions!

Indeed, now the fun work for the guys in Portland can begin!

Congratulations to Chris and everyone else involved for making this happen, and thanks to john97330 for the pictures!

Maltby Turn out.

I couldn\'t imagine! I bet the air system is not the only place \'undocumented modifications\' were done!


Best of luck to you; knowing how Amtrak treats its equipment, you\'ll need it!

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In the process, we discovered some undocumented modifications to the air system.

I know Chris was having a plast turning her on the turntable and getting inside her to check her out too! Hope to see her back on the excursion service myself!

Congratulations young man. I\'ve said this before but I\'ll say it again to all the dreamers. A lot of people poo-poo\'d Chris when he put forth his dream. But his persistance and never give up attitude resulted in him now having his own dream in his own posession. But the dream was to save this locomotive and share it and it\'s history with railfans everywhere. NEVER, EVER give up a dream, no matter how negative people might be! Thanks Chris, and again, CONGRATULATIONS!

Chris looked mighty happy at 1740 yesterday afternoon when he answered ".." to my whistling signals "_.." at him just for old times sake as I passed by on Talgo #507. I had sat at the throttle of the 231 a few hours earlier thinking of the thousands of miles I had run that engine and as I passed by on #507 I was wishing I was running his F40 instead of the crappy F59 AMTK 470 that EMD calls a locomotive. Of course, for a real locomotive I needed either Ed Immel\'s ALCO FA SP&S 866 or Doyle McCormack\'s ALCO PA NKP 190 from the Brooklyn roundhouse. Having put thousands of miles on the SP&S 866 also I\'m well aware of what kind of throttle response a diesel locomotive should have and how far away from that position locomotive builders have drifted, much to the disgust of most locomotive engineers.

Can you just imagine Chris cruising chicks in that baby! "Hey Sweetie, want a ride? This loco has a couple thousand horsepower under the hood!"

Chris, you da man for making it happen!

TRW

Jim700 wrote:

> Chris looked mighty happy at 1740 yesterday afternoon when he
> answered ".." to my whistling signals "_.." at him just for old
> times sake as I passed by on Talgo #507......

With the North end of Brooklyn rather empty Sat afternoon, we could see you for quite a ways as you went by the yard. I was next to 231 jumping up and down waving at you and really enjoying the "dueling air horns" show you and Chris put on. I hope he didn\'t get busted after 7:30pm, when I left, by the Portland PD for excessive noise....Gawd, he LOVES that horn!!

john97330

I wish you all the best, Chris. I know this must be a dream come true for you.

Yee-HAW!!!!!!!! HOORAY!!!!!!!!!!! <G!>

Congratulations, Chris, and EVERYONE who helped to rescue the 231!!

"Surflinerhogger" is RIGHT: "NEVER, EVER give up a dream, no matter how negative people might be!"

I look forward to seeing her in excursion service!

F40PHR231 wrote:

> Friday,
> Skylar and I did some P&W hunting, found #231 at Bieber (near
> TV HWY and OR 217 junction).

Uh, Chris, that is "Beburg" siding out in Beaverton. "Bieber" is in Northern California on BNSF...

>
> I didn\'t leave the RH until midnight, or so. Came back the
> next day, after getting plenty of sleep, Ryan and Tony from
> Klamath Falls showed up, did a tremendous amount of work!
> Yesterday, was play day, today was work day!

They are college boys...watch out for your wallet...

>
> Ryan and Tony cleaned up the sitting water in the engine
> compartment, since Amtrak left the roof hatches open. They have
> experience with locomotive motors, that I learned a few things
> from them.
>
> They also found water in the Turbo, and vacuumed it out.

Did they take the water back to Klamath for the farmers?

Great job preserving the 231.

- gb -

Tony and I had a great time. Tony raved about the experience all the way home last night and all day today. I think we have another closet foamer here. I sent the photos you sent me to get a second opinion. Until I hear more I would focus on finding out what parts are missing and getting the HEP alternator either fully disconnected or get it close to the alignment it needs. You?ll have to find an engine barring tool to bar the engine over, I would wait to do that when you get some oil in it first. You have plenty of work to do cosmetically so stick to stuff that you feel comfortable doing and let me know if you need any more help before June.

-Ryan

John and Chris,
I belong to the horn and whistle collectors group and want to offer to donate the parts and labor to rebuild the horn, horn valve, bell motor, and bell valve. Keep us posted on any other parts or services needed. Let know, It would be an honor to make sure that the 231 sound like a million dollors for the rest of time


john97330 wrote:

> Jim700 wrote:
> ....Gawd, he LOVES that horn!!
>

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One of the things I liked about the F40 was that you knew it was coming by the sound of its horn. It sounded more like a steam locomotive whistle,kinda high pitched. Does this horn sound the same?