Greetings Everyone,
Well this week brought about the first day of Spring on Sunday, followed by (depending on where in the Ottawa Valley you reside), two to three inches of wet snow on Monday! Welcome to Springtime in the Great White North.
Our BRS U Steam Course formal class instruction concluded last week with John B. and Duncan conducting a final lecture last Saturday in which they covered peripheral issues as yet undisscussed, followed by a Q & A on all the previous lectures. John then went through the TSSA syllabus and touched on questions typical TSSA exams might include. The day concluded with Duncan going through two C.P.R. training manuals typically handed to train crew interns in the 1940's and 50's. They had question and answer sections which would have been used in fireman and engineer qualification programs.
John has indicated that as the weather moderates we will go and get the steam crane with number 10, bring it up to the shop, and prep it for annual certification and summer use. The hands on aspect of the course will include firing up the crane and hopefully putting everything we have been taught over the winter to practical use. Allow me on behalf of all the persons who enrolled in the program to extend our collective thanks for a job well done to John and Duncan. I personally have greatly increased my knowledge of Steam operations and enjoyed the program thoroughly!
PROJECT STATUS:
The Pontiac Chieftain Hy-Rail Car No. 26:
Since our last update a great deal of progress has been made and if I may be allowed one hackneyed cliche, we definitely can see the light at the end of the tunnel, ( Railroad tunnel of course). Since the engine re-builder came through we have focused on the brakes. Given all wheels were removed,rear axles replaced, and new brake lines installed, the brake reservoir had to be filled and the individual brakes bled.
Ed Jr., Paul and I made the first attempt. A subsequent test drive with fearless Duncan behind the wheel ended up being a bit unnerving for our test pilot as he lurched around the parking lot screaming "whoa Nelly" and yelling out the drivers window at us, "no brakes, long peddle!" (Interpret long pedal to mean it went to the floor when applied and the car responding by gradually drifting to a stop).
The second attempt at setting up the brakes started with Duncans son Bruce, (up visiting for week from Colorado Springs to celebrate his mothers birthday), Ross and yours truely going around to all four corners of the car and adjusting the pad travel to the drum. The right front corner turned out to be a "Jack the Bear" exercise. One dimply didn't pull the wheel, drum and then manipulate the adjuster wheel. With no inspection port the entire wheel had to be disassembled, the bearings pulled etc. Bruce drew short straw and dealt with that exercise. With the four wheels adjusted it was decided it would be prudent to bleed the brakes again. With the unit up on four jack stands, Ross and I went around to all the bleeders and began the tedious process all over. We had a real team effort this time with Duncan pumping the brake pedal on command, Andrew monitoring the fluid level of the reservoir and topping it up as required while Ross and I jammed in the wheel well, manipulated the bleeders and watched the air bubbles run out into the overflow jar. It became clear bleeding a completely dry, new system required far more time than adjusting an established wet system!
Road test number two, (parking lot as a venue again), same players and unfortunately same result as test no. one. Ed Sr. slipped behind the wheel following Duncan's second harrowing experience in a week. After a brief tour around the lot he called me over to the car and said "listen to this". With the engine running he depressed the brake pedal. We both heard the unmistakable sound of escaping air!
Back in the shop Bruce traced all vacuum lines from the carburetor to the firewall side of the Bendix power brake unit and detected no air leaks. I stuck my head under the dash after he removed the brake pedal and there it was staring us in the face. The rubber boot rod dust cover which serves to protect the valve operating rod had dried out and fell apart in my hands as I tried to remove it. Now exposed was the source of the leak, the aft seal for the air reservoir. We dismounted the unit from the firewall and disassembled it on the bench. The air reservoir was full of contaminated hydraulic fluid, all seals and rings worn or deteriorated, not an encouraging site!
Fast forward to the time of this memo's composition and we find: (A) The Bendix Power Unit out being rebuilt, (B) The cars Rochester 2GC two jet carburetor is pulled, and at local speed shop awaiting the arrival of a carb kit prior to undergoing a complete rebuild. Let me close my quoting Duncan, who seeing me leave the shop Wednesday, (apparently looking some what dejected), with the carburetor and Bendix unit in shopping bags, said: "chin up Steve, we're almost there. We've changed out or rebuilt everything on the car except for the Pontiac Hood ornament"!
The OCR Woodings CBL Speeder:
Jim and Jack began drilling mounting holes in the new cast aluminium rail sweeps. Charles is continuing to work on refurbishing the cab and appears close to completion. When done and prior to painting the shell we will mount it on the chassis so Ross can begin taking measurements for the material which will be installed to increase the structural stability of the shell around the door frames. Also while on a dry fit mount, Jim and Jack can start the final stage of rewiring the unit, namely the shell, for interior and exterior lighting, wiper motors etc.
Sundry Bits:
CAR 27:
John Bryant, John Halpenny and our newbie, Chris Furman, this last Saturday morning, with ladders and buckets in hand, got up on the roof of Car 27. Utilizing a cleaning solvent John purchased (TCB), they gave the unit a good scrub down. A long season of use outdoors and winter storage in the shop can and did lead to the roof being quite filthy. Thanks to their efforts it looks great, like a shiny new penny and if deemed necessary is prepped and ready to be painted in advance of the 2011 Shay season.
THE CENTRAL VERMONT STEAM CRANE:
A small team of hardy DHC members Felicity, John B. and John H. to name a few, ventured out in the cold to go down to the siding where the crane is stored for the winter. In preparation for its upcoming move up to the shop for annual servicing, they proceeded to remove all the big winter storage tarpaulins and put them away. Ahh a sure sign of spring!
Engine No. 10:
Duncan and Bill W. are draining the oil out of the old doll in preparation for the new season. Duncan took a fluid sample from the diesels sump and had Cummins do an oil sample analysis recently on the units oil. It was a good news bad news type of report card. The tests detected the presence of fuel oil in the sample in sufficient quantity as to be a concern. However the tests did not detect any appreciable level of metal particulate in the oil sample. The later being of far greater concern then the presence of fuel oil, which at worst only reduces the oils viscosity. Cummins suggested a complete replacement of engine oil and a subsequent follow up oil test after a measured amount of running hours and/or days.
Finally I have attached a few photos Jim took last week at the shop.
Regards...
Steve Harling
0 comments:
Post a Comment