C&TS - June, 1982 - Back to Work, and 488 Melts Down
| January 19, 2017 01:07PM |
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We left off last week with Mud Tunnel closed and us running from Chama to Osier and back for the first 4 days of the season. After taking a couple of days off, we found that the contractor needed one more day to pack up their stuff and vacate Mud Tunnel, so Friday, June 18 we again did the Chama-Osier thing, running 487 tank-first back from Osier. The Antonito Gang spent the day firing 488 up and getting ready for Saturday morning.
Saturday, June 20 started out routine for us in Chama as 489 blasted up the hill. We got to Osier and were informed Train #1 had a serious problem. Upon arrival at Sublette, the engine crew discovered the L4 driving box had overheated, all the grease had melted out and the box got hot enough to melt all the babbit out of the hub surfaces on the driving box. It had all melted into a smoking puddle of gooey grease and melted babbit under the L4 driving box. In short, 488 was going nowhere until this was corrected.
Even with the cellar repacked, 488 would have to run at a very slow speed back to Chama for further work. The Antonito train was now an hour late, the shop crew was on its way to Sublette, but would be a while before they could get there. Cleaning out the grease and chipping the now solid babbit out of the cellar would take even longer. And…….the customers were getting hungry.
So, here’s what we did. First Engineer, George get a high speed motor car ride to Los Pinos where an automobile took him to Chama. Meanwhile, a couple of shop guys in Chama got 487 ready to roll. George climbs on 487 and highballs out of Chama toward Osier. 487 will be used to take the Chama train back. Russ and I take 489 and head for Sublette with the doghouse and tender loaded with trays of lunches prepared by the Osier staff.
Once we got to Sublette, we put 489 on the east end of the train and after feeding the hungry horde of happy passengers, Marvin and I head for Antonito with the train, arriving somewhat close to on time.
In Osier, 487 showed up and an hour or so late, the Chama Train headed home.
At Sublette, the shop crew showed up and spent a couple of hours chiseling off hardened babbit to get the cellar out, filled it with grease, rigged up a “keeley hose” from the tender to run cold water on top of the offending driving box, and with Russ running and Dale firing made an agonizingly slow trip back to Cumbres arriving sometime in the wee hours of the morning. They tied 488 up at Cumbres.
The next day, June 20, I made my first “official” firing trip for 1982 with George on 487 coming back with 489. George let me run back from Osier to Cumbres. After we passed through Cumbres eastbound in the morning, Russ brought 488 off the hill. They immediately put 488 in the shop, and dropped the #4 driver set to assess the damage and make repairs. I shot these pics the next afternoon as 488 resembled the world’s largest 3’ gauge Prairie……
You can see here how the spring rigging was blocked up to remove the driver - a nice wood block holds the equalizer on the front of the box, while a stout chain holds the rear equalization to the trailing truck in place. That way the weight was removed from the driver so it could dropped down over the drop pit with out the weight of the engine on the driver.
Despite an overabundance of photoshopping, this came out pretty noisy........sorry
488 had a scored journal that had to be polished up. This was one the drivers that was reworked the winter before. We always were having problems with the #4 driving boxes running hot. It was found the journal size had been worn to below the condemning limits, and needed to be changed, but there was neither time or money to do that last winter, so it went back together with the plan to put a new axle in her this coming winter. Whether that was the reason the box ran hot, or the hub liner surfaces were machined too tight, was a matter of debate. I think it was a bit of both. The rest of 488’s lateral was pretty loose. We tightened up the rear lateral, but left the rest alone. So as 488 wobbled down the track, the tighter lateral on the #4 was taking more load than if everything was tight, so that probably had something to do with it. I think the hubs were remachined with more lateral, and although 488’s #4’s still ran worm to hot the rest of the summer. I didn’t melt down again. But it was nearly 2 weeks before 488 hit the road again.
Saturday, June 20 started out routine for us in Chama as 489 blasted up the hill. We got to Osier and were informed Train #1 had a serious problem. Upon arrival at Sublette, the engine crew discovered the L4 driving box had overheated, all the grease had melted out and the box got hot enough to melt all the babbit out of the hub surfaces on the driving box. It had all melted into a smoking puddle of gooey grease and melted babbit under the L4 driving box. In short, 488 was going nowhere until this was corrected.
Even with the cellar repacked, 488 would have to run at a very slow speed back to Chama for further work. The Antonito train was now an hour late, the shop crew was on its way to Sublette, but would be a while before they could get there. Cleaning out the grease and chipping the now solid babbit out of the cellar would take even longer. And…….the customers were getting hungry.
So, here’s what we did. First Engineer, George get a high speed motor car ride to Los Pinos where an automobile took him to Chama. Meanwhile, a couple of shop guys in Chama got 487 ready to roll. George climbs on 487 and highballs out of Chama toward Osier. 487 will be used to take the Chama train back. Russ and I take 489 and head for Sublette with the doghouse and tender loaded with trays of lunches prepared by the Osier staff.
Once we got to Sublette, we put 489 on the east end of the train and after feeding the hungry horde of happy passengers, Marvin and I head for Antonito with the train, arriving somewhat close to on time.
In Osier, 487 showed up and an hour or so late, the Chama Train headed home.
At Sublette, the shop crew showed up and spent a couple of hours chiseling off hardened babbit to get the cellar out, filled it with grease, rigged up a “keeley hose” from the tender to run cold water on top of the offending driving box, and with Russ running and Dale firing made an agonizingly slow trip back to Cumbres arriving sometime in the wee hours of the morning. They tied 488 up at Cumbres.
The next day, June 20, I made my first “official” firing trip for 1982 with George on 487 coming back with 489. George let me run back from Osier to Cumbres. After we passed through Cumbres eastbound in the morning, Russ brought 488 off the hill. They immediately put 488 in the shop, and dropped the #4 driver set to assess the damage and make repairs. I shot these pics the next afternoon as 488 resembled the world’s largest 3’ gauge Prairie……
You can see here how the spring rigging was blocked up to remove the driver - a nice wood block holds the equalizer on the front of the box, while a stout chain holds the rear equalization to the trailing truck in place. That way the weight was removed from the driver so it could dropped down over the drop pit with out the weight of the engine on the driver.
Despite an overabundance of photoshopping, this came out pretty noisy........sorry
488 had a scored journal that had to be polished up. This was one the drivers that was reworked the winter before. We always were having problems with the #4 driving boxes running hot. It was found the journal size had been worn to below the condemning limits, and needed to be changed, but there was neither time or money to do that last winter, so it went back together with the plan to put a new axle in her this coming winter. Whether that was the reason the box ran hot, or the hub liner surfaces were machined too tight, was a matter of debate. I think it was a bit of both. The rest of 488’s lateral was pretty loose. We tightened up the rear lateral, but left the rest alone. So as 488 wobbled down the track, the tighter lateral on the #4 was taking more load than if everything was tight, so that probably had something to do with it. I think the hubs were remachined with more lateral, and although 488’s #4’s still ran worm to hot the rest of the summer. I didn’t melt down again. But it was nearly 2 weeks before 488 hit the road again.
| Subject | Author | Posted |
|---|---|---|
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Earl | January 19, 2017 01:07PM |
|
John C | January 19, 2017 01:17PM |
|
Russ489 | January 19, 2017 06:35PM |
|
Earl | January 19, 2017 06:42PM |
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488 stops for water at Los Pinos tank on closing day Oct. 1979. Photo courtesy Don Richter
The NGDF was started by Don Richter and is currently operated in his memory by Nathan Holmes and others. Others who have contributed to the upkeep of this board are (in no particular order): Charles McCandless, Everett Lueck, Ted Wilton, Cole Adams, James Bane, John Moellmer, Jon Bentz, Linn Moedinger, lloyd lehrer, Rod Jensen, John Craft, Steven Forney, Herb Kelsey, Bill Ramaley, Russ Sperry (El Russo Loco), Josh McNeal, John West, Jim Armstrong, Bob Bergstrom, Greg Scholl, Blake Forbes Doug van Veelen and Mark Fuller.