Re: 487

We can credit Russ Fischer for being the master valve setter in Chama. The '87 sounds as good as she ever has. Eldon Morgan alluded to the fact that Alamosa Shop didn't have anyone who could set valves on the locomotives. They hacked things together and made the engines run OK, but just about every engine running on the NG at the end had the famous "Alamosa Shuffle" to its exhaust. Proof of that was the squarest 480 of the bunch when I was there was 489. It had been overhauled in Salida in 1956 just before it came south to ALA. The Salida boys had a good valve setter up there, and 489 was square as a die. She'd hook up to 2 notches from center and run all day. 487 was one of the few engines I have ever run that got more and more lame as you dropped her down. Running her in reverse with a train was a disaster.

Rich, I remember the 487 having that deep internal pound when she was working hard. No amount of wedge adjusting, new rod brasses, etc. would cure it. I had a sneaking suspicion that it had too much lead in the valve event on one end of one cylinder (think "spark knock" from too much initial ignition timing on your car), but we never messed with valve setting back then. Around 1990, 487 got much needed valve and piston rings. In the process, some changes were made in the length of the valve spools on one side, and in the process 487 lost all the valve lead on one side. She sounded pretty square when notched down and working on the hill, but once you hooked her up beyond 5 notches from center, she went lame. Coming out of Antonito hooked up as high she would go, 487 definitely felt less responsive to the throttle than the others, an indication of lack of lead. Before, she would hook up to 3 or so from center before mushing out into a mangled mess of Walscheart madness. But, she wanted to get up run out there.

I can't wait to see how the 488 sounds when Russ is done with her. She has been qimpy sounding since time began. I have a recording of her heading east out of Durango with a tonnage drag. On her hands and knees she sounded great, but once up on her feet and running, she sported a great Alamosa Shuffle.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/21/2017 08:19AM by Earl.