I wanted to share a comment or two about my weekend assisting George Greenbaum in working on the C&TS Diesel in Antonito. I arrived in Chama at mid-day Saturday, and spent a few hours recreating prior to meeting up with George. OK, so I wanted to take some more photos at Sublette. I really like Sublette, and bicycling up the railroad a bit was very enjoyable. At any rate, about two miles up, maybe almost to Mud Tunnel, the legs let me know that if I continued to ride, I might not have the energy to get back. Too many hours at a desk and middle age have caused me to lose some of my wind recently.
After a few photos and another side trip out a dirt road which nearly ran to Lava Tank, I met up with George. He had been to Albuquerque looking for parts for fuel pumps. His decision to work on the fuel leak was probably a reasonable decision, but prior to the removal, he wanted to drain the crankcase oil; nearly 35 gallons of oil had been dilluted with diesel fuel.
Anyway, George resourcefully located a Diesel fuel pump in an old Caterpiller diesel motor that had been setting outside near Villa Grove, Colorado. Those of you that have driven over Poncha Pass have driven by this collection of relics, including a 1930s vintage Chevy Two Ton truck and other items. George was able to locate the owner of this collection and purchase some parts from the owner. I think it's a miracle that these engines were similar enough to have some of the same parts.
Well, back to the Pineapple. The reason the fuel pump needed to be replaced was because of a gigantic diesel fuel leak. This locomotive has two prime movers, a CAT 160 HP diesel and generator on each end. The fuel had leaked down into the engine compartment making quite a mess. Someone had put some sort of absorbing material down on the deck beneath the engine.
Anytime a person buys used parts, they run the risk of those parts having a hidden problem that can't be seen without disassembly. George's fuel pump showed signs of water at one time, rust hidden within the body of it kept the part of the governor mechanism from moving freely, making an overhaul of this pump neccessary as well.
George and myself pulled the pump out after removal of some ancillary components. He took apart the original pump while I made a side trip to Cumbres Pass and Chama for a brief outing. OK, I wanted to recreate a bit while I was down there, and disassembly of the pump was pretty much a one-man job.
George found the source of the leak, some hard rubber or neoprene seals had developed wear in them. There were two different sized seals showing that someone over the life of this locomotive has worked on that pump before. Recalling that this locomotive is a year older than UP844, it's reasonable that various work has been done on it.
Suffice it to say that the Pineapple is still unusable this week. George and I plan to meet again next weekend and possibly the weekend after to complete this portion of the work. There is other work needed, but the goal of the work for now is to make it useable for the summer trackwork.
Thanks to John Hammond and others for information about that locomotive. We'll hopefully be able to use it again in a couple of weeks for badly needed trackwork. I've enjoyed my involvement too, Antonito is a charming place.
Jim Burrill
