Re: Chama Shop Update

Russ, I don't know if you remember how 484 road when it got put back in service with 495's drivers under her, but she had a pound under her that never went away. It got better but never ironed itself out. I remember hunting for flat spots on the drivers and such with no luck. At length one of our engineers - the one with the college degree in chemistry - announced with great authority that there was a flat spot on the left rear trailer truck axle.......

Think about that a minute...... a flat on ONE side Only.....on an axle with NO brakes on it to make it slide....

I didn't want to know how he came up with that brilliant answer.

484 continued to clunk her way along until she came do for a running gear overhaul in 1990. At that time the D&S did our driver work. They quartered things up and found the #4 driver set was out by .150 at the pin. They put a stepped key in to get it closer and finished it up from there. After that she rolled like a dream.

But, even the great D&S could mess up. We got a set back that had a mystery pound for 487. It banged and crashed it's way down the track, rattling the #3 right driving box wedge loose every day it ran. After a season of this we sent it back for reworking. When we got it back we found evidence the counterweight had been cracked when it was pressed on the axle....

After that either Bush or Campbell went to Durango to and witnessed the quartering.

I'm glad to hear the C&TS can do all it quartering work in house now.