Re: Goose #5

We brought her over yesterday. Goose No. 5 ran really well in Dolores during the morning, but she didn't want to run when we offloaded her in Durango in the afternoon. I'd rev the engine to keep her running (which worked), then I'd let off the gas and she'd idle smoothly for about 2-3 seconds before coughing, sputtering and ultimately shutting down. We removed the air filter, got her started, and then discovered the problem (we think) by sheer dumb luck. While I was revving the engine, another motorman moved the filter assembly, (which is an old oil bath style), within range of the cooling fan. The strong updraft from the fan blew into the filter assembly creating an instant cloudburst of oil and water which doused the motorman and covered the front windshield of the Goose. From the motorman's perspective looking out, it appeared as though the Goose had been slimed. As we watched the slime drip off the headlights and windshield, it was quite obvious that there was A LOT of water mixed in with the oil. We cleaned out the assembly, poured in some new oil, and the Goose purred like a kitten from then on. In hindsight, we noticed water exhausting from the tail pipe the day before. There was enough water emitting from the pipe that I actually looked up to the sky to see if it was raining. We keep the exhaust covered during storage, so we figured there was just left over condensation that would eventually burn off. Here's a question: Why did the Goose start up with no problem in the morning (temperature 35-40 degrees), then purr like a kitten for over an hour? Was it because the water in the mixture was frozen? Why didn't we have trouble the day before? Is it because the water sloshed around during transport, or it started feeding into the carb while were parked at an angle on the loading track?

At any rate, the water/oil cloudburst looked like something straight out of a Carl Fallberg cartoon. It was a quintessential "RGS Moment."

We're looking forward to running on the D&S in March, April and May. A HUGE thank you goes to the D&S for hosting us.
Stop by and see us. It's gonna be a hoot! Oh, and the Goose is parked right outside the backdoor to the museum. Just step into the viewing area for the turntable You can't miss her.


Chris P.
-GGHS




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/06/2020 04:06PM by Chris P..