Saturday, January 11, 2020

5645 Going Back Together

The crew continued work on 5645 today, enjoying the unseasonable warm day. The source of the car's derailment was found, a skewed journal bearing which trapped and seized. When the car fell, the bolster met the inner rail of the switch, causing the spring support piece to pop out.

A new bearing was installed in the car and Galen, Adam, Mike, and Kelly began reassembling the truck. All components are in place for the car to be lowered on to the truck to compress the springs and allow finally assembly. As a bonus, we straightened out a bracket that was interfering with the brake adjustment bar while we had easy access.

Galen heats the troublesome bracket so it can be straightened

Adam tightens bolts during reassembly

Sunday, January 5, 2020

5645 Truck Bolster Work Begins

The crew was able to switch 5645 to the shop last weekend, so this week the car was jacked, the damaged truck pulled, and the bolster disassembled. Oddly, nothing appears to have broken beyond the piece that came out. The failed vs. unfailed side will receive further review before reassembly begins. Weather permitting, we hope to have the car back in service for spring operations.

Galen works on disassembling 5645's bolster

Segment prototyping continues. Kelly tweaked the segment for 836 and it now matches the scale drawing. Prototypes for 355 and line car 1's controllers were also printed thanks to Wil and match the originals nicely. The next step is creating drawings from the 3D models and seeking machining resources.

Final prototype for 836

Prototype for 355

Prototype for 1