Diesel Department

Here is the latest update on USA 8537 as we begin the body prep work required now that the grease and oil cleanup has been completed.

Photo: Jim and Ben wire wheeling the cab roof.

Photo: Sean laying down on the job sanding while Ben wire wheels.

Photo: Bob and Jim sanding the No 2 hood and cab wall.

Photo: Linda and Lee wire wheeling shutters and handrails.

Photo: Blake sanding the top of the No 1 hood.

Photo: Making great progress the first couple days.

We will be making some improvements to the locomotive as well. It is the most used switcher and never had ground lights, so we'll be adding that, along with step well lighting to make the unit safer to use at night. The number 2 engine will get an upgrade by removing the tiny auxiliary generator and adding an alternator. The radio antenna will be replaced with a permanent skate instead of the temporary mag mount that it has now. Once the museum opens again, we will continue on the body work and the other improvements.

It has been quite a while since we have posted an update about our Alco FA2, L&N 314. The electrical cabinet has been pretty well filled up and the majority of the wiring has been completed. A significant amount of high voltage traction motor cabling remains to be reinstalled.

The front lower half of the electrical cabinet.

The front upper half of the electrical cabinet.

The wiring in the control stand is nearly complete as well, just some sanding and alarm/indicator circuits remain. Control air has been applied and transition/field shunting circuits and all other relays sequenced good. Control transformer tested ok and revealed a few problems in the Static control panels that were fixed.

Engine control schematic diagram.

Main gen megs good, a full set of brush holders reconditioned and ready to apply.

Rear lower half where most of the high voltage cables terminate to the switchgear.

Rear upper half of the electrical cabinet.

All the fuel injection pumps have been disassembled, cleaned, and reassembled. They all operate freely now and are being reinstalled on the engine.

You can see just how dirty they were.

Most recently, work on the GE 17MG8 governor is underway.

In this update, we'll show some photos of the cleanup that was needed on USA 8537 prior to getting started on the body preparation.

Jim and Sean cleaning the side rods.

GE 45 tonners have a single traction motor on each truck coupled to one of the axles through an oil filled reduction gear box. The second axle is coupled via a chain drive or side rods similar to a steam locomotive. 8537 uses side rods. One of the items on the daily inspection during operation is greasing the rods. During operation, that grease tends to fly and smear everywhere. Many hours were spent by Bob A, Jim P, Sean M, Dave V, and Linda E removing that grease and cleaning the rods, counterweights, and sides of the truck frames.

A view of a side rod after cleaning.

The engines themselves, along with the floors of the engine compartments, received some attention as well. These engines are Cummins HBI inline 6 cylinder normally aspirated diesels rated at 150 horsepower each. This engine design is over 90 years old. We have five of them at the museum, two on the 8537, and three that run the power car in the Nebraska Zephyr. The #1 on the 8537 has the newer style PT fuel pump. The #2 engine still runs the original single disc fuel pump. It was interesting trying to get the mechanical throttle linkage adjusted to make the engines power curve synchronization be fairly close throughout the throttle range with those two very different pumps.

The pump side of the number 1 engine after cleaning. This shows the PT style pump.

The manifold side of the number 1 engine after cleaning.

The pump side of the number 2 engine, showing the single disc style pump.

The manifold side of the number 2 engine during cleaning.

Stay tuned for the next update where we begin working on the body preparation.

Photo: The generator room of 33C being prepped for primer and paint.

It has been quite some time since we have posted any updates about the restoration of Milwaukee Road 33C, one of our EMD E9 passenger locomotives. We have primarily been working on interior prep and painting. Here are a number of photos of the back steam generator room, with detail in the captions. You can click on the photos for larger version.

Photo: Jake and Adam working on wire wheeling the back side of the wiring duct.

Photo: Linda hand sanding the pipes and valves on the back wall.

Photo: Dave wire wheeling the ceiling and electrical cabinet wall.

Photo: Many panels and covers were cleaned up to bare steel.

Photo: Those panels were primed and painted, with the inside covers of the main generator being sprayed with insulating varnish.

Photo: The outsides of the covers and panels were all painted gray.

Photo:The only E unit in the world with a curved traction motor blower duct. The 33C was the test bed for constant speed HEP and had a drive shaft running through the rear electrical cabinet to drive the HEP alternator which was mounted where the steam generator used to be.

Photo: The rear wall primed and ready for painting.

Photo: After painting looking towards the fireman side battery box.

Photo: After painting looking towards the rear electrical cabinet.

Photo: After painting looking back to the rear of the locomotive.

It is hard to believe USA 8537, a General Electric 45 ton diesel-electric locomotive, has been in the museum's collection for nearly 30 years now. It has been our mainstay switcher for the majority of those three decades. Living outside during that time has not been kind to the paint it arrived in. The last couple years we have wanted to repaint the locomotive and that time has finally come with the completion of the rotary snowplow tender this past February. On February 22, 2020, 8537 was moved into the diesel shop to begin the prep work for repainting. Below are some photos to show what the unit looked like before beginning the project.

Photo: The front 3/4 view of 8537 in the shop. This shows just how faded the paint has gotten over the years.

Photo: The rear view of 8537 in the shop.

The main body color is black. The handrails were all yellow, along with the stripes around the sill. The lettering, numbers and logo was all white. We will also make some safety improvements by adding ground and step well lights around the unit. It does not have any ground lights now.

Photo: The transportation corps logo on the #1 hood.

Photo: Large lettering for United States Army was on both sides of the #2 hood.

Photo: The numbers on the side also showing very faded paint.

Photo: Some of the lettering on the #2 truck.

We'll show the progress over the past month in future blog posts. If you would like to support this restoration project, or any other restoration project, you can donate to the Diesel Department Equipment Restoration Fund and follow up with an email to support a specific piece of equipment.