The weather has been far too good lately...we are in for a long winter...
Saturday
the track dept was myself, Tom H and Frank D. We had a 30 second
reunion to start off the day because both Frank and Tom have been away
from IRM for some time and this was a historic momemt...well not
really, but ya know. The weather cooperated great. It's certainly fall,
but we couldn't ask for better weather.
Our original plan was to
build track in yard 11 or raise tracks in yard 11 in preparation for
the barn. Unfortunately we were not able to touch yard 11 because the
contractor was still occupying the building due to some unforeseen
issues with the metal siding... Still determined to get something done
we spoke with the electric car shop and they allowed us to use the pit
in Barn 4 to get some much needed work done on a number of our
machines. First for the day was the Model 50 burro crane which we had
gotten running last weekend. As in true IRM fashion, we had to jump
start the machine early in the day in yard 11. The engine was just too
cold to get going but once we got it running it ran great. Over the pit
we greased the entire underframe, topped of the transmission with ATF,
inspected/ greased the deck rotation gearing, troubleshot a bad
hydraulic leak (more to come on that), checked oil levels in the
engine, axle gear cases, coolant level and a number of other small
tasks. After we were pleased with that, we took the crane outside to
test everything and locate the hydraulic leak. It seems the boom
extension cylinder inside of the boom is the problem. When the boom is
extend and retracted what we believe is the hydraulic seal on the
cylinder itself leaks bad and drips oil out the backside of the boom. A
repair to this is pretty substantial due to the fact that the cylinder
is probably 30ft long and 6'+ in diameter and rests inside of the all
welded boom... A few plans are being cooked up now for a remedy, but
for now the boom extension is out of service but otherwise the crane
itself is not in harm and still in service. The crane is ready for
building yard track 11-4 when the time comes.
After lunch, and a
quick switch readjustment...., the second machine to get pit time was
our A-8 motorcar EJ&E 585. We use this gang car pretty regularly
for our mainline maintenance as well as regular inspections throughout
the operating season. Last year one of the two drive shafts were taken
off because the drive shaft was rubbing up against one of the
structural steel beams which has a hole opening for the shaft to go
through. Wear over the years has widened this hole pretty significantly
and we didn't want to be left with a broken beam or broken drive shaft.
Yesterday it was found that two screws were missing which secures the
gear cases on the axle from moving vertically, aka the cause of the
problem... Both holes were stripped, so we tack welded two bolts where
they should be and reinstalled the drive shaft returning it to all
wheel drive. This problem dates back far into the EJ&E days as
their solution was to take the shaft out leaving it as a 2 wheel drive
car. The entire underside was greased, engine oil changed and fluids
checked throughout. Frank worked hard on the brake system which has
been weak lately and found that one of the brake calipers was leaking
badly. The new one we have lying somewhere couldn't be found so for now
the brakes are operable, but not working fully. Hopefully the parts can
be found and the car can be fixed properly soon.
The pit was
cleaned out and left as it was. Thanks again goes to the car shop for
letting us use the pit. It was a huge help! On another note, the Amtrak
brush cutter arrived this past week from Oklahoma where it's been since
its purchase from Amtrak a few years ago. We will give it a good once
over, a new battery and then plan to cut IRM's mainline this winter.
It's a monster to run, but the results are incredible.
Next week is looking like work on Barn 11...maybe.
Adam Robillard
