Submitted by Tom Nitza
451 Caboose Update
We took a vote and decided that it was too hot to get involved with a large project so, instead of changing 1231’s oil, we worked on caboose 451. We replaced the west angle cock and that eliminated that air leak. We also made sure that when the hose was installed that it was tight and leak free. John spent some time working on the east door lock and got that working. We then turned our attention to making a nylon shim for the west coupler and got that installed. The coupler no longer sags and is at the correct height.
Finally it was time to air up the car and check for leaks. The good news is that the brake pipe is solid, no leakage. That test was made with the brake valves cut out so we were only testing the brake pipe the full length of the car. Unfortunately, when the cut out cock was opened, we had a leak. Using soapy water we determined that it was not the piping
to the reservoir. Unfortunately, that only leaves the brake valves. These valves were donated and there was always the possibility they might not work correctly. The good news is that since they’re a type of valve currently in use we can use them as cores to get a newly rebuilt set of valves. Installing those will be fairly straight forward and the car should easily pass a single car test and be ready for our caboose train operating season.
Once that’s completed we’ll have to modify the brake cylinder bleed rod to hook up to the new valves.
Wabash Caboose Update
The rafters have all been removed from the Wabash Caboose. We hope to be able to make a template for new rafters in the coming weeks and hopefully have some new timber up by the open house.
The Wabash Caboose rafters have been removed and the caboose is ready for new timber to be installed
The next work session will be Friday July 26th. The weather looks much
better so we’ll get that oil change completed.
The wabash caboose work continues Contact DJ to get in on the email chain for that project at dj@fwrhs.org.
Work on the box car continues in the following weeks. Contact Rich Brinkley to get in on the email chain for that project at Brinkley@fwrhs.org.
358 is ready for electrical and plumbing work. Contact WD Miller to get in on the email chain for Project 358 at miller@fwrhs.org
534 work continues every weekend. Contact Jerrad Bennet for information on that project at bennet@fwrhs.org.
