Submitted by Tom Nitza
Last week we did some lubrication and inspection on #25. We also added
water to the batteries and tightened the drive belt for the alternator.
That improved the charging rate for the batteries.
After all the work on that locomotive, it paid us back by not starting
last Sunday when Steve wanted to move cars. Dave made a service call and
found that the fuel pump solenoid was not working. Cummins thoughtfully
provided a screw to turn in which manually turns on the fuel. The engine
then started as expected. To stop the engine the screw is backed out,
cutting off the supply of fuel.
We looked at it today and confirmed the solenoid is getting power, but
it just doesn’t work. We discussed taking the solenoid off the other
engine but there are also “o” rings where it mount to the fuel pump.
Once we disturb the mounting the old “o” rings might decide to leak. So,
this week I’ll make a trip to Cummins in search of a new fuel solenoid.
Dave spent time sorting out the starter problems on the tool car. He has
a new starter but was unable to mount it because of some bolt issues.
So, he’ll be spending more time on that project.
John and I changed out the east angle cock on the 451 caboose. We need
an angle cock on the box car and I didn’t want to put a brand new one on
that car. So, we changed out one on the caboose and the old one will go
on the box car. The project wasn’t as quick as we had hoped and involved
a cutting torch (stubborn bolts) and some welding. At some point in the
past, I’m blaming N&W, someone made a quick weld repair to the bracket
and it was poorly done, so we fixed that.
The final event for the day was to mount in 25’s cab a wooden plaque
which contains a replica builder’s plate and another plate giving a
brief history of the locomotive. We hadn’t thought ahead to have a
catered event so it was pretty low key. Photo is attached.
