You’d think CSX would learn! Funny coincidence, but yes I’ve seen and done this before. We had a rail car that had been dragged with the handbrake set. We used those wheel truing shoes to clean up the damaged wheels. Ran it up and down a few miles of track out of the yard. One of my first experiences at the controls of a locomotive which eventually lead to my becoming an engineer. The other part of this story is we received a new (to us) refurbished locomotive that was moved by CSX from National Railway Equipment in Illinois to our interchange point in Middleboro Massachusetts. CSX had not set up the brakes for a “dead-in-tow” move, and as a result flat spotted ALL the wheels! After much discussion with CSX it was decided we would take the locomotive up to Boston Engine Shops which is the engine maintenance facility for the MBTA commuter railroad. They have a wheel lathe that can turn locomotive wheels without removing the wheel sets or trucks. All 8 wheels were turned there and CSX picked up the cost. Like I said, you’d think CSX would learn!
Bill, CSX did it to Bay Colony 1706 coming up from Florida too and they did it Cape Cod Central 1501 + 2 as well.... what can I say? Through some of the same yard's, routing to MIDDLEBORO, MA. ALSO when Bay Colony sold Alco RS-1 1064 to Green Mountain RR, I remember that BCLR had a mechanical employee "Boxcar" the 1064, not sure of exact routing but 1064 was wanted primarily for it's wheels and roller bearing trucks.... they Arrived at the Green Mountain needing to be trued....tried.... Another Interesting CAPE-er involving Class 1 crew's and a Shortline Critter. This was Bay Colony RR's GE 25 Tonner going from Taunton or Dartmouth MA via Conrail locals back to Middleboro. Conrail was instructed not to tow above a certain speed due to gearing.....I can't remember what it was, I remember results, the Traction motor brushes were all smashed....
I just learned how to cut wheels last month.. We have a portable lathe also.. Its neat but very time consuming.. And now I have 8 to cut on one and 4 to cut on another whenever I can get the units down.. Prob gonna take me Atleast 2 weeks ugh lol.. Oh and I was told 15 lb application for grinding shoes when I had to do it 🤷♂️
Very igneous. Brian you never cease to amaze me. Another great story. Please keep our Sunday morning, with a cup of hot coffee, as entertaining as always. Thank you so much.
Great video and very educational. Crown was the Cadillac of school bus builders and a superb restoration of one of their best selling models. The CSX 4547 looks brand new and nicely conceals the fact it's a 23 year old SD70MAC, sporting fresh paint and upgrades. Many more years of reliable service ahead. Thanks for this very special video. Wishing everyone a very enjoyable Thanksgiving.
My favorite locomotive, an ex-SP SD7, originally had cast iron brake shoes and I found that they could 'burnish' some flat spots. Other times, our roundhouse has installed wheel truing shoes on a locomotive I was using. I have also seen them set up a simple cutting rig on a truck when there were more serious issues but our roundhouse is equipped with a drop table and wheel lathe. That SD7, by the way, just turned 70 this month and is still is use. Look up Portland & Western #1501, 'the pride of the fleet.'
Well done sir! A little ingenuity and common sense goes a long way. Thanks for 20 minutes of entertainment for folks who don't have RR experience. Kevin Sethre
Great story Brian. Glad it worked out! That’s a sharp paint job on the GE 100 toner. Perhaps something similar should be applied for the 2021 in Conrail Blue.
Detroit 6-71. Nice engine, made its own oil. LOL I had a 1948 Silverside years ago. Mine left a trail of smoke until she got warmed up all the way. I am not so sure a Crown School bus had those though! LOL Back in steam days, the Railroads had what is called a Ledgerwood that would drag steam locomotives along a section of track. The B&O had one at Willard. You would replace the brake shoes with a cutter like what you used, and then drag the locomotives with cables to cut the tire on the drivers. What you did is nothing new, but still cool to see. Too bad you couldn't get video of it in action.
Great story Brian. I’ve never run nothing that small before. The smallest I’ve ever run are SW 1500’s and SW 1100’s. I’d like to run one of those 100 ton units. Hey I really enjoyed that. Thanks ❤️👍
I have run a 12-ton Plymouth and a 25-ton GE diesel as well as a 17-ton Crown 4-4-0. The Plymouth was mechanical with a D-8 Cat engine, 4-speed transmission with a forward-neutral-reverse, No 200 roller-chain for drive to each axle. The 25-ton was diesel-electric to one axle and No 200 roller chain between the axles.
Great job, great presentation all good for me.i look forward to the next video and I hope what you intend to do with yr railroad project comes to fruition.
Never operated a 100 tonner, but used to (briefly) operate two 44 tonners with multiple unit capability on a shortline I first hired on. Each had only 380 horsepower, but together could do pretty well, considering. The did very well on light rail and bridges with weight restrictions and could take a tight curve in switching industrial areas. However, my favorite switcher will always be the EMD SW-1 switcher, mainly because it was the first locomotive I officially operated when I got qualified. Love those "little giants".
The Underfloor Lathe on our Depot actually motored the wheel set so could turn without removing from the vehicle be it Loco ,Coaching stuck or even a bare axle lifted on with crane ,then there were two hydraulic centers to hold axle in place these were also used for turning light vehicles , but a Loco the weight would just hold it in place .The vehicle would roll over the lathe the drive rollers would come up lifting the axle then the two rail sections would withdrawal, the axle dropped a little to level up and clamped if necessary then the cutters would come in following a profile cassette blank of the required profile. It was an old German Machine and has only just been replaced I am told by the guys still there .Sorry for the description as this is England so you guys may call some of the stuff differently , I am still learning even though I left the job 8 years ago .For the Record the Lathe was and still is at Longsight Depot ,Manchester England. Erected in 1842 by the Manchester and Birmingham Railway. Thanks for Vid .
That was very cool. Loved seeing the turntable in operation. Great fix. Hopefully we can see more content, I get withdrawl when its more than a week. Thanks for sharing.
I worked for a shortline that had an SW7 shipped by a Class 1 that drug it for miles with the brakes partly set which destroyed the brake shoes, brake heads and screwed up the wheels, they fixed the wheels I got to fix the brakes.... sad part was I taped an instruction sheet on the control stand because the old SW had 6 air!
HEY! You where in Ashland KY, right by me! That steel plant is closed down and they are already dismantling it. It was AK Steel, it put a couple hundred people out of work. I wish we had a White Castle!
Take the 2 train to Pelham Parkway and walk 2 blocks. Meaningful connection- 2train connects with q, r. and n at Atlantic Avenue and all 3 of these go to Coney Beach . Also the B and D .
Done that dozens of times at Calumet, Chicago. Shelled wheels like those aren’t too bad. We had to get rid of flat spots. Takes forever, very boring going back and forth over and over. Got the wheels smoking big time. Know a colleague who got wheels so hot one of them actually cracked.
When A lived in Pennsylvania A used ta live in Bethlehem Pennsylvania n South Bethlehem they had a steel mill some of it is still up n some of it was demolished n some of it was turned into a parking garage a casino a hotel a heard some of it they was gonna turn into a museum n a movie theater n a indoor skating ring where u can either go ice skating or roller skating A know it was one of them or both A moved ta Georgia before they even did any of them but when A went ta Pennsylvania for ma mom's funeral they already had the casino up and running n they was in the process of doing more construction work on the steel mill and the Union train station that was by the steel mill they turned it into a doctors office sadly ta say hopefully A can go back n visit again n see what all they have got done n accomplished on the projects
When we hauled any kind of a yard engine short wheelbase engine behind the engine consist we always cut the brakes out and never had an issue , the biggest concern was the “ coupler limiting blocks”……each truck should have a cut-out valve…..ms~~~
A great video as always. I loved field trips in HS (and College). About the first decade of the previous century, the Santa Fe use a 'Lidgerwood' machine on their monster 2-10-10-2 locomotives and probably many other engines to do exactly what you did. IIRC the 3000 class 2-10-10-2 didn't fit on the turntable or in the roundhouse. I was not able to find a reference but it was probably at San Bernardino. A special 'Lidgerwood track' track was set up for this. Wikipedia has an entry, 'Lidgerwood', that exactly describes the process.
Hey Brian. We miss ya. I don’t want to assume no news is bad news. I’m sure ya can’t do any track work this time of year. Prayin and pullin for ya buddy
Another informative video. Turntables I wonder how many turntables are around today? Back in the day almost every big yard had one. We has one about a mile from where I live but NS took it out in the early 60s. That CSX engine looked brand new hope they let you get up in the cab. Thanks for the video have a wonderful Thanksgiving
That was a great story and I enjoyed the vintage bus. I only heard of this procedure from some of the old timers. We normally transported locomotives and other rolling stock to the wheel machine for truing wheel sets. By the way, happy Thanksgiving.
Brian, Alco RS-3 NYC 8223 came to the Adirondack Scenic Railroad in the late mid 90's. Part of the lease deal was that after the first year running it was to go to Selkirk to have it's wheels turned. This did happen. The way interchange works is it had to go west to Syracuse then east to Utica. Fine 🙂 and dandy. CSX screws up #1and turns the engine around. Ok, we can live with for now. Screw up # 2, delivers it, but drops it in the NYS&W RR'S yard on the wrong side and 3 miles from our interchange. In the mean time, the rail grinder comes through making that railhead profile nicely done and just like a "File". CSX a few days later with 5 6 axel's, hooked up to the engine and without releasing the brakes, dragged the engine out onto the nicely filed railhead, pushed it back onto their train 🚆, brakes still on, then dragged it 3 miles to our interchange and drop it off to us. Wheels are soft after being turned,so, The local crew goes to pick up the interchange and wonder why the engine is "BANGING"? Close inspection reveled 16 inch long 3 inch deep flat spots on all 8 wheels. Screw up #3. After many heated CSX denial phone calls , they finally fessed up to their screw ups and agreed to replace all and update the traction motors. It took 6 weeks and 60 pounds of welding rod to fill those flat spots enough for the engine to be able to move to Selkirk for the wheels to get changed 😅. It was made very clear if valued your job and life, you'd stay clear of that engine.
That isn't the first time that a RR has forgotten to take off the handbrakes. Happened to us in DC when Amtrak failed to release the handbrake. So after a 1000 mile trip, Amtrak got to reprofile the wheels again for the NEC. But this time it was at their expense. Changing from cast iron to composition shoes can cause a number of problems including slid wheels. Cylinders have to either be changed, bushed, or the brake valves changed so that there is less force on the shoes. Our first run South from NYC showed what happens when that isn't done. The car acted as an anchor when coming to a stop with regular force applied. Made the engineer happy as it stretched the slack out at every stop. Made me unhappy to be woke up in the middle of the night in Raleigh to put out a brake shoe fire. When we got to Miami, the car had to have a new set of shoes. Amtrak thought that the valves were bad but it passed the timing tests. Car's next move was to NOLA from Miami. Again, another set of shoes needed. Amtrak shop crew there again tested everything on the car. Again it passed all the tests. One of the crew there thought that maybe a test valve that was in the main shop in Beech Grove might be the trick. It arrived on the next train South. Changed out and a quick run up to Birmingham and back to NOLA. checked the shoes, hardly any wear. That valve became a part of the car and the original was modified to the same setup as a spare. What he did with the pressure regulator was basically the same thing. Just reduce the pressure to the cylinders and all is well.
@@gravelydon7072 Alot of Canadian cars from the 50's had the value to change from comp shoes to cast iron shoes and if you got put into a train 🚆 that was setup for one style other than yours, trouble was on the horizon. The RPCA is one organization that offers classes on Airbrakes and the understanding of how they work. Worth going to one of their conversations
Happy New Year to Brian, Mrs ETR, Graham and members of ETR Nation! Cold weather puts a damper on doing videos and working on the RR I suppose but I hope things are going along well for you. It got down to 8 degrees here even! The accounting department apologizes for not being able to work on their part in this but there is always hope that they will perform in the new year. :)
Engine-uity, uh, I mean Ingenuity works every time. Met you at Fullerton. Thanks for the video. Jon, on the U.P. Pacific Coast Line, Santa Barbara Sub, M.P. 404.5
That is so cool! Thanks for telling us that amazing story. That method sure makes a lot of sense. Once in awhile I get to spend a day on a farm next to a double track mainline. Usually I hear several wheels on cars banging as they go by, one time a car was really pounding the rail. These all seem to need wheel truing by some means. I wonder if defect detectors pick up on that kind of defect? I have a story about grinding and smoothing a brake rotor still on my van, but better not tell it lest someone think that's a good thing to try. Desperate times call for desperate measures ; )
I sit back,watch all the vids to see whats goin on,and think to myself,"I never thought about that!🤔" This was,of course,another one of the vids that I thought that!....how you true a wheel wo taking everything apart to do so🤯😂
A used ta live in Bethlehem Pennsylvania n in South Bethlehem they had a steel plant they still have A think half of the steel plant standing if am correct
When my engineer and I flat spotted a GP (he boxcar’d it wrong- motor on each end of a ballast train) they spent a week with hand and power tools truing the wheels. Would’ve been faster with these brake shoes. But now they put her in storage. Oops
Also, I worked a lot of coal handling at the power house, don't think I missed anything at steel mill! As you said Brian, "Industrial U.S" something that Donald Trump wanted to make better, "MAGA" right?, and he would have, but Joe biden ruined that with all the dem's stupid executive order's and all that crap, I'm just saying , WAKE UP UNION PEOPLE, I was one for over 40yrs.,and we will probably never see an America like that again, an "Industrial America", because of stupid legislation! Thank's for time Brian.
Hey Brian, are you taking a Florida vacation this year? I met you in Melbourne, Florida last year when you came down. Hope to see you again, keep the videos coming!!
A railroad is but a walking shadow, a poor player, That struts and frets his existence upon the earth, And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an optimist, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing. Alas, poor East Terminal Railway! I knew it, Brian: a road of infinite joy, of most excellent hope: it has borne the GE2021 locomotive on its track a few times and now, only in my imagination it is! Where be your stories now? your songs? your flashes of merriment, Nothing can come of nothing, speak again. ETR should be replaced till you have been successful. The weight of this sad time we must obey, Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say. The oldest has borne most; we that are young Shall never see so much nor live so long. If you can look into the seeds of time, and say which grain will grow and which will not, speak then to me Love sought is good, but given unsought as the ETR is better
Robert Dollar Company No. 3 is an operating steam locomotive on the Niles Canyon Railway in California. It is notable for having been the last wood-burning locomotive built for an American company.