Section 3: Side Rods, Main Rods and Valve Gear

Dropping Rods is a very Exact Science as various parts of the rods, must line up with various parts of the locomotive, as a consequence, we ended up having to move the locomotive TWICE (almost by hand) to drop one of the Main Rods. 6213 is equipped with Walshaerts Valve gear, and in order to remove the main Rod, the Eccentric Rod, Eccentric Crank, Crosshead Link and Wrist Pin must also removed before the rod can come off.

The Eccentric Rod is connected to the Eccentric Crank and the Link by nuts washers and pins and removal is straight forward. The Eccentric Crank on the other hand is a bit more involved. After loosening the bolts that clamp it to the Main Crank Pin, you need to wedge something into the slit to get the Eccentric Crank to split apart so it can be pulled off the Main Crank Pin. We used a dull cold chisel.

The Crosshead Link may prove to be very difficult to take off. Once you undo the nuts holding it onto the Crosshead, the pin that connects it to the Combination Rod can cause a lot of trouble, as depending on where in the stroke the crosshead is located, this pin may end up hitting the piston rod. As long as the Wrist Pin is in the Crosshead, the Crosshead Link can't be removed from that end. Fortunately we managed to jiggle the Combination Rod around just enough to let us get the pin out, otherwise we would have had to move the engine. Now this seemed to work out okay on the Right Side, and the engine wasn't moved to get it (or the wrist pin) out and looking at my photos, the crank pin on that side was in the 6 o'clock position and the valve gear was set to full forward.

The Wrist Pin on the Left side proved just as difficult (we have a theory that the rods on the left side may be in worse condition then the rods on the right side as the left side seems to take more weather then the right side). It was seized top to the crosshead and also wouldn't clear the driving wheel. To get the Wrist Pin out, we put the nuts for the Crosshead Link back on and used an old CPR wrench (of all things) to try protect the wrist pin as we wailed on it with a sledge hammer. It took A LOT of hits from the sledge hammer to finally get it free, but in the process some of the threads on the pin were damaged and the nuts bent (we also destroyed the CPR wrench too).

We had also tried lifting the main rod up and down by connecting a come-along to the valve gear frame in the hopes that the movement would loosen the wrist pin, as well as building a crib of wood underneath the Main Rod close to the crosshead and using a 20-ton jack to move it about.

After the wrist pin was free, we confirmed our suspicion that the head of the wrist pin would not clear the driving wheel, so we had to move the locomotive back (it had actually been moved forward earlier in the morning with a heavy tow truck, but too far forward, in fact the front coupler was right against the fence). To accomplish this, we chocked the wheels on the tender using blocks of wood, nuts, and what ever else we had. We put a lifting sling through the hole in the radial buffer (on the tender draw head casting) and on each end of the sling we put connected a come-along with a heavy clevis. The come-alongs were then secured to another sling that was put through the drawbar pin holes in the engine. With this setup we were able to slowly but surely move the engine. Some of us grabbed car movers too, but just how much they helped, we're not too sure, but I guess every little bit helps.

Once the Wrist Pin was out, the little end of the Main Rod rested on the bottom of the Crosshead. First we tried using a large pry bar to move the Crosshead Forward to free the rod, but it proved to difficult. We then tied a come-along to the fence and the crosshead, but we couldn't move it in far enough! We then had to move the locomotive FORWARD by attaching the come-alongs to the fence, and to the chains on the Engine Truck.

Part of the reason using a come-along to move the Crosshead was unsuccessful was we had some concerns about damaging the Piston Rings if the Piston was moved too far forward. However the more we think about the more we wonder if these fears were unfounded.

The Main Rod was supported with another come-along and once free of the cross-head we lowered the Little End onto a machinery mover, then the big end. As we took rods off, we cleaned them as best we could, removing a thick layer of decades old grease.

We had hoped to drop the Side Rods on the left side, but nuts were seized, pins were not aligned, and time was tight so we left them in place. We did however grease all the rods with hard grease before and after the move. While greasing the rods after the move I discovered that our hand operated gun could not be made to fit around the Alemite Grease Fitting on the Main Crank Pin, and that greasing the crank pin on the first wheel is VERY Awkward (even without the main rod).

For the move, the Crank Pins were covered in blocks of wood which where then taped together.

IMPORTANT - When removing rods, either get really good at determining EXACTLY where EVERYTHING lines up so you only have to spot the engine once, or have a switcher or some large truck readily available to adjust the locomotive as needed. It seems having the crank Pin at BOTTOM DEAD-CENTRE (as on the right side) elliminated many problems.

Also keep in mind that all of the rods and motion already required a very thorough inspection cleaning and lots of repairs before we even touched them. God knows what condition they were in when the engine was retired, and what effects 50 years of sitting outside had on them.

The Wrist Pin from the Right side of the locomotive, removed on April 29, 2009.
Photo courtesy Lionel Levitt

Laurie McCullough has hooked up the tow line to the front coupler on the locomotive and is ready to move the locomotive forward to facilitate the removal of the main rod. However the engine was moved too far forward and had to be moved back slightly later in the day.
Photo courtesy Lionel Levitt

The tow truck used to pull the engine forward.
Photo courtesy Lionel Levitt

Removing the Eccentric Rods was pretty straight forward.

In our first attempt at removing the Wrist Pin on the left side, we tried hitting it with a sledge hammer, and moving it around with the 20-ton jack.
Photo courtesy Lionel Levitt

We later tried using the come-along in our efforts to free the wrist pin.
Photo courtesy Lionel Levitt

Once the pin was free, we tried using a come-along tied to the fence to pull the crosshead forward so that the Wrist Pin would clear the Front Driving Wheel.
Photo courtesy Lionel Levitt

That didn't work, so we ended up having to move the locomotive. The lifting sling on the left has been inserted through the hole in the Radial Buffer Wedges, and another sling through the drawbar pin holes on the engine bed. Two come-alongs were enough to move the locomotive. We chocked the wheels on the tender with nuts, blocks of wood and whatever else we could find.

With a bit of help from some car movers.
Photo courtesy Lionel Levitt

Removing the Eccentric Crank. Note the chisel used to spread apart the Eccentric Crank.
Photo courtesy Lionel Levitt

With the Wrist Pin out, we needed to move the crosshead forward so that the main rod would clear it, by again tying a come-along to the fence.

Again this didn't work, so we connected come-alongs to the safety chains on the Engine Truck...

Then to the fence, to move the entire locomotive forward.

Looking through the hole in the Crosshead, now that the Main Rod will finally clear the Crosshead

Lowering the Little End using a come-along tied to the valve gear frame.

With the Little End of the ground, we pried the Big End off the Crank Pin.

And lowered it to the ground. Note all the old grease etc on the crank pin. We then spent some time cleaning the Crank Pin and the Floating Bushing in the Big End of the Main Rod.

The Floating Bushing and Crank Pin all cleaned up. I later discovered that our hand operated grease gun won't fit on the end of the crank pin.

The Crank Pins were protected during the move by strips of wood covered in duct tape.
Photo courtesy Lionel Levitt

Greasing the Rods with a Prime-Alemite hand operated grease gun and some hard grease. We use WD-40 to lubricate the sticks of grease that we force into the gun.
Photo courtesy Lionel Levitt