CNR 6167

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The engine and tender are held together by a Drawbar and a Safety Bar - a second Drawbar that it utilized in the event the Drawbar should break. The Safety Bar is longer then the Drawbar and ordinarily does not take any of the pulling force that the Drawbar handles, unless the Drawbar breaks. The top bar is the drawbar, while the bottom bar is the safety bar. These are held in by two larger pins, one located in the frame of the locomotive, the other in the drawhead casting on the tender. The pins are held in place by retaining plates that keep the Drawbar Pins from falling out, and the Retaining Plates are held in place by a series of bolts etc.

On 6167 the two Drawbars come together in one pocket on the engine, while 6213 has two pockets on the engine. Drawbar pins may be of a constant diameter, and can come out either from the top or the bottom, or may be stepped and can only come out one way. The drawbar pin in the engine end on 6213 was of a constant diameter and was able to both move up and down.

In service Drawbars, Safety Bars, Pins, etc. were to be inspected every three months.

The Draw Bar and Safety Bar on 6167.

The Retaining Plate that holds the Drawbar pin in place on 6167.

The Drawbar Pin on 6213's tender. Notice how the bottom of the pin below the step for the retaining plate is of a smaller diameter then the rest of the pin. The Retaining Plate is held in place by a long bolt, which is in turn held in place by a cotter pin

The Retaining Plate, bolt and cotter pin used to hold the Drawbar Pin on 6213's tender.

Form 587 recording when Air Brakes and Drawbar was inspected on CNR 5279

Our first choice in disconnecting the Draw Bar and Safety Bar on 6213 was to try and pull out the Drawbar in the Draw Head Casting on the tender. As far as we could tell, this pin was a constant diameter except for the end with the step cut into it for the retaining plate, which was smaller then the rest of the pin. We tried to use a 50-ton hydraulic jack to try and push the pin up, but the pin was most likely completely seized into place, to the point that we were actually lifting the tender! We tried moving the drawbars around using a pry bar and hydraulic jacks, to try and free the pin but it was seized to the holes in the drawhead casting.

After several attempts we decided to try the pin on the engine end, and once we removed that Retaining Plate and started pushing on it with a hydraulic jack it moved right away, but once we released the jack the pin got stuck. It was likely binding to the drawbar, but victory was imminent. We got the pin out by repeatedly lifting the pin with a jack and lifting the drawbar with a pry bar to clear the area where the pin was binding, and soaking it in oil, and cleaning the exposed portions of the pin each time, and eventually it slide right out. It is wise to have a something under the pin to catch it once it comes loose, and stand clear in case it falls and rolls. I should mention that these pins are massive and weigh a hell of a lot- in the course of handling the pin, a finger got crushed.

If the pin on the tender ever has to be removed, we figure heating it with a torch and letting it cool for a day or two may help overcome all the rust.

Once the tender was separated, the drawbars were supported by a strap tied around the drawhead casting.

Using a hydraulic jack to move 6213's Drawbar Pin.

The drawbar Pin after being dropped. Be careful when handling drawbar pins, they are very heavy! Notice the retaining plate and hardware sitting on the trailing truck.

After the locomotive was moved to the roundhouse, the engine and tender were reconnected. To do this, the engine and tender were spotted close together, block of wood were placed between the two pins and the pins were lifted up with a hydraulic jack. Once the pins were up the tender was pulled towards the locomotive by means of come-alongs, until the holes in the drawbars lined up with the hole on the engine.

The pin was then raised into place using a hydraulic jack, the Retaining plate put back in and bolted in place. Unfortunately, the pin was not greased, nor was the chafing plate on the radial buffer, thus the engine and tender will have to be separated once again for these parts to be greased up.

The Drawbars were jacked up to line them up with the pockets on the back of 6213.
Photo courtesy Lionel Levitt

Once in line, the engine and tender were brought together with come-alongs.
Photo courtesy Lionel Levitt

Then the Drawbar Pin was jacked back up in place and the Retaining Plate installed.
Photo courtesy Lionel Levitt

1. Material:
     Drawbars to be forged from solid billets to specifications as shown on Misc. Form HL-17.

2. Finish:
     Finished dimensions are shown on Drawing 4H-21454. Ends may be formed to finished dimensions on the oxy-cutting machine. Holes may also be cut in the cutting machine with a 1/4" allowance being left for boring holes to finished dimensions.

3. Repairs And Renewals:
     When holes in drawbars are worn so that the thickness of the metal between the edge of the hole and the end of the bar is the same as between the edge of the hole and the side of the bar, the drawbar must be replaced.
     When drawbars are removed from engines at general repairs, and are not worn to limits specified above, they must have holes restored to standard radius and contour before being reapplied to engine.
     All drawbars on engine turned out of shops after general repairs must be adjusted in length to suit the individual engine with the following limit for length:
     If it is not necessary to shorten drawbar to compensate for wear on chafing plates or radial buffers, the drawbar must not be shortened more then 1" less than standard length.

4. Drawbar Pins:
     Pins must be forged to drawing 4H-17739 from steel to specifications as shown on Misc. Form HL-17.
     When pins are worn, guttered or bent more than 1/4", they must be renewed. The welding of drawbar pins is prohibited.
     At general repairs all pins must be turned out to correct standard diameters.

5. Inspection And Reports:
     Drawbars must be inspected in accordance with Board of Transport Commissioners' General Order No. 415, which reads as follows:-

     "The draw gear between locomotive and tender, together with the pins and fastenings, shall be maintained in safe and suitable condition for service. The pins and drawbars shall be removed and carefully examined for defects not less frequently than once each three months. In the event of the locomotive being laid up one or more full periods of thirty days, the time for examination of pins and drawbars may be extended by the number of full thirty-day periods out of service. In the event of the examination coming due when a locomotive is out of service, each examination must be made just prior to the locomotive being returned to service. Suitable means for securing the drawbar pins in place shall be provided. Inverted drawbar pins shall be held in place by plate or stirrup. Report, properly certified, showing date pins and drawbar were removed for inspection, and their condition, shall be made on boiler inspection report of the month when the inspection is made."

6. Heat Treating:
     Drawbars and pins must be heat treated after forging, or before being replaced at general repairs, in accordance to Maintenance Regulation No.110.
     Welding drawbars by any process is strictly prohibited.

7. Drawbar Pin Bushing:
     When drawbar pin holes on engine and tender draw castings become worn 1/4" larger than original diameter, they must be bored out and restored to standard diameter by the application of a casehardened steel bushing. When drawbar pin holes are already bushed they must be checked at each repair and bushing renewed if necessary.

8. General Instructions:
     Unit Safety bars must be forged from solid billets to specifications as shown on Misc. Form HL-17. Finished dimensions are as shown on Drawing 3H-21475.
     Unit safety bars must be heat treated after forging, and are subject to the same inspection as drawbars.

9. Length Of Safety Bars
     When engines are turned out of shops, the distance between the outer edges of the hole must be 1-1.2" longer than the corresponding distance on the drawbar.
     As the drawbar and pins wear, this difference is reduced, and at each examination of drawbars, the length of the safety bars must be checked to ensure that it is still sufficiently onger then the drawbar to permit it to go until the next examination, otherwise the drawbar must be shortened.
     It is of the utmost importance that the drawbar should take the pull at all times, otherwise a portion of the safety feature in the safety bar is lost.

10. Material:
     Safety chains, if purchased must be to Specification M-6, Class "B". If made in our own shops they must be forged from steel to specifications as shown in Misc. Form HL-17.
     All chain fastenings must be forged from steel to specifications as shown in Misc. Form HL-17.
     Safety chains and fastenings to be heat treated after forging per Maintenance Regulation No. 110.

11. Size Of Chains:
     The length of safety chains must be the actual length required for the engine to take the maximum curve, plus 2". Maximum curve for road engines is 18 degrees, for switch engines 20 degrees.
     Safety chains, clevises, eye bolts, U bolts and pins must be made up to Drawing 4H-21492.
     When drawbars are removed for inspection, safety chains must be coupled up and tender moved back to the limit of safety chain length; the cab apron plate should then extend over the tender footplate from three to four inches.

12. Renewals
     When locomotives are equipped with chains and fastenings not in accordance with Drawing 4H-21492, these must be changed as engines go through shops.

13. Inspections:
     Safety chains will be subject to the same inspection as drawbars.