BUFFALO CREEK #43
ALCO HH660
Updates 2013
February 2013
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Its winter in Western New York so when the weather turned nasty we moved into the cab to continue removing all the old flaking grey paint from the control and brake stand. We removed the Service and Independent brake valve from the stand and Bob M. went at it with the wire wheel. | ) |
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Years ago, 1/8" masonite was applied over the original wood wainscoting on the ceiling. We removed the masonite and found the wood was in excellent shape and will be sanded, painted Industrial Grey and left exposed. Sometime in the past the locomotive was sandblasted without the cab glass and the blast lines on the ceiling are evident in the paint. | ) |
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| On every locomotive you will find an "Emergency Fuel Cut Off" handle somewhere at frame level. Someone removed #43's and so we found a new handle and added new cable to the Fuel Pump cut off valve. The simple pulley system works great! |
| Just found video of #43 working at EMPAK Chemical in Fitzgerald, GA. in 1998 as RELCO #606. Hopefully it won't be too long before we can make our own action video's of this old girl in action. Thank you to "fmnut" for capturing this historic video |
April 2013
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April weather brought a mixture of warm and dry days and also a fair share of cold and wet ones to WNY. On one of the 70'+ days, we were able to finish the white pinstripes on the Fireman's side of the locomotive. We also continued to remove the flaking paint on the inside of the cab. Most of it was on the electrical cabinet doors. | ) |
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Bob M. finished priming the Service and Independent Brake valve as well as all the piping to the control stand. We determined that the exposure to corrosive substances at #43's last work environment greatly contributed to the large amount of loose paint in the cab. On a beautiful day in late April, Bob M. and Rick B. apply the "Emergency Fuel Cut Off" lettering below the handle. |
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May 2013
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With more warm spring days we were able to apply more than half of the pinstripes on the engineers side frame. The dust and grime from the winter needed to be removed so 150 feet of hose and a power washer made the engine look much better. | ) |
| Since we had the long hose out we refilled the cooling system with 285 gallons of fresh water and 5 pounds of water treatment. Bob M. made a great long handled brush which cleaned out the water glass in the cab. All of the replacement wood on the cab ceiling has been installed. We are getting close to priming the interior so the final interior paint can be applied. |
June 2013
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The Buffalo Southern Railroad has had a great increase their car loads per month this year. With storage space for empty's being tight, they moved some of their stored equipment down the line from the engine house to the siding where #43 rests to free up some more room. This resulted in an all ALCO line up of vintage power from #43 - 1940, #107 - 1942, #84 - 1948, #105 - 1949 and #423 - 1966. At the head of the |
| herd was a Jordan Spreader built in 1946. Scot Lawrence has these engines all well documented on his WebSite, "ALCO Locomotives of New York State" Please understand that this is a full time railroad and TRESPASSING is not allowed! Take all the photo's you want from Scott Street but please stay off the tracks. The Society has Waivers of Liability and takes all steps necessary to meet FRA Safety Standards. |
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Work on both the outside and inside of the cab continues with the weather getting nice. Bob M. has finished all the pin strips on the frame and battery box cover on the engineers side of the locomotive. In the cab, all the weathered plywood around the windows and both window sills have been replaced. | ) |
| All the wainscott on the ceiling has been scraped and sanded to remove the flaking ancient varnish and ALCO Green paint. We can now prime everything before the finish coats of paint go on. |
July 2013
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Finally on a great early July day we got the pin striping done on the engineers side of the locomotive. Early in the day a couple of classic Model "A's" stopped by to check out our work. Below is our ALCO Builders photo taken when #43 rolled out of the company building on March 15th, 1940. Compare it to the photo taken July 11th, 2013. Unfortunately there are many trees right next to the engine which prevent backing up to get the same perspective but you get the idea. |
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September 2013
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As we continued to prepare the cab interior for paint, some time was spent adding details long forgotten. Sometime after the locomotive left the ALCO Schenectady plant, the Buffalo Creek Railroad added four 5 3/8" porthole lenses, two on each side. Since there is no room to squeeze between the hood and the prime mover, we can only assume that they were to allow the crew to see if someone left the engine compartment lights on and to add a little "pizzazz." |
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Rick B. donated four brand new Lexan lenses so all we had to do was restore the four retaining rings that held them to the engine compartment doors. 3M Strip Caulk made a waterproof gasket and we were able to save all 16 flat head threaded rivets. | ) |
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The engineer's reupholstered arm rest was installed on its original hinge. The entire cab interior has been needle scaled or sanded down to clean paint or bare metal which is being primed. We also have cleaned up the spring loaded engineer's seat pedestal and fireman's seat. | ) |
November 2013
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Needle scaling, grinding and sanding has been completed on the electrical compartment doors and front wall. There are five layers of different colored paint to feather out for a smooth edge! We are working on every pipe and all three other cab walls in preperation for primer. With the weather getting much colder, this has become a very tedious process but we love it! |
| Finally all four cab walls, piping and appliances have been stripped of loose and damaged paint. "KemBond" primer has been applied to almost all surfaces especially the bare metal spots. A brush and roller are used in tandem on the wood ceiling wainscoting to fill in all the grooves. Empty holes in the backhead that we have no idea what they were for, will be filled with rivets. | ) |
| The WNYRHS greatly appreiciates all the generous donations to this project to date. However, we could still use your help! All Donations to the WNYRHS, Inc. are Tax-Deductable! If you would like to mail in a donation, send it to WNYRHS Inc., PO Box 416, Buffalo, New York 14231-0416 or |
| Click the PayPal Button to make a Secure Electronic Donation. THANK YOU! |
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