BUFFALO CREEK #43
ALCO HH660
Updates 2014
January 2014
 "(c)2013 smph50 - One half of the Fireman's side of the ceiling is now ALCO Green. (10K) - CLICK to Enlarge (125K)") |
We took December off with all the Holidays and stormy weather. However, Our first two work sessions in January were not bad and our propane heater kept the interior of the cab at 62.' This allowed us to get the entire ceiling covered with two coats of ALCO Green. |  "(c)2013 smph50 - The ceiling is finished in ALCO Green. (10K) - CLICK to Enlarge (125K)") |
February 2014
 "(c)2013 smph50 - Electrical Cabinet doors in September 2013 before primer. (10K) - CLICK to Enlarge (125K)") |
The winter here in Western New York has been brutal as well as in most of the country. However, we pushed on with the cab interior with temps in the teens. As long as our propane heater got the moisture off the walls, we could paint. The electrical cabinet front wall and most of the control stand are finished! These before and after photo's speak for themselves. |  "(c)2014 smph50 - Industrial Grey Enamel now covers three of the cab walls. (10K) - CLICK to Enlarge (125K)") |
April 2014
 "(c)2004 smph50 - Control stand as it was in 2004. (10K) - CLICK to Enlarge (125K)") |
Much work was done during March and April completing details in the cab. Our big success was the reassembly of the control stand. On the left is the stand as it looked when we first started in 2004. To the right is late April 2014. |  "(c)2014 smph50 - Control Stand April 2014. (10K) - CLICK to Enlarge (125K)") |
| Bob M. painted most of the control handles that operate the valves to the horn, wipers, bell and brake equalizers. He also purchased a new Lexan Lens for the restored "Dome Light." The restoration of the engines' control stand took place over the course of 4 years with different pieces given special attention. The gauges were all removed, cleaned and tested. The brass bezels were stripped of paint and then polished with new glass installed if needed. All the internal parts and dial faces were carefully cleaned and the the pointers repainted. Our friends on the Buffalo Southern were able to help with replacement parts where needed. The gauges were recalibrated using modern gauges to reset the pointers to the correct reading. Stainless steel hardware repaced the old stove bolts used to secure the gauges to the stand. The "Dashboard" was stripped and powder coated and new lettering applied which was a great improvement from the hand painted words from before. The large "dome" in the center of the panel is the light bulb cover used to illuminate the guages for night time operations. All the brass control switches lables were painted over so they were stripped of paint and then the lettering on the tags was filled with white paint and then surface sanded to bring out the letters. The brass of the throttle, controller handle and the two brake handles were brought back to life with a lot of elbow grease! Brass round head screws replaced the old steel stove bolts that secure all of the panels to the stand. We are very pleased with the end results as you can see below. The last major task is to repaint the floor in a dark grey when we have a good drying day to complete the task. |
 "(c)2004 smph50 - Wiper and horn air control valves. (10K) - CLICK to Enlarge (125K)") |
 "(c)2004 smph50 - Dome light and renovated locomotive service card holders. (10K) - CLICK to Enlarge (125K)") |
 "(c)2004 smph50 - Control stand as it was in 2004. (10K) - CLICK to Enlarge (125K)") |
 "(c)2014 smph50 - Control Stand April 2014. (10K) - CLICK to Enlarge (125K)") |
 "(c)2014 smph50 - Back of control stand April 2014. (10K) - CLICK to Enlarge (125K)") |
May 2014
 "(c)2014 smph50 - New engineer's seat pedestal bolt base . (10K) - CLICK to Enlarge (150K)") |
With the control stand, ceiling and walls complete, we directed out efforts to refinishing the floor. Before that could be completed, a new bolt base needed to be fabricated to secure the engineer's seat. |  "(c)2014 smph50 - Engineer's seat pedestal back in place. (10K) - CLICK to Enlarge (125K)") |
| ALCO used the top of the fuel tank also as the base of the cab. 74 years of water and chemicals had taken its toll on the 3/8" steel and two studs had broken loose. After removing all the decay and priming, a liberal coating of grease was applied all over the floor as rust preventer. The new base was bolted to clean steel at the rear of the cab to prevent future stress on the fuel tank. With the engineer's seat now secure, we can now scrape the floor, prime and paint it in a dark grey. I continually thank my crew of Rick B., Jim L., Bob M. and John W. for their help moving this project along. |
June 2014
 "(c)2014 smph50 - Ajax Brake Wheel Stand. (10K) - CLICK to Enlarge (10K) - (150K)") |
It was decided by the crew that before we paint the floor, it would be a good idea to touch up all the interior window frames, sills and the Ajax Brake Wheel stand. We also straightened out and rethreaded four 5/8" traction motor cable mounting studs. |  "(c)2014 smph50 - Cable mounting studs and holders. (10K) - CLICK to Enlarge (10K) - (150K)") |
August 2014
| In August the entire town of Hamburg gets ready for "The Erie County Fair." 2014 marks the 175th year of the forth largest county fair in the United States! This was also maybe the end of the "James E. Strates" midway "Fair Train." With tougher FRA standards, coaches for the "carnies" were left in Florida. Strates also lost its long standing contract with the New York State Fair so it is not cost effective to bring the train to New York for one fair and then go to Virginia. |
 "(c)2014 smph50 - The crowd starts to grow as PRR#4483 and BC#43 wait in the background. CLICK to Enlarge (10K) - (150K)") |
 "(c)2014 smph50 - A large banner proclaims Strates 90 Years at the Erie County Fair. CLICK to Enlarge (10K) - (150K)") |
 "(c)2014 smph50 - Antique cars are ready for the parade into town. The old ERIE Freight House is home to Artcraft Toy Trains Hobby Store. CLICK to Enlarge (10K) - (150K)") |
 "(c)2014 smph50 - It was estimated that over 500 people came out to see the Fair Train arrive for maybe the last time. CLICK to Enlarge (10K) - (150K)") |
| The fairgrounds also gave out commemorative buttons and tokens that stated "I Saw the Fair Train!" The Hamburg High School Marching Band supplied music. This years crowd was much larger than in years past, but everyone behaved and stayed a safe distance from the tracks as the "Fair Train" blasted by at 5mph! |
September 2014
By Scott MP Hawbaker
 "(c)2014 smph50 - Hamburg work site 2014. (10K) - CLICK to Enlarge (150K)") |
Many of you may not know that the Society has had a worksite in Hamburg about a half mile down the tracks from our Pennsy #4483 Steam Engine and Buffalo Creek #43 Diesel locomotives. Over 30 years ago every Saturday a group of "young men" would gather to work on our small collection of rolling stock. |
| As time marched on, our group of enthusiasts got married, had families and got "older." Some of our first restored acquisitions still reside on the Buffalo Southern siding behind "Joe's Auto Repair" today and also some projects that never got quite finished. |
 "(c)2014 smph50 - Piles of scrap steel and an old Pepsi Machine. (10K) - CLICK to Enlarge (150K)") |
One was the scraping of a 1949 Budd build passenger car. A professional scrapper was hired to cut up what was left of a burned up coach donated by Amtrak. Unfortunately, he never finished the job started over 20 years ago. Very large pieces of cast steel frame, small and large pieces of pipe, electric generators, stainless steel framing and siding were left scattered in heaps at the old worksite. |
 "(c)2014 smph50 - Stainless steel floor panels hidden in the weeds. (10K) - CLICK to Enlarge (150K)") |
With the move of our cars from the Hamburg Fairgrounds this past September requiring the hiring of Winters Rigging to move the cars, it was decided by the Society Board of Trustees' this would be a good time to get some cash for all that "money" laying on the ground to help our expenses. |  "(c)2014 smph50 - Large pieces of Stainless steel center sill need to be cut down in size. (10K) - CLICK to Enlarge (150K)") |
 "(c)2014 smph50 - Jim Long mows the area where recycling dumpsters will go. (10K) - CLICK to Enlarge (150K)") |
8/25/14 - Jim Long and myself decided to break from work on #43 to pursue the clean up leaving Bob Martin and Rick Burns to continue upgrades on the locomotive. As Jim and I walked the brush and grass covered area we knew we had a big job ahead of us. After an entire day of cutting small trees, brush and weeds, we uncovered most of the "hidden treasures." |  "(c)2014 smph50 - After a full day of mowing, pruning and weedwacking we had a good size area to work in. (10K) - CLICK to Enlarge (150K)") |
| Arrangements were made with "Twin Village Recycling" in Depew to drop a 20 yard dumpster for the stainless steel. You get a much higher price for steel that has no carbon steel attached to it and has been "processed" to lengths no longer than 40" so we had to cut up many large pieces before they could be put into the dumpster. After attacking the stainless with a sawsall, sabre saw and an angle grider with a cut off wheel, we new we had to "up our game plan." |
| Carbon steel can be cut with an Oxygen/Acetylene torch so I used my equipment to cut down long pieces of steel pipe and removed many pieces of carbon steel from the stainless. Stainless steel cannot be cut with Oxygen/Acetylene because there is no iron in it to preheat and sustain the burning action, it only melts into globs. A "Plasma Cutter" would be needed to process all that steel. |  "(c)2014 smph50 - Miller Bobcat 225” amp arc Welder/Generator and a “HyperTherm 85 Plasma Cutter with a 5hp EmGlo compressor. (10K) - CLICK to Enlarge (150K)") |
| 9/17/14 - We rented a large "Miller Bobcat 225" amp arc welder/generator and a "HyperTherm 85 Plasma Cutter" from Haun Welding in Williamsville. Plasma cutting is a process that is used to cut steel and other non-ferrous metals using an inert gas or compressed air to blow at high speed out of a nozzle and at the same time an electrical arc is formed through that gas from the nozzle to the surface being cut, turning that gas into "plasma." The plasma gas at up 25,000'C vaporizes the metal being cut and the compressed air moves fast enough to blow molten metal away from the cut. |
 "(c)2014 smph50 - Using a one ton chain fall to “roll” the pieces to get to each of the four sides. (10K) - CLICK to Enlarge (150K)") |
On the thin stainless steel sheets, I was able to zip through it at up to 40" a minute, much much faster than a regular torch. However, on the 5/8" thick stainless, I had to slow down to 5" a minute to get a complete cut. Three of the stainless steel "center sill" frames were over 11 feet long so we used a one ton chain fall to "roll" the pieces to get to each of the four sides. |
 "(c)2014 smph50 - Dragging a large piece of flooring out of the weeds. (10K) - CLICK to Enlarge (150K)") |
We also used the chain fall to drag and move the larger pieces of flooring out of the weeds. After some 24 hours over five days, we had all the large pieces cut down to manageable size. |  "(c)2014 smph50 - After some 24 hours over five days, we had all the large pieces cut down to manageable size. (10K) - CLICK to Enlarge (150K)") |
 "(c)2014 smph50 - Stainless steel stacked where the dumpster will be spotted. (10K) - CLICK to Enlarge (150K)") |
Using a two hand truck, we wheeled 4360 pounds of "processed" stainless steel into the dumpster. |  "(c)2014 smph50 - 4360 pounds of processed stainless steel is loaded in the dumpster. (10K) - CLICK to Enlarge (150K)") |
| 9/23/14 - "Twin Village Recycling" was called to retrieve the 20 yard dumpster filled with stainless steel and bring us an empty for all of the carbon steel. Some of the carbon steel pieces were much too large to cut up and load by hand so we needed some extra muscle to make it happen. |
 "(c)2014 smph50 - One of many bucket loads of steel. (10K) - CLICK to Enlarge (150K)") |
9/30/14 - "Lakeshore Hardware and Tool Rental" in Hamburg gave us a very fair rate on the rental of a 30hp "John Deere 3120" diesel tractor with a 1500 pound lift capacity. It took another full day with some additional cutting to load over 8900 lbs of scrap into the dumpster. The JD tractor really did a great job! |  "(c)2014 smph50 - The John Deere 3120 was perfect for loading the 30 yard dumpster. (10K) - CLICK to Enlarge (150K)") |
 "(c)2014 smph50 - We dragged four generators out of the weeds. (10K) - CLICK to Enlarge (150K)") |
In addition to the scrap from the coach, a steel company donated 19 locomotive auxiliary generators for parts years ago which were also scattered around the worksite. Each generator weighed over 600 pounds (which we didn't know at the time) so we used Jim's "cherry picker" engine hoist to lift the generators into the back of my 91 Chevy 1/2 ton truck. |  "(c)2014 smph50 - One by one we loaded the generators in the C1500 W/T. (10K) - CLICK to Enlarge (150K)") |
| Jim and I greatly underestimated the weight of each generator and on my first trip to the scrap recycler with four generators, I found my 1/2 ton truck had 2440 pounds of metal on it! I guess I got lucky because nothing broke, Ha! |  "(c)2014 smph50 - Metalico recycing uses a 3 ton magnet to suck two generators out at a time! (10K) - CLICK to Enlarge (150K)") |
 "(c)2014 smph50 - Almost 200 tires had to be moved to reach the rest of the generators. (10K) - CLICK to Enlarge (150K)") |
Four of the generators were near an open area so it was fairly easy to get them loaded. All the others were all behind a great wall of tires which took almost two hours to move to reach them. We dragged three out with my truck which was a pain in the butt so we saved the rest to move when we had the tractor. Eleven generators now rest in an open area where they can be loaded with relative ease. |  "(c)2014 smph50 - Getting ready to load three more generators. (10K) - CLICK to Enlarge (150K)") |
| On October 1st, Twin Village Recycling picked up the second container and a few days later called us with our final numbers. We had 4300lbs of stainless steel and 4 1/2 tons of carbon steel. Two weeks later we took the last 2 generators to Metalico for a total of 19 with a total weight of 8 1/2 tons! After both rentals were paid, the Society was able to bank enough money to more than cover the cost of one car move to the museum. |  "(c)2014 smph50 - We now have a clear path to move all of the remaining parts to the Heritage Discovery Center for display. (10K) - CLICK to Enlarge (150K)") |
 "(c)2014 smph50 - Bob M. gave the cab floor one more coat of paint. (10K) - CLICK to Enlarge (150K)") |
A half a mile up the track Bob Martin and Rick Burns continued detail work on #43. Bob applied one final coat of paint to the cab floor and then completely striped and refinished the fireman's seat/tool box and had the seat cushion and back rests reupholstered. When he went to pick up the three finished pieces, John Salerno of "Salerno's Upholstery" in Orchard Park, decided to donate his $220 worth of work to the Society and the locomotive. Thank You John! |  "(c)2014 smph50 - Reupholstered firemans seat donated by John Salerno of Salerno's Upholstery in Orchard Park. (10K) - CLICK to Enlarge (150K)") |
| Rick and Bob also started working on the main generator's commutator and brush assemblies in addition to freeing up the sticky window slides in the cab. As fall creeps into winter, we hope that the locomotive will be ready for a test firing next summer. A huge Thank You goes to my dedicated crew, Bob, Jim and Rick which have helped keep our equipment at the "Hamburg Work Site" open to the public to inspect and give praise to the Society! |
| 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 |
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