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CAR DEPARTMENT WORK ORDERS - 2012
by Rick Henn
| As always happens in the Car Department we spend much of the winter doing very little and then have to rush to get things ready for the excursion season. This year it was brake valves. Way back in December Geroge Specht and I removed the valves and then transported them to Pittsburgh Air Brake for rebuilding, testing and certification. A couple of months later Jim Szymanski drove down to pick up the valves but we had to wait for nicer weather before we would install them. It’s hard enough getting under the coaches and lifting the valves into place without kneeling in water or dealing with rain. Eventually we had to pick a time and the weather cooperated somewhat. We were able to get a large crew out and got all of the valves installed in one day. That’s no small task with five valves going under each of the five coaches. Some of the valves are quite heavy and awkward to maneuver into place, especially when kneeling or sitting under the car. I am very grateful to those hearty soles that came out that day. They were Bill Glodzik, Anthony Fusarelli and his friend Steve, and Al Olmstead.
The following weekend it was time to inspect and grease the brake cylinders. Once again, that’s no easy job to do in the field. The piston has to be pulled from the cylinder and then the cylinder and packing cup inspected for damage. The old grease is cleaned out and new grease applied. Getting the piston back into the cylinder can be quite a challenge due to it’s weight and the awkwardness of having to get it just right so the packing cup slides into the cylinder without folding or being damaged. Add George Specht and Dave Fleenor to the crew names. The last step is the most important and that is the actual testing of the brake systems. That’s a job that takes several hours if all goes well. First, however, a certified test device is required in order to meet FRA regulations. Thanks again to Jim Szymanski for taking another trip to Pittsburgh Air Brake to deliver some used brake valve cores and pick up the test device. The device is basically the equivalent to the control stand in a locomotive and allows the Certified Air Brake Technician, in our case Dave Fleenor, to test the operation of the brakes as if a locomotive were attached to the train. Each car has to be done independently of the others so it take some time. It also requires an air compressor to charge the system so many thanks to George Specht and Smith Boys Marine for supplying the compressor. First the device is calibrated at the site. Then air is applied to the car to blow out any moisture or dirt that might have accumulated in the brake system. Once that is complete the system is closed and the charging begins. The system is charged to 90 pounds per square inch of pressure, which is the same it will be expected to operate at with the locomotive on the train. Once the system is fully charged and has passed the leakage test (The amount of air that can be leaking from the system is limited by regulation.) the actual brake test can begin. Dave applies the brakes just as the engineer will do by making a reduction in the brake line pressure, normally a 10 pound reduction. The brakes have to apply within a certain time. The system is charged back to 90 and the brakes must release within a certain time. Next the emergency application is tested. Dave notes the pressure in the cylinder, verifies that everything has worked properly, completes the necessary paperwork and the car is stenciled with the date of the air test so anyone can readily see that the car’s brake system is in operating condition. It is a lot of work and all work that will be done again in two years but it is absolutely necessary for the safety of our passengers and the crew. All in all, this is a big job that requires many hands to complete. However, when you see the cars running, especially with happy kids for Thomas or the Polar Express it is very worthwhile. Once again, many thanks to the current Car Department crew. These are the jobs that very few people see or know much about but without these people the cars would not run. Additionally, a special thank you to Ron Dukarm and his crew from the Heritage Discovery Center for taking the test device to UPS for shipment back to Pittsburgh Air Brake. |
| After sitting idle for more than a year the society’s ex-Pennsylvania Railroad parlor car, the Francis McGrath is running again. The Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad was looking for a car to add to a train for some shipper specials to be run from Olean to Emporium over the famous Keating Summit line, which was once part of the Pennsylvania Railroad’s Buffalo-Harrisburg line. The car ran on June 28. However, getting the car ready to go involved many hours of work by a Car Department crew that was already stretched thin. However, as they always do, they came through and the work got done but not without a lot of angst and a coupe of long evenings in the yard. The first thing we discovered was that vandals had tried to break in the end door on the vestibule end of the car. They did this a couple of years ago, which resulted in stainless steel fabricating work being done to repair it. Like then, the door did not give and they never got into the car. However, they did break two of the large double pained windows. Replacing the glazing is a lot of work and a lot of hours. Fortunately, we had glazing material in stock so no time was lost ordering it. The end door needed a lot of work to make it useable and it is still not right. At a later date it will probably have to be removed and repaired in a shop once more. The other work needed was to get the generator and air conditioning up and running. The first order of business was to replace the battery in the generator. Once that was done it started but needed some fine tuning after sitting for so long. The air conditioning needed to be charged but then the car cooled quickly. A lot of this work was done in the late evening and after dark with flashlights. That’s not easy but it was the only way to get things completed in a timely manner so the car could be shipped. There were a couple of nights that people were in the yard until after 11:00 P.M. Let me tell you, that place gets dark once the sun goes down because there are no yard lights in the area where the car is stored. The final step was to clean the interior of the car and then remove all of our tools and bits and pieces. The car left the South Buffalo yard on Wednesday June 20 and by Saturday June 23 was safely stored in the Western New York and Pennsylvania’s engine house in Olean.
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