Restoration Notes: A Day in the Life of a Railway Museum.

Saturday, January 23, 1999

Oil pressure on the engine, an update from Greg Ramsey and Gordon Bachlund

I was taking the family to San Diego tonight and I was scheduled to leave soon after lunch so I didn't expect to really get anything done. I did need to tie up a few loose ends though.

The first thing you see on arriving at the Park is that the new vehicle gates are open and they are using the new bridge. The miniature train is now running around the Park clockwise and they are using the new station and platform on the South side of the Arcadia Depot.

First item I observed in our area was Bryan Reese preparing to case harden the new tappet swivel he had machined to replace the one that was missing. It was a simple process using a torch, some case hardening powder and some water. It was over in less than 10 minutes. Bryan thinks this will be the last time he will ever have to use the case hardening powder, but it will sit on the shelf, just in case.

Danny Price and Jeff Barrow were out setting up to work on the crossover and they were soon joined by Andy Anderson and later by Nancy Gneier, Steve DeVorkin, Jim Fontenot and Gordon Bachlund.

Brad Sloser was back under the hood of the dump truck. The engine is running now (see Gordon's update later on this page), but Brad still needs to reconnect or remake the exhaust system.

The engineer working on the detailed engineering of the CS&CV RR beyond the tail track needed to confirm the dimensions that LALS uses for their tunnels and the vertical clearance under the bridge near their East End. I put on my LALS member badge and Greg Gneier and I took a walk through the compound with notepad and tape measure.

Charley was started, and I soon noticed Brian Moore gearing up for hostler training with Nancy Gneier. Darlene Sexton spent some time doing brakeman training later in the afternoon. Brian and Gordon swapped radios in Charley and the Baldwin because Charley's wasn't transmitting properly. The swap confirmed that the dc-dc converter in Charley was on its last legs.

Jeff Pippenger was also out and spent some time working on the broken bolt on the Track Liner's blower.

The big excitement for me was back over at the M.177's Winton engine. Bryan Reese had completed installing the last of the rocker arms, but wanted to get lube oil into the bearings before he started barring the engine over. Bryan plumbed a Tee into the ¼" tubing supplying the oil pressure gage. I was skeptical that was the best point given the size, but after flushing out my pump and hooking up the hoses, it quickly brought the pressure up to 45 psi. We quickly discovered our first mistake, but it proved that oil was flowing. We had forgotten to install a 1/8" pipe plug into the end of the crankshaft and we had a good pint or more of oil on the deck before we realized it. That was easily repaired, and before long we had oil all the way up to the rocker arms. Once the valves are adjusted, the next thing will be to spin the engine on air. That should be an exciting day!

.....the day, continued by Gordon Bachlund.

Brian Moore and I worked with Nancy Gneier in Charley. In the late afternoon Chris Rippy arrived and hogged as Darlene trained while Danny and Jeff, both of who passed their Rules tests a month ago, observed and trained vicariously.

We started the dump truck which Brad Slosar had been working on with Joe, Greg Gneier and others, and found water in the lube oil, so next week we'll replace the "new" but faulty head gaskets. On the plus side, the engine has its new cam shafts installed and runs well. I've ordered some paint to cover the as yet unpainted tailgate and to paint the military 6x6 that came to us as a fire truck and now lives as a flatbed truck thanks to a body swap by Jim Fontenot.

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Copyright (c)1999. The Southern California Scenic Railway Association Inc.