Mechanical Department News
By Larry Rose Work continues on our Southern Pacific GP-9 as the foot troops run down each item on the "hit list" to get the locomotive fully certified to Federal Railroad Administration specifications. Even the crew toilet in the nose of the unit must be fully functional as every system is repaired and tested. The engine fires up easily and actually sounds really good. All of the electrical systems are on line with the exception of the motor for the gyrating Mars light that is being rebuilt. Ron Hyatt is chasing that item and Dave DiGiorgio is rebuilding the mechanical speed recorder.
Master machinist Bill Palmer built a new pilot plate for the long end, cutting it out of 1/2 inch steel plate with the help of Scott Thompson's new Plasma Cutter. This tool cuts through steel like butter and leaves a very clean line. The old plate was bent and messed up from an old accident received sometime in the units SP working life. The crew decided we had lived with the disfigurement long enough. Bill bolted the new pilot plate on and reattached all the hose fittings and cut levers. Then he painted everything gloss black.
The cover photo on this issue shows what Sandy Schussler and Brenda Bailey have been up to in the cab of the Geep. They have scraped and sanded every surface in preparation for painting the walls and ceiling. The control stand has been the most difficult item to work on because of all the switches and gauges in the way. These will be carefully masked off when it's time to paint. The original "SP "Cab Green" paint was found under the peeling tan paint that the engine received somewhere in SP land years ago. Larry Rose has secured and donated custom matched enamel and primer for the job ahead.
A persistent air leak on the GP-9 was hunted down by Bill Palmer and repaired. It was feared that an entire new section of piping would have to be replaced but the leak turned out to be just a loose fitting that had been in service that way since who knows when. As it turned out it took longer to find the leak than to fix it.
On another front our ex-Erie Lackawanna commuter coaches have been receiving maintenance attention in several areas. Ron Hyatt is organizing the work. These cars have been in constant service on our SD&A Railway since 1986 after many decades in hard daily commuter service before we got them for scrap prices in 1984. We have six of these cars and rotate them in and out of service as required, the normal train length during the summer being two cars. Dick McIntyre, Tom Walker and Fred Carnathan have been working on a worn out hand brake on coach 250. These guys have also removed some seats in preparation for the installation of the "Microphore" toilet purchased with an electronic "passing of the hat" via the museum's internet chat line. and retrieved from the Baltimore area by Dave DiGiorgio. Painting and lettering is the next thing to be done to this 84 seat coach before it is returned to service.
Coach 350 has been treated with a rust inhibiting coating by Jim Lundquist, Tom Meatzie and Jack O'Lexey. The car will be painted soon in traditional Pullman Green. This will be the first SD&A car painted at the museum in ten years. Jim Lundquist and Larry Rose will do the painting and have set up scaffolding on track ten that will become our regular painting area for the near future.
Ron Hyatt is shown here repairing some rust damage on our ex Erie Lackawanna commuter coach No. 250 as it sits on track 12 in the car shop. To the right is our locomotive inspection pit. Larry Rose, photo
In other news, the little 1946 M-19 motor car restored 16 years ago by Joel Cox, Larry Rose, Harry Hurryand Ken Helm, in Larry's garage, was fired up for the first time by Tom Meatzie, Dave Houk and Dave DiGiorgio. This ex-ATSF antique was taken on it's first joy ride up the track as part of the festivities of the monthly BBQ for the volunteers held near the car shop. Everyone was treated to a ride as "all work and no play" is not part of the Campo museum experience. The spotless little putt-putt had been stored for years in the library store room at the Santa Fe depot in San Diego. It came to light during the forced move of the library reported in the last newsletter and was hauled up to Campo by Larry Hieshetter on his special trailer.
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