The EBT has announced that all trains will be pulled by diesels until at least August. https://eastbroadtop.com/ride/

From the press release on the official facebook -

"This winter, crews planned to use the off-season to conduct inspections and complete a list of preventative maintenance projects. During these inspections, the EBT’s Mechanical Department discovered a cracked driver center, extending the timeline for returning the engine to service further into the 2024 season. All regularly scheduled excursions will continue to operate pulled by the M-7, a 55-ton diesel locomotive built by General Electric in 1964."

See.. THIS is how you keep rumors and bad will from spreading. You just tell people what's up and they can schedule their future trips as they choose. Great job EBT!

https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews ... gh-summer/

An interesting question: what is the fastest possible completion time for any new driving wheel center in present day, assuming money is not a (big) issue in this generic example?

It kind of depends on whether you can yank out the original and use it as a partial pattern to cost/fabricate a new one. I'm not sure whether Strasburg has that capacity, but maybe Standard Steel in Burnham, Pa. (north of Lewistown, not that far from Orbisonia), which still casts/manufactures railroad wheels for the industry, would have a way to make it happen, with the help of AutoCAD or whatever--though it's still something of an old-style steel plant.........

I read in Trains that EBT har already ordered eight wheel centers for two other locomotives. That is, half of the locomotive wheel centers need replacing?

Seems high to me. Is it due to very rough service life or bad manufacturing quality?

As I understand it, the driver centers on all the EBT mikados were made of cast iron. 14 and 15 have had cracks repaired several times in the past. This is the first I know of that any of the larger locomotives (16-18) had the same problem.

On the #14 & #15, all of the driving wheel centers needed to be replaced. Baldwin must of used a particularly potent recipe of their proprietary cast slag when making them, in that they weren't cracked so much as shattered. Seriously, we made a point of never removing a tire from any of them for fear of the wheel centers falling apart without the tires to hold them together. Every attempt to weld or braze repair ended in new cracking after a few days of operation.

Add the worn out axles and weld built up tires, and both locomotives were slated to have completely new sets of driving wheels built (with cast steel centers), which were ordered (with a possible hold on the second set) when I retired.

I never dealt with the drivers on #17, which was the only big engine in service in the '80's, so I have no idea if her wheel centers are interchangeable with the smaller engines. It's a safe bet that if #16's wheel centers have cracks, then the #17's and #18's do too.

In comparison, SRC #475 has cast iron wheel centers on all but the main axle, and other than one wheel center that came to Strasburg with repaired cracks, we never had a problem with them cracking.

AFAIK, the wheel centers for 14 &15 are done and sitting in the Stausburg shops--at least I'm fairly certain those were the wheel centers I saw last July in their shop (they aren't allowed to tell us what the projects are, but some of us could figure it out--like the drivers for McCloud 19 for the AOS project that were there). So the question is: repair/replace the one center, or do them all as a proactive measure?

Thanks to Kelly for his informative posting. Sure is nice to know the facts.

I'll bet that the first rate team at the EBT will have the locomotive repaired and back in service well ahead of the announced Sep't. expected date.

Always smart to under promise and over deliver.

I'll wager $ 500 ( even money) that she's back in service by July 11th. latest. Anyone wanting the other side please PM me.

Ross Rowland

Well.... It depends on how you define the scope.

Making a pattern, having it poured, machined, etc... Longest process.
Using a pattern that exists, or adding to an existing order if suitable, as indicated in this thread, less time...
Machining out of solid steel? Depends on programming time and machine/manpower availability.

Kelly A. - Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't a certain 2 foot gauge railroad have solidly machined drivers made by your previous employer sometime in the last seven years?

Turnaround by going this route is probably the fastest route... Assuming you, as the customer, are not going to allow the machine marks to bother you.

Yes. I described it in this thread http://www.rypn.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=39463&p=248620&hilit=Silver+dollar#p248620.

Hogging a wheel center out of solid isn't economical, unless the deadline demands it.

Something I am curious about is if they will use cast iron or steel for the new driver. In the UK, they are big on the idea of "seasoning" new iron castings to relieve internal stresses, before proceeding to machining and installation. Typically, this means placing the new castings on a pallet somewhere outdoors and forgetting about it for a period of time. If a a cast iron driver is made and a similar process is followed, then surely the time to replace the driver is more than a half year?

Of course, missing in this discussion is when they realized the driver was cracked, and when they initiated the replacement process. Potentially, they are already half way finished to producing a new driver casting.

On the other hand, you have Baldwin supplying the Mt. Grenta 4-4-0 within seven days of its order, soup to nuts. Not much time for seasoning there.

Anyone who planned to ride EBT this season should keep their agenda.
Tourist dollars are welcome by EBT AND local businesses.
Nothing wrong with riding behind diesel! AND, maybe the doodlebug!

I’ll choose how to spend my travel money, you can do the same.