I visited Cedar Point in June, 2003 and can also confirm that the Ward Kimball is still in the engine house. Albert, although still on display outside, has received some work. The rotting cab has been replaced and the boiler, sans jacket, has been painted, as were many other parts.

Initially, Albert was displayed in front
of an ex C&O caboose which was on 3' gauge trucks. Today the locomotive is displayed with a tender as the caboose now sits
largely out of view, obscured in a storage yard.

Also of note is the fact that Albert is displayed with the tender from the 2-4-0 Jenny
K (The Jenny K is out of service and stored under a tarp). Albert's tender frame is in the bone yard while the tank is being run with engine #22.

Although it might not be practical to buy the locomotive itself, the park does sell a marble model of it for $18.95. It is made by MMC and is in the "Trains Gone By" collection.


Picture of Albert from June, 2003

piersa2001@yahoo.com

At SCRM, we've got a problem that I suspect other organizations have. Much of our MOW equipment uses a conventional automotive-style 12VDC electrical system. Unfortunately, we don't use the stuff often enough to keep the batteries up. As a result, the batteries go bad from just sitting.

Our Chief Mechanic's solution has been to have a couple batteries and swap them around between equipment. This keeps the batteries in OK shape, but it's a pain (not to mention a delay) having to lug a battery over to the machine and hook it up before trying to crank the thing. And if you want to use more than one or two pieces of equipment at a time, it also means you have to "borrow" batteries from elsewhere -- usually volunteers' personal automobiles.

My idea is to hook up solar trickle chargers to the machine's electrical systems. I found one online for around $30 including shipping. These things are designed to sit on you car's dash board and plug into the cigarette lighter socket. I'm planning to try it on our Switchmaster when it arrives. Naturally, I'll have to hard-wire it since few MOW machines have cigarette lighters!

I've also found a more expensive model that connects directly to the battery that is designed for boats. Since that one's over $100 I'm going to try the cheap one first.

Anyone else tried this? Any ideas/warnings?

The South Carolina Railroad Museum
scrmcurator@netzero.com

As part of a larger project I did several years ago for powering a remote home site by solar, I installed a backup generator. My expectation was that the automaitc starting generator would only operate occasionally in the gray days of winter. The installation had to be fully automatic with no expectation of homeowner involvment in maintaining or managing the system. To insure that the backup generators battery is kept fully charged at all times, I did exactly as you are suggesting. I installed a 5 watt solar panel on the outside of the building and wired it directly to the engine starting battery. I also installed a Stecca solar charge control in series with the pos. wire. This is an inexpensive solar charge control that will prevent boiling the battery unnessarily as well as preventing slow discharge of the battery back through the solar panel at night. This has been installed for about 10 years and has worked great! I primarily buy my solar equipment through a wholesale source, but a really good retail source is Backwoods Solar at Sandpoint Id. They put out a nice catolog and sell all over the Northwest. They have a website at www.backwoodssolar.com. Good Luck! As a side note, I have considered mounting a solar panel on the roofs of our steam locomotives to maintain the charge in our radio batteries. My thought was to mount the panel flat on the roof so as not to be seen by anyone taking photos of the engines. All it takes is time and money!> At SCRM, we've got a problem that I suspect
> other organizations have. Much of our MOW
> equipment uses a conventional
> automotive-style 12VDC electrical system.
> Unfortunately, we don't use the stuff often
> enough to keep the batteries up. As a
> result, the batteries go bad from just
> sitting.

> Our Chief Mechanic's solution has been to
> have a couple batteries and swap them around
> between equipment. This keeps the batteries
> in OK shape, but it's a pain (not to mention
> a delay) having to lug a battery over to the
> machine and hook it up before trying to
> crank the thing. And if you want to use more
> than one or two pieces of equipment at a
> time, it also means you have to
> "borrow" batteries from elsewhere
> -- usually volunteers' personal automobiles.

> My idea is to hook up solar trickle chargers
> to the machine's electrical systems. I found
> one online for around $30 including
> shipping. These things are designed to sit
> on you car's dash board and plug into the
> cigarette lighter socket. I'm planning to
> try it on our Switchmaster when it arrives.
> Naturally, I'll have to hard-wire it since
> few MOW machines have cigarette lighters!

> I've also found a more expensive model that
> connects directly to the battery that is
> designed for boats. Since that one's over
> $100 I'm going to try the cheap one first.

> Anyone else tried this? Any ideas/warnings?


http://www.svry.com
jamesbane@hotmail.com

> At SCRM, we've got a problem that I suspect
> other organizations have. Much of our MOW
> equipment uses a conventional
> automotive-style 12VDC electrical system.
> Unfortunately, we don't use the stuff often
> enough to keep the batteries up. As a
> result, the batteries go bad from just
> sitting.

> Our Chief Mechanic's solution has been to
> have a couple batteries and swap them around
> between equipment. This keeps the batteries
> in OK shape, but it's a pain (not to mention
> a delay) having to lug a battery over to the
> machine and hook it up before trying to
> crank the thing. And if you want to use more
> than one or two pieces of equipment at a
> time, it also means you have to
> "borrow" batteries from elsewhere
> -- usually volunteers' personal automobiles.

> My idea is to hook up solar trickle chargers
> to the machine's electrical systems. I found
> one online for around $30 including
> shipping. These things are designed to sit
> on you car's dash board and plug into the
> cigarette lighter socket. I'm planning to
> try it on our Switchmaster when it arrives.
> Naturally, I'll have to hard-wire it since
> few MOW machines have cigarette lighters!

> I've also found a more expensive model that
> connects directly to the battery that is
> designed for boats. Since that one's over
> $100 I'm going to try the cheap one first.

> Anyone else tried this? Any ideas/warnings?

There are also small plug-in "surface chargers" which may do the same thing. We tried those on our steam & diesel locomotives which each utilize a Nordskog GPS speedometer and a Motorola two-way radio (12VDC), powered by a deep-cycle marine battery. Unfortunately, a surface charger does not actually provide much of a charge to the batteries. We found it more effective to periodically connect an inexpensive off-the-shelf battery charger (Harbor Freight Tools, WalMart, etc.), set on low amperage, to keep up the charge on those deep-cycle batteries. You may want to consider the same thing for your MOW equipment. As with most diesel-powered machines, it would be advisable to run them periodically whether you use them or not, to keep other undesirable things from happening (such as stuck roots-blower shafts in 353s, 671s, 8V71s and other Detroits). A final bit of advice would be to utilize the battery-disconnect switch (if provided) or disconnect the battery when not in use (old MOW machines seem to often have electrical "leaks"). Good luck in your efforts and endeavors.


clacey@hebervalleyrr.org

> At SCRM, we've got a problem that I suspect
> other organizations have. Much of our MOW
> equipment uses a conventional
> automotive-style 12VDC electrical system.
> Unfortunately, we don't use the stuff often
> enough to keep the batteries up. As a
> result, the batteries go bad from just
> sitting.

> Our Chief Mechanic's solution has been to
> have a couple batteries and swap them around
> between equipment. This keeps the batteries
> in OK shape, but it's a pain (not to mention
> a delay) having to lug a battery over to the
> machine and hook it up before trying to
> crank the thing. And if you want to use more
> than one or two pieces of equipment at a
> time, it also means you have to
> "borrow" batteries from elsewhere
> -- usually volunteers' personal automobiles.

> My idea is to hook up solar trickle chargers
> to the machine's electrical systems. I found
> one online for around $30 including
> shipping. These things are designed to sit
> on you car's dash board and plug into the
> cigarette lighter socket. I'm planning to
> try it on our Switchmaster when it arrives.
> Naturally, I'll have to hard-wire it since
> few MOW machines have cigarette lighters!

> I've also found a more expensive model that
> connects directly to the battery that is
> designed for boats. Since that one's over
> $100 I'm going to try the cheap one first.

> Anyone else tried this? Any ideas/warnings?

I just go out during about once a week and run the machines for about 20 minutes. It charges the batteries and keeps the motor freed up.That should cure your problem.


midh91@hotmail.com

> I just go out during about once a week and
> run the machines for about 20 minutes. It
> charges the batteries and keeps the motor
> freed up.That should cure your problem.

It ain't just the 12v systems. Half the batteries in ge13031 are old enough to vote and need to be charged fairly often to keep from cracking in the winter plus northern Ohios winters do not lend themselves to solar cells...so far once a month I run the engine to top off the batteries and boil out any condensation in the engine. This is especially important since the locomotive is never used.


lamontdc@adelphia.net

Don't use battery chargers as they cause suphide buildup and shorten the life of the battery. There is technology out there now and use it. There are battery tenders, battery minders, accumate all made to keep the battery at the top of its charge without over cycling. This over cycling is why your stored antique cars battery only lasts for one year instead of 5.

> As part of a larger project I did several
> years ago for powering a remote home site by
> solar, I installed a backup generator. My
> expectation was that the automaitc starting
> generator would only operate occasionally in
> the gray days of winter. The installation
> had to be fully automatic with no
> expectation of homeowner involvment in
> maintaining or managing the system. To
> insure that the backup generators battery is
> kept fully charged at all times, I did
> exactly as you are suggesting. I installed a
> 5 watt solar panel on the outside of the
> building and wired it directly to the engine
> starting battery. I also installed a Stecca
> solar charge control in series with the pos.
> wire. This is an inexpensive solar charge
> control that will prevent boiling the
> battery unnessarily as well as preventing
> slow discharge of the battery back through
> the solar panel at night. This has been
> installed for about 10 years and has worked
> great! I primarily buy my solar equipment
> through a wholesale source, but a really
> good retail source is Backwoods Solar at
> Sandpoint Id. They put out a nice catolog
> and sell all over the Northwest. They have a
> website at www.backwoodssolar.com. Good
> Luck! As a side note, I have considered
> mounting a solar panel on the roofs of our
> steam locomotives to maintain the charge in
> our radio batteries. My thought was to mount
> the panel flat on the roof so as not to be
> seen by anyone taking photos of the engines.
> All it takes is time and money!> At SCRM,
> we've got a problem that I suspect
Reply;
We worked as Forest Service Volunteers in the Colorado High Country. We were several miles from the nearest grid power so we depended on our batteries. We had solar panels on top of the trailer that did a great job of keeping them charged. The only season we had problems was the one where I installed Jel-pak batteries. Since we
had had no problems before I called Exide and told
one of their engineers about our problem.
From her I learned that Jel Pak batteries have a narrow charging window. They won't take a charge at less than 14.1 volts and they will get gas in the Jel that ruins them if charged at over 14.3
volts.This rules out Jel Pak for solar use.
If you are using regular lead-acid batteries, solar is a good way to go. As mentioned before, you do need a controller to avoid overcharging and to prevent discharge when the light isn't good.
Jim

rrfanjim@mvn.net

Matt, Try Harbour Freight they have these cheaper and in several flavors. http://www.harborfreight.com/

karenandray@bellsouth.net

You also might want to check this site out. They were supplying units for CSXT.


http://www.pulsetech.com/
lamontdc@adelphia.net

> Matt, Try Harbour Freight they have these
> cheaper and in several flavors.
> http://www.harborfreight.com/

We got a Harbor Freight in Charlotte if there isn't a closer one Matt - email me off list if you want directions.

dave

irondave@bellsouth.net

How small of a charger will work with a single auto/light truck battery? I see they make them in 1.5 watt and up, of course the smaller the cheeper, but will they do the job?
M. Nix

2rivers@upstel.net

> Jim, This reply is a bit off the original subject, but I just wanted to assert that it is possible to use Gel batteries with solar. If you use Gel batteries, you have to cut back your bulk charge volts, because gel batteries don't like being charged at a high charge rate, because they can't gas like a liquid electrolyte battery. In order to do this you need a charge control with adjustable parameters. I don't have a lot of experience with this, but have had a couple customers with remote home sites on solar sucessfully using gel batteries for quite a few years. The USFS in this area also uses Gel batteries at their remote radio repeater sites that are solar powered. One of their technicians said that they use the gel batteries because of the difficulty handling wet batteries in a helicopter to service the sites. Reply;
> We worked as Forest Service Volunteers in
> the Colorado High Country. We were several
> miles from the nearest grid power so we
> depended on our batteries. We had solar
> panels on top of the trailer that did a
> great job of keeping them charged. The only
> season we had problems was the one where I
> installed Jel-pak batteries. Since we
> had had no problems before I called Exide
> and told
> one of their engineers about our problem.
> From her I learned that Jel Pak batteries
> have a narrow charging window. They won't
> take a charge at less than 14.1 volts and
> they will get gas in the Jel that ruins them
> if charged at over 14.3
> volts.This rules out Jel Pak for solar use.
> If you are using regular lead-acid
> batteries, solar is a good way to go. As
> mentioned before, you do need a controller
> to avoid overcharging and to prevent
> discharge when the light isn't good.
> Jim


http://www.svry.com
jamesbane@hotmail.com

> Matt, Try Harbour Freight they have these
> cheaper and in several flavors.
> http://www.harborfreight.com/

Although I've learned my lesson on buying some crappy stuff from Harbor Freight (e.g. hand tools and anything that needs to be properly hardened, like the ball-joint press that self destructed the threads on me....), their battery chargers are okay. I have two of their cheap float chargers in use during the winter. One is on my muscle car and the other on my motorcycle.

The one that I use is actually on sale now for $7.49 and I've linked it for you.

JimE

Cheap float charger

jrevans@accuREMOVEsort.com

> Direct link to the Engine City portion of
> the park. The B&M E7, incidently, was
> later scrapped.

For all of Nelson Blount's foresightedness in preserving steam, he had a blind spot for first generation diesels. It would have been only the second E-7 preserved. He didn't have to do anything with it. He only had to hold on to what he was given.

Oh the value of forty years hindsight.

kevin.r.gillespie@verizon.net