We feel we are ready to uncouple the tender from the locomotive on the 905 restoration project.

When I made my visit to the IRM, Mr. Schneider told me the coupling was spring loaded and we needed to compress the spring before removing the pin on the drawbar.

I wanted to verify this. It doesn't really look like a spring mechanism that bumps the tender to the locomotive.

We were looking at using some ratcheting screw type come-alongs. Is this possible?

Also, how much will the tender move back after the pin is pulled? We are limited by amount of rail behind the tender.

Thanks, Mike Stuckert, President, Save the 905, Inc., www.RockIsland905.com

Not all drawbars are spring loaded. Look for any space between the chafing irons on the loco and tender - if there is any, certainly not under compression. If none, try shoving the tender back a couple inches and see if one opens up.

Come Alongs or chain falls generally work well for moving tenders once journals are free.

It shouldn't roll any further than you inch it back unless the track is not level. Might have chocks ready to insert every few inches if you are concerned.

Biggest hassle is likely to be getting the pin loose from all the various holes in things it has had decades to rust into. Good luck.

dave

I recall the same story that Mike mentions Tom Schneider related; that IRM's CRI&P 938 had been moved previous to IRM acquiring it, the people who were moving it didn't know about the spring loaded buffer between the engine and tender, and when they cut either the drawbar or pin (I forget which) the force of the spring started the tender rolling, and it rolled a couple feet until it went off the end of the display track. The biggest danger, aside from destroying the drawbar or pin for no good reason, is that if someone had been under the tender, they would have gotten run over, admittedly slowly.

I would guess that these springs apply about the same force that the springs on a Cardwell draft gear exert. A good ratchet type come-along might be enough to compress them; not sure about a load binder. One could always jack between a bulldozer and the tender knuckle, if one had a bulldozer on site, or jack against a tie with it's end buried in the track, if a large enough come-along isn't available.

I presume this engine has the old-fashioned kind of buffer where you must move the whole tender to remove the tension from the drawbars. A bulldozer ought to work as described above. If it has the more modern radial buffer instead of longitudinal coil springs, all you need is a piece of threaded rod through the buffer assembly to compress it.

If rainwater has been flowing through a stoker trough full of coal and onto the drawbar pins for 50 years, they will not come out, but must be cut out with a torch or air arc. You will jack the whole engine up before the drawbar pin moves, even after applying heat, cold, Kroil, prayer, or anything else.

Yes, that is correct. I was at the Ft Worth and Western when the 938 shipped out to the IRM. I don't remember who moved it originally, but know that the draw bar was torched.