According to the Horseshoe Curve NRHS website about #1361, she suffered a catastrophic main bearing and drive axle failure in 1987 which limited her service. I wonder if anyone can enlighten me in general or specific terms as to what the repair of such a failure entails in terms of labor and disassembly/reassembly and what specialized equipment it would take.

I'm not interested in discussions about what happened to #1361 before or after that, just in that particular episode/incident.

Is the word catastrophic even appropriate if they still ran the engine? To me the word evokes dead on the main with a red hot bearing where continuing risks the axle burning off, or God forbid, that actually happening.

If you have access to Trainorders you might find these photos interesting when 4449 needed bearing work...twice...because the characteristics of the lube being used had been changed by the manufacturer.

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/r ... 701,page=1
http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/r ... 417,page=1

Steve

loss of steam on the mainlines also means loss of steam in the technology field.

Really, should not have changed a formula without giving a thorough testing.

You'd have to ask them for the details but IIRC it wasn't a product necessarily intended for journal bearings, certainly not steam locomotive driving boxes but was previously very good for that use. The manufacturer probably wanted to improve it for whatever its intended purpose was and it became no longer compatible with babbitt bearings, causing premature wear.

Or something like that. (Info not guaranteed.)

Steve

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Kelly, thank you for the concise, detailed answer.

I have some questions about babbitt on crown brasses in general.

If the babbitt melts, aside from the headache of the new overheating issue, wouldn't the brass eventually do its job? The melted babbitt would likely find its way to the grease/oil cellar and reduce lubricating ability. Are there other similar issues?

How liable is it to breaking away from the brass from a pound? I've seen regular journal brasses lose entire chunks of babbitt before. And, without specifics, I've seen several different locomotives with unresolved pounds that I am sure would not make a babbitted crown brass happy.

In the links to the #4449 shop work, I read that the old babbitt was still in use that an SP shop had poured in the 1950's and last all through the American Freedom Train miles and many excursion miles. Is the world of big, modern steam that much different mechanically from what are working with on a daily basis today at short tourist lines? The surface area of the crank pins and axles on a 4-8-4 just seem to lend themselves more readily to fine tuning than a Maine 2 footer.

*sorry if I misspelled babbitt.

I love finding humor in what we do. Remember, the funniest things in life are those that are indeed true...

Best,
Mike