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| MEC 407 Report https://www.rypn.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=5776 |
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| Author: | Rob Davis [ Tue May 06, 2003 9:56 am ] |
| Post subject: | MEC 407 Report |
Following up on the item mentioned in the last two Briefs is this message from R.T. Dowling to the Maine Central Yahoo Group: U18B MEC 407 Update Randy Leclair and myself went to Waterville today to inspect the 407 and get a better idea of what kind of shape it's in. A few surprises, but nothing major. Here are some tidbits: * Unit has an EMD control stand -- were the U18Bs delivered this way, or was this a replacement for the original control stand? * Horns, bell, and even the SEATS from the cab are currently removed and in storage. I had no idea that seats were a likely item to be stolen these days. * The MEC-esque paint job isn't as nice as it looks in pictures. Also, the yellow isn't the original MEC yellow -- it's darker, more like a "mustard" color. Waterville could have painted it in genuine MEC yellow but the lessee specified otherwise. The trucks and frame are painted "Guilford Gray" (I assume they were straight black in the MEC days). * They had to sandblast quite a bit of rust off before they painted it. Some of the rust was pretty severe, judging by some of the holes I saw. * It took us several tries and a few different shop employees before we were able to get it started. Once it finally got going, the smoke coming out of the stack was amazing! Thick, billowy, ranging from pale gray to pitch black. Fans of steam engines would have thoroughly enjoyed it! At one point, the loco "backfired" (I guess that's what you would call it... sounded like a gun shot). Then it ran out of fuel and died, so they had to add more fuel and then we had fun trying to get it started again. By the time we were done, there was quite a bit of oil sprayed all down the sides of the loco. * After it had been running for a while, the exhaust cleared up and was nearly invisible. We then moved it back and forth a few times, with GP38 252 in tow. * The sound of a U18B in 8th notch is utterly deafening... just as I remembered it. ;-) (No fireballs shooting from the stack this time, though.) * The wheels on the rear truck are practically brand new. The wheels on the front truck aren't so great. * The sander doesn't work, and the dynamic brake doesn't work (this was told to me by someone who ran the engine while it was in NY). * GRS still has plenty of spare parts, including cylinders, traction motors, and main generator. That's all I can think of at the moment. I snapped a few pictures and will try to post them if I can find a way to scan the slides. As far as the project goes, things are moving along slowly at this point. I haven't yet found any source(s) of funding aside from small individual donation offers (which are greatly appreciated, by the way). I have a couple of leads regarding a home for the locomotive, but that won't do us much good if we can't buy it. In general, the organizations that are willing to give the locomotive a home are only willing to do so if it won't cost them anything, which is understandable. I'm working on building a web site to promote the project. It will include pictures of the 407 (from its original 1975 glory to its current state), information about its history, and answers to frequently asked questions. As always, if you would like to help with this project in any way, shape or form, please let me know! R.T. Dowling rdavis@rypn.org |
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