Which problem--No. 152 or the BL2, or both?

I have trouble imaging doing a power assembly on an F7, let alone a BL2! That must be fun!

Not in the same league with replacing a power assembly in a BL2, but adjusting the brakes in a 30-ton GE electric switcher with frameless trucks is no picnic. Fortunately, there's only one of these critters in this quadrant of the galaxy.

The articulated units which Key System ran over the Bay Bridge to San Francisco were not designed for easy repair.

The pipe fitters put all the air lines right up under the floor, and then the electricians followed with a layer of conduits below them, and then brake rigging below that. We have a unit at WRM with an air leak which we can hear and feel, but getting at the leaking union gasket is impossible without cutting a hole in the concrete floor.

Getting back to steam.....

I would tend to nominate the Irish C&L #3L "Lady Edith", built by Stephenson in 1887, as a tough engine to run and work on. She was brought to the US in the late 1950s and ran at Pine Creek in NJ up into the late 1990s before boiler issues finally closed the door on operating her. Although perhaps considered miserable by some, I wouldn't trade my time on her for a million dollars.

The cab floor space is not much bigger than a refrigerator. You share the cab with the coal bunkers which spill out on the floor. She had a long firebox but the small cab made it tough to toss coal to the front of the box. More of a flipping action was required. And the scoop was small since the door was tiny. The sliding firebox doors jammed with pieces of coal. The injectors, bolted to the backhead of the boiler, over heated but were actually quite fun to make work. When it sounded like a toilet flushing you knew you were in business.

The typically British throttle rotated and could be run from either side of the cab, but you really had no feel at all as you opened the throttle. With other engines you get a sense of something happening. With the Lady it was just a rush of steam and suddenly you were off to the races. When asked to move back maybe 2 feet to finish coupling, you just laughed at the brakeman. It was better to roll forward then come back and try it again.

Oiling was not something I looked forward to. Even worse was dumping the ashes, all done from a pit under the engine and after it was steamed up. What idiot put two oil boxes under the boiler and about as high as they could be? As a kid, I would be drafted to go under and oil it up. "Just toss oil on anything that looks like it can move." Did I really do that? Just a dumb kid!

When running, there were no seats for the engineer or fireman. Some would sit up on the coal bunker, feet hanging over the outside edge but I never found that comfortable. Entry was up a ladder and an opening between the coal bunker and back wall of the cab. I never feared falling out of the cab as I had trouble just getting in. You stood on a layer of coal on the floor. When running in Ireland they put boards in the cab entrances to allow more coal to be stored on the floor.

Again, when running you had little throttle feel. You looked forward via a port hole in the front of the cab. Some say it rode like a baby carriage. To me it just rumbled around our loop.

She ran like the wind though, supposedly setting speed records in Ireland and hitting 70mph. She had power and when, on special events we would take turns with some heavy hauling, she managed the load just fine up our grade, rocking a bit as she did it.

I work on cars as well with a hankering for Jaguars. The same designers that came up with the Lady Edith must have designed Brit cars as well. You have to sit back and say "what were they thinking?" While changing a fuel pump on my '94 XJ6 I sat back and thought, yup this guy's grand father worked for Stephenson.

But as miserable as it may sound, it was a blast. Just plain ol' fun. In the later years she was only steamed up maybe twice a year and while it was a blast, that was probably enough. She is missed terribly by some of us who ran her, but I sure don't miss that hellish pit under her.

I am sure we can create and fill a new forum on just stuff car designers did! I still don't understand sideways mounted oil filters..

The long-standing joke is that possession of a Jaguar/MG/Triumph/Morris/etc. Car Club membership card gained you automatic admission to any S&M "club" in the U.S. or Europe.

I'm certain those who have had to work with Welsh and Maine narrow-gauge steam will feel similarly entitled.

remind me to never buy a Jag...

Oh, I wouldn't call either 152 or the BL2 miserable, just "operationally challenging."

When 152 was restored for service, they put a power reverse in, which made it possible for the engineer to actually sit. They also installed a third, non-lifting injector on the fireman's side, making working the water a lot easier.

As for running the BL-2 backwards, you just get really good at knowing where everything is by reach.

Now, replacing power assemblies, that is kind of miserable, but part of the "fun" of it.

Apparently there's quite a practice of swapping late model GM rear drive powertrains into older Jags, giving the best of both worlds in terms of chassis and engine. e.g. http://www.jagsthatrun.com/

Texas State Railroad 201 has to be the most uncomfortable locomotive I have ever run. She is deckless, a soaker, with a propensity to literally spit fire at the most inopportune moments, with seat next to the boiler. The only way for the boiler NOT to burn you was you put a towel between you and her. Some guys ran her standing up the whole way, but I was a bit too stubborn for that! She does have a rather lusty exhaust and listening to her work up Fairchild or Oakland hill made you forget how much you hated running her...

Had to laugh at Kelly's story about re-installing or taking out a throttle. Had done it many times for hydro's or inspections back in the 1970s with the smaller locomotives at Mid Continent. Also recall a few mistakes with linkage on the larger #1385. But this was a while back. A few weekends ago I helped re-install the throttle on the Polson #2, sister to the #70 {70 ton logging mike}. Tight quarters, angled dry pipe/flange, throttle dangling by chain with forklift boom for a crane. Try to tip into place, line up with throttle linkage, start bolts and not drop anything into boiler. The whole time have steam done studs digging into your guts. Kelly described it to a "T". Totally forgot how much fun can be had. Actually this went in pretty easy. No dropped nuts, bolts, or tools, no broken bones or serious bleeding. I am sure this locomotive is no 1st place winner for "miserable" catagory, but the fun was about the same. How can one forget the joy of it all? Cheers, John.

PS Think one has to have some serious issues to do this stuff for the fun of it!

.

Growing up, the woman that lived next door to us had an early 1980s Jaguar S type. Occasionally, a package would get mis-delivered by the UPS man, and I'd walk it over. Where her car sat in the garage looks like the Exxon Valdez wrecked there, oil and coolant puddles, always.

Mr. McDowell's solution looks to be opportune, you get the wonderful coachwork, with gold old USA reliability.