Try the following:

ORX
(814)684-8484
glenn@orxrail.com

They've provided wheelsets for historical equipment in the past.

God Bless,
Gerald W. Kopiasz

> The Model 40 at our museum (ex-Calumet
> Steel) has VERY badly worn wheels which,
> unfortunately, prevents a restoration to
> operation. Anyone out there have some new
> wheels?

> Les Beckman (Hoosier Valley Railroad
> Museum/North Judson, Indiana)


hrrhs@aol.com

> Try the following:

> ORX
> (814)684-8484
> glenn@orxrail.com

> They've provided wheelsets for historical
> equipment in the past.

> God Bless,
> Gerald W. Kopiasz

Gerald:

Thanks. Will give it a try.

Les


midlandblb@cs.com

In late January I flew to L.A. and visited the Travel Town Museum during my stay. It was a weekday and I think I was the only railfan there. All other visitors were young mothers, each with one or two small children and possibly a stroller. A small gift shop, featuring almost exclusively kiddie items, employs a few youngsters of high school age. The Model 40, mentioned in an earlier post, appeared to be out of service and was parked between some other equipment, all of which needs TLC. I've heard the Model 40 was once used for short (very short) rides on TT's display track but that is no longer the case. A small (1-foot gauge?) kiddie line runs around the outer perimeter of the grounds and is probably much cheaper to operate than full-sized equipment.

With this Model 40 parked and O/S, the only operating Model 40 of which I'm aware is the one on the Walkersville Southern Railroad northeast of Frederick, MD. Does anyone know of any others?

The Model 40 at Travel Town is most certainly still operating. I drove it just this past Sunday for a Boy Scout Merit Badge day.

The locomotive crane and the Baldwin RS-12 parked next to it are also in operating condition, though the batteries in the Baldwin are dead and we are installing new ones this coming weekend.

We were even running the M.177 engine quite a bit this past weekend.

Greg

Glad to hear of another Model 40 still running. Are there any plans for its exterior surfaces?

Yes. You may not have noticed because back in January all the work on the Crane was on the platform side, but I'm am in the process of painting the crane right now. Once that is done and with a break to take care of some mechanical things, Charley is my next painting project (I think).

I'm think I'm secretly hoping for another Boy Scout Eagle candidate to come along to take Charley on as a project so I can get most of the surface prep done for me. :-)

For what its worth, Charley (the Model 40), the Baldwin and the Crane have all been in continuous operation since they were delivered to Travel Town except for short periods of time for mechanical work.

Greg

Greg: Glad to hear it, but be careful about young volunteers with paint brushes, as you may "get what you pay for." Some have proven to be excellent, while most, especially in groups, just want to chase each other around and goof off - very unwise around rail equipment and tracks.

I'm taking the day off tomorrow to do some much-needed rail car painting and repair myself. As you know from experience, working on old rail equipment is a task without end.

Yes, working with kids and paint can be a challenge. In Charley's case, I was hoping for a bunch of kids who can sand and wire-brush, and then we'd send them home and the Eagle candidate and I would do the actual spray painting.

On the other hand, we had another Eagle paint the boom on the crane and they did that with rollers and brushes and it actually came out pretty well. Plus there is the advantage of using Eagle scout candidates since they can often get the paint or other material donated which sometimes can be a real big savings.

Greg

Greg:

A friend of mine writes, "While in the LA area, see if you can look at the Model 40 engine block plate - some of these model 40s were repowered in later years, but maybe this one still has the early block; the plates are usually stainless steel or brass and look like a smaller version of regular plates." Does the Model 40 still have its engine block plate and, if so, what's on it?

There was a model 40 at Newport Steel near Cincinnati until about 5 years ago. I tried to help acquire it for any local museum that would be interested. I was told that it had operated. I got a photo of the builder plate. It's builder number 2284 with a build date of 8-22-42. I was told a group near Chicago purchased the engine with the intent of restoring it to operation. Could this be the one that is now at the Hooiser Museum? Thanks!

Joe

We rebuilt the #2 engine not long after we got it and we had to replace the block then with a new 6-71 block of similar vintage I had salvaged out of a old navy boat.

The #1 engine should be the original block. I think I know the plate your friend refers to. It's about 3/4" by 1-1/2" rivited to the block just above the pan? If so, it is just a plain plate with a number stamped into it.

Are you looking for the serial number or just curious?

Greg

Joe -

The EMD Model 40 at the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum is definitely NOT the locomotive that was at Newport Steel. Our unit came from Calumet Steel in Chicago Heights, Illinois. It was originally built for American Steel Foundries/Defense Plant Corporation in 1942 and is builders number 1835. When HVRM was in the process of getting Grasselli Tower ready to move out of East Chicago, Indiana, a company that rebuilt locomotives took over an abandoned plant not far from Grasselli. They had a very limited switching lead getting in to their building and because of that, acquired a Model 40, that they were going to rebuild for use as the plant switcher. This may be the engine from Newport Steel that you are alluding to. Unfortunately, we moved Grasselli to our museum in North Judson, Indiana and I have not been back there to check to see if they got their unit rebuilt or not. I can't recall the name of the locomotive rebuilding company. Maybe someone else knows it.

Les

Greg:

I passed your information on to my friend and he wrote:

"The 2285 is not the correct s/n found on the builders plate; the 2288 would be that unit. The 2285 was USA 7953; to Gulf South Warehousing by 2/49; to American Creosoting #1 in Southport, LA; to Coastal Sand & Gravel in LaComb, LA; and scrapped after 1993.

The 2288 is NAS San Diego, CA to 65-00323, wrongly marked as 56-00323; Douglas Aircraft Corp in Torrance, CA numbered 9-71; to Travel Town in Griffith Park, LA by 6/88.

The 2288 engine block plate numbers were 3451 & 3457."

Tim

2288 is correct for the Model 40 at Travel Town. Not sure where the #2285 came from.

I was working on track all day yesterday, but I had one of the other volunteers who was doing batteries check the block numbers. This is what he told me.

"Greg: Charley's engine numbers are as follows:

No 2. Engine (in locomotive)
Model: 671RG8
S/N: 67116711

No. 1 Engine (in Exhibit hall)
Model: 671RC
S/N: 671107595

The No. 1 engine's data plate is missing, and these numbers were stamped into the boss where the tag should reside.

-John"

Not sure if that means we're looking at different number plates, or that means both blocks have been replaced. John says he took pictures. If I can get them, I'll post them too.

Greg

Here are the images John took of the two engines from Charley this past Saturday. As I said, the #1 engine's block is original to when we acquired the locomotive from McDonnel Douglas. The #2 engine is a replacement while at Travel Town.

Greg