A few more from the Leatherwood Museum collection.

Thank you sooooo much ! Absolutely fantastic photographs and also the youtube video is only the second and by far the best quality footage of Whitcombs operating during WW II that I have ever seen.

Again, THANK YOU !

Steve

WD 71592 photographed by Ernie Jones at Beirut on 1-18-1945





WD 71555 with cab armour plating, taken at Az-Zib locomotive depot on 6-26-1945 by R.E. Tustin




WD 71201 photographed by Ernie Jones at Beirut on 1-18-1945



All of the above from the Israel Railway Museum.

Steve

Great pictures. As soon as I saw the shot of the locomotive up on blocking, I was reminded of a similar view from 2010 when the front truck was removed for traction motor repairs.

Someday I hope to see your engine. Do you have any photographs of the Buda engines in it?

Any video of the engines running with the doors open?

Steve

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mT76qQtkEfo

The video was shot in 2008. Normally, 602 isn't used regularly, mostly due to the ease of the two GE centercabs on hand. Also, at this moment, another 970A traction motor needs to be repaired. 70 year old electrical equipment is problematic at best.

Rob

70 year old electrical systems indeed. Rob, I feel your pain. 65-00174 ran great from the Ewa Yard to the end of the line at Kahi Point, 7 miles. Returning we lost power on the east engine and had fuel issues with the west engine. East engine problem traced to reverser contacts and west was sucking air. All fixed now but still grooming. Anybody have a pair of Westinghouse Type NX-35 Style 1274720 88mV DC load meters? See her run at
http://youtu.be/qcvLYpEq8YU

Jeff Livingston





95%

Jeff,
Without rooting thru my files, is that the indicator with the "floating" vertical pointer or an actual gauge calibrated and with a dial face? Are you looking for the shunts that go with them?
Rob

Very nice but I was hoping to see the cylinder head also. The heads were the problem child of the engine and I was curious if they were of an unusual form.

The Whitcomb up in Iowa also has traction motor problems. How do you repair a traction motor?

I just discovered yet another Whitcomb 65-DE-19a with traction motor woes:



Steve

I have read of several Whitcombs that had the original Buda engines replaced with Cat D-17000s, the same engine that GE used in the bulk of the 44 tonners. THOSE heads were the 'weak link' in that engine, and a scarcity of those heads has led to the retirement of a few 44Ts.

Traction motors can be rebuilt, rewound, the bearings replaced, commutators resurfaced, etc. There are many shops that can handle that type of work, GE among them, even though the Whitcombs used Westinghouse motors and generators. Like just about everything else in preservation, its just a matter of money.

Speaking of Whitcomb #9 at TMNY, one of the Buda's is out of adjustment. Does anyone have a resource which gives the valve clearances and such?

This site claims to have replacement parts. They might have the original drawings for the Buda engines or know who does and might get your information for you.

http://www.budaengine.com/

Steve

The cylinder heads are big and heavy and awkward and a pain in the....(well you know where) to get out. If you want a detail shot of the exterior, check the Buda book on the engines or the Allis Chalmers book. The problem lies inside, out of sight, in the water passages. The porting is too small and not enough surface area is exposed to the cooling water and the heads tend to see wide swings in temperature which leads to cracking and other issues. I was informed by the Beaufort and Morehead RR who owned several 80-tonners with the same engines in them that the best solution was to keep the temperature up constantly. This was done with block heaters the kept the cooling water at 180° during engine shut down. Apparently, that RR kept head problems to minimum. That was in the 1980's and those locomotives are now scrapped.

EDM is correct. The motors can be rebuilt but one-off Westinghouse motor rebuilds get pricey. Especially ones with deep holes in the armatures.

As for "...out of adjustment..." that is so vague it could be anything and I would be reluctant to adjust the valves before checking other things. The American Bosch fuel pumps are getting old and tough to find shops who would repair such things. Remember, these engines were "old" 40 years ago. However, first thing I'd check is the coupling that drives the fuel pump. One engine always lagged and smoked badly. Turns out the coupling was worn and a new coupling (NOS from some shop in Seattle about 10 years ago) did the trick. The same engine had been rebuilt long before the locomotive was retired from Gulf. It was discovered the gear that drives the pump was installed 180° out of time so that engine is timed differently than the other one.

A fellow RYPN poster once said, in the future, more steam locomotives would be running that diesels due to the sheer number of specialty parts that make up a diesel engine versus a steam locomotive. I believe we will begin to see this in the near future.
Rob

The Beaufort and Morehead solution is interesting. I know that the original Genesee and Wyoming in Retsof used to keep their 539s warm when not in use with heat exchangers and house steam. They claimed that all of the gaskets and seals lasted much longer, and I'm sure that the steel parts benefitted from not expanding and contracting with frequent temperature changes. I also know of a ferry operator that circulates hot water and lube oil through their engines when they tie the boats up at night. They claim to get quite a few more hours between overhauls that way. No cylinder head problems, though, the engines are F-Ms.

Just received these from a forum member but he didn't say what book they came from.

Due to copyright concerns I removed the images. Thanks for the notice

Steve