Our society is well known for not giving up and excelling in areas where others most  certianally would have given up. What people never get a chance to see are the marathon mechanical work sessions necessary to pull off  our many trips. What I am going to tell you here is just one small adventure of our mechanical department and the feats they routinely  accomplish.

 About two years ago during the Lincoln Park Days trips  the oil lubrication line came off of the engineer side front driving wheel bearing.  These bearings are pressure      lubricated with a light oil and the line is held on with a standard hose clamp very similar to a hose clamp found on your automobile.  In this case, the clamp broke and the hose unattached itself. The bearing now had a lack of    lubrication which caused it to over heat and systematically destroy itself.  Unfortunately, not only did it damage itself (the bearing), but the journal (the surface of the driving axle that the bearing rests upon), was also damaged.  The rest of the Lincoln Park  trips had to be run with NYS&W diesel locomotives.

 After a long grueling trip to carefully get the locomotive home to the NYS&W we planned our repair.  Rob Mangels owner of Transportation Innovation and NYSWTHS member was put in charge of the project.  Now remember, the weight of the locomotive sits on these bearings and the task now at hand was to lift up a 100 ton locomotive in order to get the wheel and axle out from under it.

Well... we didn’t.

Rob came up with an innovative use for the NYS&W     turntable in Little Ferry, New Jersey. We literally pushed the locomotive off the turntable pit and allowed the leading truck and first driver to hang (the leading truck was chained up at this time) in thin air!. Once the driver was over the turntable pit a crane was used to position a heavy steal cradle under the first set of drivers. Once the cradle was in place the wheel-set was chained down so that it could not roll. With the wheel-set secure it was unbolted from the bottom of the locomotive and the cradle holding it was lowered until it could swing out from under the locomotive.

 

 Probably the most respected "shop" for steam locomotive work in the whole country is the Strasburg railroad.  The wheel-set, bearing and bearing boxes were all delivered   to Lancaster Pennsylvania for repair.  The axle was turned down and a new bearing was machined and inserted.  Once the parts were shipped back to the NYS&W the whole process was reversed in order to re-insert the bearing boxes, and wheel-set.

We were proud of a job well done and promptly went about our season of trips. The locomotive handled both Lincoln Park Days and Dunellen Railroad Days without a glitch.

In May of 2004, #142 traveled to Phillipsburg and the NYSWTHS’ new operation in conjunction with the Black River and Western Railroad.

#142 ran trips every weekend May1st to September 30th and behaved like a lady. No mechanical problems what so ever and all of the bearings ran cool as ice.

 

One modification made to the locomotive since the failed bearing was a device for observing the temperatures of every axle bearing. Rob Mangels designed and installed this "radar detector" as it has comically been called with on site help from  our own Bob “wire” Wyatt. Each axle bearing is fitted with a sensor that reads the temperature of its specific bearing. In the cab, in front of the engineer, is a display with three led's for each axle bearing. The display range goes from green to yellow to red.

This device allows us to monitor the temperature of the bearings while we are running and avoid the bearing    problems  and the associated expensive repairs caused by the broken oil line the year previous.

 

After a  perfect first season we left Phillipsburg  traveling to Westfield, New Jersey for Westfield Railroad Days.

The trip to Westfield took us over Norfolk Southern Railroad, three Divisions of New Jersey Transit and Conrail.

 

 On the Saturday of Westfield Railroad Days  the locomotive ran great  for the first out of three trips that day.

Unfortunately, towards the end of the first trip the very same drive axle bearing started heating up.

The "radar detector" in the cab showed that the bearing was running warm and this raised concern. After the first trip we had to wait on a siding in Westfield for over an hour as per our schedule. It was at this time that our chief mechanic, Gary Matthews, inspected the bearing.  The bearing was indeed degrading and brass filings were found in the oil cellar underneath the axle.

 

The decision was made to pull the locomotive from future runs as the bearing was degrading but the journal (the machined surface of the axle the bearing rides on) was not damaged. The "radar detector" caught the problem before there was ever a safety concern and before serious damage was done to the locomotive.

 

 On the Sunday of Westfield Railroad Days, New Jersey Transit was gracious enough to give us another diesel locomotive so we would not have to use #142.  The locomotive could have been operated, but it  was just not worth the chance of doing any damage to the axle.

More importantly, we spent Sunday preparing the engine for a safe trip home to the NYS&W.

With the help of New Jersey Transit and Conrail we had a very safe trip home arriving on the NYS&W around two in the morning.

 

 After a day of rest all the fun began!   In just 14 days we had a very important trip to run with the steam locomotive. October 16th & 17th was the 150th Anniversary of the Binghamton to Syracuse Railroad. On both days all trips were sold out with customers eager to ride behind steam!

Never smart enough to give up, our engine crew with the support of all of the local NYSWTHS members who could lend a hand, dug into the problem. Luckily, the NYS&W was extremely helpful and assisted us in every way        possible.  Rob Mangels coordinated the project and led the direction of the tear-down, repair and reassembly. Gary Matthews was the mechanic in charge of the actual work.   Within a few days the locomotive (all 100 tons) was jacked up in the air almost 3.5 feet.  Gary Matthews and  Ernie Klopping did the majority of the work.  Pete Gores (Adirondack Scenic and  MA & N) volunteered his time and  came down to supervise the jacking up of the locomotive.  Once the engine was lifted, the bearing box which holds the bearing was unbolted, and rotated clear of the frame of the locomotive. The bearing box and bearing weigh over 300 pounds alone!

The very next morning Gary Matthews drove the bearing out to Strasburg who had originally made the replacement bearing two years earlier.   The experts at Strasburg spent some time analyzing the bearing attempting to decipher what went wrong. It was concluded that when the original bearing was made two years ago, it was not cut to the proper clearances. It was made just a little bit too small.  It worked well for the first year because it was still just breaking in. Once it wore in, there was not sufficient clearance between the bearing and journal on the axle to "wick" the oil for lubrication. It is imperative that a film of oil cover the journal at all times as the bearing actually rides on this film of oil. When the fit of the bearing got tighter the oil was no longer able to "wick" around the axle and lubricate the bearing.

To their credit, Strasburg realized the mistake and worked very hard to re-machine the brass to the proper specifications for a quick reinstallation. This kind of dedication to quality and integrity in business is rare in this day and age.

The same evening the bearing was finished Gary drove it back to New Jersey and on Sunday reinstallation began.

Now keep this in mind, it is Sunday morning and we are due to leave for Binghamton in just 2.5 days! The steam locomotive is essentially completely disassembled and 3.5 feet in the air! With the help of our members and even the New Hope and Ivy Land Railroad, Ernie and Gary actually pulled it off! In less than three days the bearing was reinstalled, the locomotive was lowered, all the appliances, side rods, and valve gear were attached. The tender also had to be reconnected to the locomotive. Once the engine was reassembled it had to be steamed up and prepared for the trip. This is when you find out what your mechanics are made of! Right out of the shop from a major rebuild and it was right out on the mainline. Literally within 20 minutes of being finished!  Over 20 cars were assembled for this special train and #142 and two NYS&W diesel locomotives had the job of bringing the train to Binghamton.  The intention was to simply have the locomotive in tow with the NYS&W crew pulling everything from the head end. When one of the NYS&W engines broke down #142 and one diesel had to pull the whole train. I think even the NYS&W crew in the lead engine was impressed with how hard the locomotive worked pulling the train over the mountain.

The good news... the bearing ran COOL, very, very, cool... and... that’s GREAT news!

Over the weekend #142 worked hard both days and performed flawlessly. She was the star of the show and very few people knew the short but hard road she traveled from Westfield just two weeks prior.

This story is just a short summary of the events as they took place and it barely touches the personal commitment of many people who work tirelessly to keep this wonderful machine operating.

Our organization is unique. We have done and will continue to do things other people only dream of accomplishing. I joked earlier that we are too stupid to give up. Obviously this is a joke... its not stupidity it’s called dedication and striving for excellence in your work whether it be a vocation or an avocation.

I hope that many members of our organization can be intrigued by these adventures and take that first big step and offer to help. Trust me you will get addicted, I did over 30 years ago!

Chris Cotty