Volunteer Work Log 2004This page outlines the activities of SBRHS volunteers while they keep 3751 operable during the year 2004 - as recorded by volunteers James Campbell, Wolf Fengler and Steve Crise.
January 10, 2004 - Today was the first official day back for the 2004 season. A large group of volunteers was on hand today, and as a result, much was accomplished. The first order of business was to put together the fireman's side reverser link. Once this was done, work began in putting the link and block back together on the engineer's side. Work on both the fireman and engineer side valve gear was completed before lunch. The engine is now moveable. This is important as the engine needs to be rolled out of the compound in the coming weeks to have the air tanks removed and replaced. In the afternoon, work focused on cleaning and organizing the tool car for any potential operations this year, cleaning the water glasses in the cab and installing electricity in the reefer.
January 17, 2004 - With the running gear put back together, focus shifted to the air tanks. The crew reported early this morning to get everything ready to move the engine out of the compound in order to use a forklift to remove the airtanks.
While the crew was waiting for Amtrak to move the engine, time was taken to get a few smaller things done around the compound, including maintenance on the water site glasses and continued organization of the tool car. Once the tanks were taken off the engine in early afternoon, work began on removing all components from the tanks in order for them to be used on the new tanks once they are constructed in the coming weeks.
January 24, 2004 - Today was a busy day cleaning up the compound and storage shed. The crew went through the inventory of what was being stored and threw out much of what was not needed, or never used. Items that were used seldomly were transported over to the storage container offsite. The compound looks like a different place now, and more work still to be done next week, on both the compound and interior of the tool car.
January 31, 2004 - Work around the compound was similar to that of last week. Cleanup focused on the tool car today, with additional work being done to install the correct bolts, nuts and pins to the timing valve gear, and in cleaning and inspecting the water level columns. A visitor from England also visited the compound later in the day.
February 7, 2004 - The largest project of the day was working on the new air tanks at Coast Packing. Half the crew spent the day cleaning the tanks and drilling telltale holes to satisfy FRA requirements. At the compound, a second crew worked on various tasks including installing some outside lighting, which will come in handy during the evenings before trips when the crew is working at night to fire up and prep the engine.
February 21, 2004 - Today was slow around the compound. Not much can be done until the new air tanks have been completed, and it was raining off and on throughout the day. Much of the day was spend doing small jobs around the engine, which needed attention and discussing our options following the disappointing cancellation of the San Diego trip due to the weakened structural integrity of the wooden trestles.
February 28, 2004 - Not much work was performed at the compound to, except for Dan Echeto installing the second of our two hanging outdoor lights from the overhead air pipe supports. Most of the crew spent the day at the Garden tracks near LA Union Station assisting Stan Garner with installing brackets on the Pony Express to hold a new generator. Time was also spend to inspect and make some last minute adjustments to the new air tank dimensions before welding begins later this week.
March 6, 2004 - Today work focused on inspecting and lapping the blowdown valves on the engine. The two side blowdown valves were in relatively good condition and required minimal lapping for the most part. The terminal blowdown valve however was grooved and needed to be recut on a lathe. Since recutting the seat within the pipe is not an option at this time, emmery was used on the valve seat, and lapping will be performed later when the majority of the grooving within the seat is removed. In addition to the work done on the blowdown valves, it was noticed that the junction where the throttle lever connects with the throttle assembly at the front of the locomotive was leaking slightly during the last operation, so the insulation was repacked and replaced where necessary.
March 13, 2004 - Work primarily focused again on lapping the terminal blowdown valve on the locomotive. While that was being done, Glen Campbell and I traveled to the San Gabriel Valley in an attempt to located an ex-Amtrak Material Handling Car (MHC) which we have been promised the HEP equipment from. In addition, once the car was located, an inspection was made to determine whether or not the trucks could be adapted to fit under the former AT&SF Express Reefer located at Redondo. The inspection concluded that it could be possible to adapt the trucks to fit under the reefer with some minor modifications. The next step is to negotiate for the aquistion of the trucks in addition to the HEP equipment.
March 20, 2004 - The crew met at Redondo around 9:00 AM and figured out what we needed to do to use some donated honing stones. As it turned out, we only had a coarse stone (Bob Kittel had ordered a fine stone and expected it Friday, but it didn't arrive in time) and needed to make an adaptor for the pilot. We tried out the coarse stone on one side blowdown valve and it worked well. In the meantime, Smokey and Tony had arrived so after having lunch we went up to the garden tracks at LAUPT to help Stan Garner by drilling some holes for the generator frame and then trimmed, aligned, drilled and secured 2 brackets for the generator fuel tank on the Pony Express.
March 27, 2004 - Redondo was pretty quiet this week, but Bob Kittel, Bob Ray, Smokey, Don Black and Wolf Fengler spent the day using the grinding stones to dress all 3 blowdown valves. They turned out pretty nice, although a steam test will be the real test to see how well we did.
April 3, 2004 - With the new air tanks not quite finished, not much needed to be done on the locomotive today. However, it was noted that a couple of brake shoes needed to be replaced in the near future and a couple of bushings still needed to be refitted or replaced on the engineer's side valve gear. These were removed to be remanufactured sometime in the next couple of weeks. Work also was done on one of the reefer's brake beams. Dan Echeto tested out the electric welder, by building up areas that had been grooved by the wheel flanges. A grinder was then used to reshape the brake beam.
April 10, 2004 - Work crews were split today between the compound at Redondo and working on the Pony Express at the Garden tracks near Los Angeles Union Station. Work on the Pony Express focused on installing the new power generator into the support frame that we had assembled a few weeks earlier. At the compound, due to increased security concerns nationwide regarding railroads, Danny worked on securing the perimeter fence by welding several support bars along the side door to help reinforce it. Other work included honing the area for the eccentric rod bushing, which was determined needed to be replaced the previous week because it was out of round. In addition, the new air tanks were finally completed earlier this week. Now all that needs to be done are to prime, paint and install them onto the locomotive
April 17, 2004 - No work session was held at Redondo this week. Instead, the engine crew attended the SBRHS Board of Directors meeting held in Pasadena to discuss the upcoming prospects for the organization and 3751.
April 24, 2004 - Three work groups were created today to tackle the work that needed to be done. The first group cleaned and prepped the new air tanks for painting over at Coast Packing; the second group continued working on the reefer, focusing on the brake beams and air brake cylinder; while the third group traveled to LAUPT to assist Stan Garner with mounting a new genset on the Pony Express.
May 1, 2004 - This weekend there was no work session at Redondo as the SBRHS crew hosted a concessions booth at the annual Fullerton Railroad Days. Regular work sessions will resume next week.
May 8, 2004 - With the confirmation that the engine would be heading to San Bernardino for the rededication of the restored Santa Fe Depot, the crew began prepping the locomotive to be steamed up. A lot needs to be accomplished in the following weeks to achieve this, and today work focused on painting the new air tanks (which are now ready to be placed on the engine), un-tarping the locomotive, clearing away materials and supplies from under and around the tool car to allow for the movement of the car, begin reassembling the cab, and the location of all necessary "steam-up" supplies and lubrication materials.
May 15, 2004 - Today the new air tanks were finally installed on the locomotive, However some minor adjustments will be needed in order to safely secure the tanks. The new size is slightly different than the originals and so the tank cradle radius is slightly larger than the new tanks.
This is not seen as a major problem however and steps are already being taken to accommodate the difference. In addition to the tanks, the remaining valve gear bushings were installed on the engineer side and the sand dome and tender sandbox were refilled.
May 22, 2004 - It was discovered at the end of the day last weekend that the air tanks are slightly narrower in diameter than the old tanks and the fireman's side tank was slightly shorter due to the absence of the extended flange on the end of the tanks now. Because of this, the tank straps that hold the tanks onto the locomotive were no longer tight. Today was spent modifying the straps to adapt to the new air tanks, by repositioning the straps on the fireman's side and adding spacers to both tanks to accommodate for the smaller diameter of the tanks. Work also continued on getting the tool car and other components ready for the trip.
May 29, 2004 - Air tanks are good to go - the copper crush gaskets worked great and Sam's spacers were rolled to the correct radius. Paul and Danny polished the bell while Tony and Don Rogers mucked more junk out of the tender bottom. Fred and a few other hands polished the rods. Artifacts acquired by the organization were also located and placed in the tool car for display in San Bernardino.
June 5, 2004 - Today last minute work was done around the engine which included cleaning and waxing, the installation of the engine jewelery, checking of some systems and the prepping for steam up scheduled for Monday. Soft grease points on both the engine and tender were also dealt with.
June 7, 2004 - Today was a long day, with crew call around 7-8am and shutdown around 9:30-10pm. The engine was steamed today to operating pressure for the first time since returning from the Grand Canyon trip which was at the end of August of 2002. Things went relatively smooth after it was discovered the reason the fire could not be lit was that there was water in the diesel fuel start-up tank. Since diesel and water separate with water being the heavier of the two, the water was drained from the bottom and the fire was then lit.
While this was going on the tool car was organized so it could safely transport all the exhibits, luggage and passengers to San Bernardino. Once there was enough steam pressure, the locomotive systems were fully tested.
June 8, 2004 - From the President, "We did our (stealth) test run this morning, finishing around 3:00PM in the afternoon. Amtrak was very kind in giving us a conductor and over two miles of track referred to as 101 or the roundhouse lead.
After the last two years of replacing parts I had some lingering questions about getting out on Metrolink for the depot grand re-opening. To make the report short, the engine ran very well with no hot parts appearing and the valve timing dead on. We did have a lubrication problem early on but that was due to sitting for two years. This cleared up fairly fast and the rest of the test run was good. We will be ready to leave LAUS at 8:20AM, June 11th, 2004.
Bob"
June 11, 12 and 13, 2004 - During the weekend, 3751 journeyed to San Bernardino to participate in the rededication of the newly restored Santa Fe Depot. The engine operated a short train between LAUPT and San Bernardino on Saturday and Sunday, with the crew finally shutting down the fire and tying the engine up in Redondo Junction around 10pm on Sunday night. For pictures of that trip please use this link.
June 19, 2004 - Today the engine was moved over to the inspection pits and overhead crane so that they feedwater heater could be inspected. Problems had been occuring on the return trip from San Bernardino with the feedwater heater, so the time was taken to disassemble and inspect it. It was found that some scale had worked loose and jammed the control valve. It was a three minute fix for the control valve and the heater box looked excellent. The boiler and tender were also drained and washed out.
June 26, 2004 - Slight binding was noticed in the valve gear during the trip, so today an effort was made to locate the problem. The first thought was it was the new piston and bull rings placed in the valves, however it was later determined that the valve cross head was a little too tight. To remedy this, additional shims were added in order to correctly space the valve crosshead ways.
July 17, 2004 - Work continued on the valve gear today after it was determined adding shims only partially solved the problem. The engineer side valve cross-head was still binding.
July 24, 2004 - Believing the problem to be in the valve cross-head itself, the engineer side valve cross-head and combination lever was removed today in order to be remachined in hopes this will solve the binding problem. In addition to this, work was done on the exhaust nozzles in the smokebox in order to enlarge them slightly to allow for less back pressure, more horsepower and better fuel economy. The nozzles were enlarged from 3.5 inches to 3.75 inches, which should allow the engine to produce an additional 400 to 500 horsepower on the road.
August 7, 2004 - Today was spent out in Monrovia, along the former Santa Fe Pasadena Sub removing the HEP equipment from an old Amtrak Material Handling Car (MHC) that was graciously donated by Stan Garner. All the equipment was removed from the car by 2pm and taken back to Redondo where the crew can then eventually decide which of the two crew cars they will install the equipment on to.
August 14, 2004 - We cleared away parts from in front of the reefer in preparation for restarting work on that project (and to get the wheelsets out of the compound for Amtrak to turn) and did some more cleanup around the compound - mostly removing the old crates that have been sitting outside the gate. We then went to examine the combine at Ron's. It had seen some hard couplings during its journey and had some severe load shifting. I had to crawl in around a metal bookcase which blocked on of the baggage doors to access the car and get the rear door open, then the rest of the crew boarded and we proceeded to throw out the damaged bookcase, a filing cabinet, some partitions, a smashed up picnic table and some other assorted items. An exterior side panel was also found dented by some impact and a light fixture inside had been removed/possibly stolen.
August 21, 2004 - Work began today with a packaging party with the crew stuffing the new Crew Car and Second Section newsletters into envelopes to be mailed to all SBRHS supporters. Following this, two teams were created with one focusing on determining if the reworked cross head eliminated the friction that was developing near the timing valve, while the other team began work on the reefer truck. A reefer repair list was drawn up outlining what needs to be done to make the reefer roadworthy again. Once work on the locomotive crosshead is complete, focus will shift to the reefer.
September 4, 2004 - Today was a short day due to it being Labor Day weekend. Work began early in the morning before the heat rose to unbearable tempretures, with removing the engineer side combination rod and cross-head. It was determined the previous week that it was possible the bushings on the combination lever were not bored correctly. While the combination lever is down, the bushings will be inspected to determine if they were bored at the correct alignment, and will be repaired if it is determined they were not.
September 11, 2004 - The work session today focused on the reefer. The cutting torch was used to remove the remaining pedestal liners from the truck, then Paul Prine and myself used the grinders to smooth over the remaining welds. Work is progressing well on the truck. Over the next several weeks, we hope to be purchase new pedestal liners, repair two leaf springs, replace and inner coil spring, and purchase material to manufacture new bushings for the leaf spring hangers. Once this is done, the truck can be reassembled.
September 25, 2004 - Today the engineer side cross head was reassembled after weeks of determining the source of the binding. The problem was identified as being in the combination lever, which was not rebored correctly during the work done on the bushings. As a result, the pins were not aligned. This has since been corrected and the binding problem eliminated.
October 2, 2004 - There was no official work session this weekend as most of the crew were over at the Los Angeles Live Steamer Fall Open House at Griffith Park to help out and to promote the society's new Educational Outreach Program.
October 9, 2004 - The backpressure gauge lines were installed today so that the improvements made to the exhaust ports this summer could be measured during the trip to San Pedro at the end of the month. While this was going on, further lighting was installed in the reefer to make it easier to work and locate necessary items in the car. Cotter pins that had been removed in the course of working on the running gear were replaced, the eccentric rod to the link block on the fireman's side was reconnected and we hosted some firefighters from LAFD. The tasks performed on the locomotive today were the last necessary tasks that needed to be performed on 3751 to make the engine ready for the move down to San Pedro.
October 16, 2004 - Detail work was done around the locomotive, tool car and reefer today. On the locomotive, the washout and inspection plugs were put in, the cylinder timing valve caps were installed, the rods were polished, the air brake and feed water system checked and inspected. A brake system test was performed on the tool car as well, and Tony continued to work on the electrical system in the reefer. All that remains is to fill the boiler and tender and light off the fire next weekend. At the end of the day, several large tarps were placed over the boiler and cab because of the threat of rain later this weekend and into next week. This was done in order to prevent water from seeping inbetween the boiler and insulation and to protect the wood inside the cab.
October 23, 2004 - Today was the final Saturday before the trip to San Pedro. We arrived early this morning to begin filling the boiler, however 45 minutes into filling it was noticed a couple of the washout plugs along the firebox were leaking rather significantly. After attempts to tighten and seal the plugs failed, the decision was made to empty the boiler and remove the plugs to find out why they were not seating properly. After emptying the boiler (and forming Lake Redondo), the plugs were inspected and it was found they were placed in the wrong locations. Once this was corrected, water was again put into the boiler. Once this was done (an hour and a half later) the fire was lit to heat the water enough to make light off on Monday a little smoother and less time consuming. While this was being done, some last minute details were being attended to, such as pumping the water out of the compound that was left from emptying the boiler, fabricating a new steam pressure gauge line that was more historically accurate, placing sponsors banners on the side of the tool car and filling the tender with water. Shut down was around 6pm with crew call to be at 8am on Monday morning.
October 25, 2004 - During the last week of October 2004, the SBRHS kicked off the Educational Outreach Program in San Pedro, CA. The locomotive was fired up on Monday afternoon, for an early Wednesday morning departure down the Alameda Corridor. It was a wet and gloomy morning, but that did not deter the 4 classes of 5th grade students waiting for the engine to arrive.
Over the course of three days, the SBRHS Educational Outreach Program (EOP)hosted over 400 students, the EOP curreculum showed our 400 5th grade guests local rail history, how the railroads have modernized over the years and we even threw in some science and math. We were very fortunate in that Operation Lifesaver was on board and gave the OLS classes to the 400 plus students.
Over the weekend, 3751 was open for public display and an estimated 1,500 people a day came by to see the locomotive and short train which consisted of the SBRHS tool car, Pullman sleeper car "Pacific Sands", SP Lounge car "Overland Trail", and CP Baggage and horse car "Pony Express". On the evening of October 31st (Halloween night) 3751 and her train departed San Pedro for the return to Redondo Junction and the end to a very successful week.
November 6, 2004 - Today the boiler was drained, and washed, all steam systems and piping drained and then everything was charged with air and blown dry, the cab jewelry was removed and general inspections were made of the locomotive. In addition to the work on the locomotive, work was also done to reorganize the tool car and remove all the merchandise to be placed back in storage. At the end of the day the locomotive was covered in tarps again to protect against the rain that is expected over the next week.
