I just noticed something. Why does the axle on the left look like it has been subject to a large quantity of heat?

But isn't it the axle on the left in the photo you reposted (the outer axle) the one that appears properly quartered? The crank pins on the inner axle (on the right in the photo you reposted) are the ones that appear to be out of quarter by about 40 degrees.

Which axle is the powered axle? If the rear one is the 'idler' it wouldn't be really hard at all to extract that axle and take it to a shop who can press it apart and find out what happened.

I learned a very powerful problem solving tool watching Sesame Street:
"Three of these things belong together; One of these things is not the same; LA_LA"

Look at the original picture and try to tell what is fundamentally not right about it:




PREGNANT PAUSE FOR CONTEMPLATION (Helps to hum Jeopardy theme song)

On all the other 4-couipled wheelsets, the side rod is horizontal and parallel to the rail, frame, etc.

This rod has a noticeable slope. This is not the same as all the others.

What are the consequences?

The wheel set is locked:

1. If the R1 wheel tries to move clockwise, the R2 wheel will be pulled counter clockwise by the rod.
2. If the R1 wheel tries to move counter clockwise, the R2 wheel try to move clockwise.



A 7/8" forward movement of the R1 crankpin above the wheel centerline and a corresponding 5/8" forward movement of the R2 crankpin below the wheel centerline causes the L1-L2 distance to be shortened by 6-1/2" inches! The 23 degree offset is arbitrary for clarity of the drawing, but indicates a 51 degree offset of the 2 crankpins. The principles should be obvious.

1. First, VERY FIRST make sure the axles are trammed 60" +/- 0.015".
2. Verify all the pedestal liners are in place.*
3. Jack both cranks on one side to a horizontal dead center. Use a level. (Verify the rail is level).
4. Verify the crankpins are 60" apart.
5. Verify the crankpins on the opposite side are 60" apart.

If there is still a problem, it is a serious problem.

*I have seen a 25 tonner(chain drive) running (slowly, in service) with all the pedestal liners sitting on a shop shelf. Slop was 3/4" per pedestal. "We didn't have time to put them in and it works fine."

I suggest jacking the locomotive up to line up the first side of the engine, counter weights need to be in the same position. 4 decent sized bottle jacks at each corner of the truck frame should do the trick, get it high enough to spin the wheels by hand. Get one side lined up, that should tell you how screwed up the other side is. I'm guessing there was a reason they didn't have the rods on one truck.

Guessing one axle is not quartered at 90 degrees, and the keyway was cut in the wrong spot. If thats the case, no way to fix it except replace the axle.

How far apart does a second "correctly" located key way have to be from an incorrectly located key way to be able to safely save the axle?

Brian

Yeah, and that piddly jack is way too small.

I would say that you want at least a keyway's width of axle material between the old keyway and a new one.

If the correction is minor, you can make a "stepped" key with the step up to 1/3 of the width of the key.

If a new keyway needs to be cut, and would be too close to the old one, you can always add a new keyway to the crank as well in some other location around the circumference, thus allowing you to put a new keyway in the axle that isn't crowding the old one.

An alternative would be to take a sample of the crank, and if made of low carbon steel, its keyway can be welded up then recut where needed.

I suppose if the keyway is off, but not off enough to have material to just recut, you could press both counterweights off, and turn the axle 180 degrees, and rekey both sides, that way you starting fresh. The important part is that the keyway's are 90 degrees off from each other

Since it has not been asked yet, how important is getting the rods on this engine? Is it going to be running? Or is it just for display? If running, I'd almost suggest a new axle at this point if you want it done right. If money is an Issue, see above. If it just for a display, put some manikins out with wrenches and a side rod half off

I still also say you need to get at least one rod on correctly, with the counter weights in line before trying to figure out how far off things actually are.

He did. Fifth post down on the second page.

Thanks for all the feedback! Hope none of you are losing sleep over this...LOL

To answer a couple questions/comments more better pics attached.

There is no mechanical dept to ask where we got it. The facility is closed.

The loco was used by Public Service Indiana and sold to DTE railcar in 2003 for use at their Clinton IN shops. From there it went to Freightcar when they acquired the plant. I have no idea when it was last in service. Harbor Rail has never used it. The skeleton crew at the shop tells me a traction motor was replaced but they don't know which one. They tell me that work was done by a local farmer. I suspect it was the one on the powered axle that is screwed up.

I am not sure what the difference is between lining up the weights up or down. I had both up which made installing the rod a lot easier then moved both to the suggested lower position suggested by you all here. Those piddily 20ton jacks work just fine for this.

Anyway, it looks to me like the powered axle fireman side counterweight is probably the one causing problems. I attached pics of all four key ways on that truck. They are in order fireman power, fireman idler, engineer power, engineer idler. They are in order bottom to top on this page.

The fireman power axle counterweight looks to be not pressed all the way on the axle. The surfaces of the weight and axle are not flush like the rest. It is the one ith 4 dimples below the keyway.

We have no plans operate it any time soon, however operation might be something we look at in the future, so I would like to find a sweet spot where I can get the engineer rod in place so it isn't laying in the dirt forever. More jacking and pulling.

Anyway I hope this answers some of you all's questions.

Thanks again for all the feedback! This has been an interesting thread

Apparently these people worked on one of the axles:

http://www.cfrailservices.com/Locomotive-Repair

some local farmer may of been the one to crib it up enough to drop the axle, however.

So that's a C vs G.

Thanks for the info

The weight with all the rust looks like it had something welded to it. Makes me wonder if it was cracked or something.

Couple of the last bunch of pictures looks like the counterweights been working . Last bottom picture shows punches maybe for lining up the key. What do you think?