Our railroad society was just gifted this engine. I was fortunate to find someone who e-mailed me the manual for it. The bell housing is cracked and will be welded in January.
I would appreciate any advice to help with the restoration.
http://i1250.photobucket.com/albums/hh524/Talisker92/23%20Ton%20Switcher/IMG_5896_zpsedlha2pg.jpg

What railroad society? Located where? Where did the engine come from? (We don't know any of these things).

Clean it up good especially in the electrical locker, vacuum and a blow gun (gently used) are your friend there.

3 12v truck batteries, group 31 are plenty to start it, and you can start to find out what other problems it has. The voltage is a little higher but within tolerance. The onboard alternator/gen won't charge them so you'll need to charge them separately. That way you can avoid buying a couple thousand worth of batteries just to find out it has a major failure.

Be careful welding up the bellhousing, the alignment is critical and you don't want to change it.

We are the Santa Clara River Valley RR Historical Society in Ventura County California. The engine was up at a refinery in Northern Calif. Thank you for your advice.

Based on the information given it is probably this one:

15010 23T D/E B Std 150hp Cum HBI-600 11/11/1941
Tidewater Associated Oil #1004, Avon, Calif End cab
Phillips Oil #1004, Avon, Calif
Lion Oil #1004, Avon, Calif
Tosco #1004, Avon, Calif
Diamond-Shamrock #1004, Avon, Calif

Hard to know where to give advice before we know what else is going on. But one thing to do is remove the air cleaner to where you can get a flat surface, one you can cover with a flat piece of plywood, to completely choke the air off. ANY time you turn over a diesel it -could- start. If there is a major failure it could run away and the only way to kill a diesel doing that is to choke off the air, and you don't want to be trying to figure that out while it's winding away. Keep it that way till you are confidant you have control of the engine.

Of course change the filters and oil. Correct oil is whatever 15w40 diesel grade oil you like, Rotella, Delo, Napa fleet...

If I was going to bring this one back to life:

First pressure wash the engine compartment. Get rid of the dirt. In the electrical cabinet vacuum up all the cobwebs then spray down all the contactors etc. with electrical contact cleaner. Let the loco dry out. (In CA that shouldn't take long)

Disconnect the old batteries and instead wire up three car (or truck) batteries in series. We start a Davenport with an almost identical engine with two car batteries.

Change the oil. Change the oil filter. Change the fuel filter. Bleed the fuel line. Add diesel fuel to the tank.

Check the coolant? Is there any in it? If not water will work for the purposes of a test run. If it starts and runs then you can drain the water and put in real antifreeze.

Check oil level in air compressor.

Make sure you have a way to stop the engine. It should already be set up to work off of a shut off switch in the cab. But if it doesn't shut the engine down this is what to do. On those Cummins PT injector pumps there is a solenoid shut off valve above it (I can see it in one of your pics). There should be a knurled knob to the left of it. Turn it counterclockwise to stop the engine. Pegasuspinto is correct in that you should have a way to cut off air flow to the engine just in case.

Have an ABC or CO2 fire extinguisher handy.

Then push the button.

Don't forget to film it all, either for educational or entertainment purposes, depending on what happens when it starts!

DO NOT use carb cleaner on the electricals!! Carb cleaner will dissolve paint, including the enamel on wire insulation! If you feel the need to use a liquid cleaner, use electrical cleaner...it should not be needed, it doesn't need to be THAT Clean.

The knob on the PT pump bypasses the solenoid to 'Run' but can not be used to shut down the engine. It should be tuned fully clockwise to close the bypass port.

OK, I see one oddball thing, it has a starter. Were not all these exciter cranked? I'm pretty sure this one never had a starter from the factory, because it has the correct amount of solenoids in the cabinet. But not the first time I've seen someone add a regular starter...

Also it looks like someone added straight brakes to it, tried to bypass the 14EL brake system?

Here I am at 1:15 turning the knob to shut down the engine. What do you think the knob does? It manually moves the valve that the solenoid moved electrically.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUb3FT_AqYg

Putting the knob back in the 'normal' position. If the solenoid was working and energized, it would continue to run.

Don't try welding that bellhousing, it is very unlikely to be successful.

If you'd like to see if a used replacement is available I suggest you contact Western Star Rail Services at 740-344-3336 and ask for Dennis.

Hi

This engine and other equipment was originally offered in 2015 to the Western Railway Museum.

Data below is courtesy of Mr. K. Wyatt from the Cal. State Ry Museum.

Here is info on the 23 ton GE loco.
#1004 GE 23 ton (1-A body style) c-n 15010, blt 11-1941
Blt for Tide Water Associated Oil Co #1004; Tidewater Oil Co #1004; Phillips Petroleum #1004; Lion Oil co #1004; Tosco #1004; Diamond Shamrock, Ultramar Div #1004. It ended it's life at the Tesoro Golden Eagle Refinery in Martinez, Ca. were it was stored out of service for many years.

Cheers

Karl Johnson

David Hamley wrote;

"Don't try welding that bellhousing, it is very unlikely to be successful."

Yes, if the bellhousing is cast iron (very likely) and it has an internal crack (away from the very edges of the part) your chances of welding it successfully without very special equipment and procedures is very low.

Look up the "Lock-N-Stitch" (tm) product line. Highly recommended for cast iron repairs.

Read these for more info;

http://www.locknstitch.com/cast-iron-welding.html

http://www.locknstitch.com/pdf/gmrc_white_paper.pdf

Cast iron is not strong enough to withstand the tensile (stretching) loads created when you heat it locally (like when you arc weld it). The crack you repair will just be replaced by other new cracks nearby (eventually). The high heat from electric welding will harden the cast iron and make it very hard to machine. And localized heat (without heating the whole piece before welding and allowing it to cool slowly) will cause distortions and warping. Your repaired bellhousing will very likely not fit properly and will eventually develop new cracks.

I have had very good success with the "Lock-N-Stitch" product line on old (1910's) cast iron parts including a rare 4 cylinder Buda gasoline engine installed in a ca 1919 Plymouth model BL-2 standard gauge locomotive. I highly recommend it.

Disclaimer, I do not own, work for, or know any of the "Lock-N-Stitch" folks.

They did contribute to repairing the cast iron dome of the US Capitol building and if their work is "good enough" for the government It should be just dandy for the rest of us....

Good luck, Kevin.

Being only 100 miles from Lock-N-Stitch's shop in Turlock, CA, I've used their services for several casting repairs at WRM.

Our projects have all been done by furnace brazing rather than using their stitching pins. Furnace brazing avoids the localized stresses caused by arc welding or using a torch to braze a crack without heating the whole object.

The most recent job they did for us was to repair a cast journal box. The bottom of the oil cellar had been broken out when somebody tried to jack up the car by jacking on the bottom of the journal box. The repair is performing very well.

There is definitely something odd about this little GE. If it is indeed b/n 15010 then it should have the simple suspension (coil spring above each journal) of 23 tonners of that era (and up to c.1945). But it obviously has the equalized suspension of post-1945 23/25 tonners. Did this loco go back to GE at some point to have that rather involved modification done? Can't picture it happening any other way......