We have negotiated for a pair of 40 horsepower motors that we will use with new axles and wheels. The Dallas Birney is equipped with 2x40 HP motors and doesn't seem particularly over powered in my experience. The Tampa Birney has a series-wound motor that scares the heck out of me, so I don't think we would have the most powerful or fastest Birney in the world with 80 HP under the floorboards.

I think one of the participants has acquired a Milan truck from Gomaco that contains suitable motors. I don't think we will be casting new motor frames and cores anytime soon.

If I recall correctly, the wheels were 24 or 26, not 23. I've seen new wheels cut from forged blanks at Irwin in PA. We can provide drawings of the wheel style we want, so we will likely contract for a new set from them or Penn Machine.

The SPCRR has patterns for a cast steel 24" and 26" wheels based on a Whitney & Sons chilled iron wheel, circa 1880. We had them made with a 4 1/2" tread, as found in 1880's MCB literature. I suspect this might work well as a compromise for those with both railroad and streetcar trackage.

We have only cast them for our own use on our horse powered insular narrow gauge, plus one pair for the Colorado Railroad Museum for their DSP&P Baldwin 2-8-0. Our vendor says they could be tested to allow them some level of regulatory scrutiny... of course with costs associated with such.

Thanks, Mr. Hees. I will pass that information along to our project participants. I suspect our sources of motors and axles will vary so I am leaving wheelsets to each of the participants other than that we have a common journal box and frame spacing.

As for NTHT's car, we are planning for charter operation on the proposed municipal streetcar circulator so we will have to make some educated assumptions about what wheel profile will be used on a system that is in preliminary design. Perhaps we can put heads together with the project consultant and lock in a good compromise profile early on.

It's time for that. While there are any shops left that know how to wind a DC motor!



That too.

This is real money though. Can the birney owners of the world ante up?

The elevators in my building are powered by DC motors with high starting torque capabilities and capable of frequent starts and stiops in both directions. I haven't looked at the HP specs, but wonder if they or other industrial DC motors couldn't have adapters made to hang them in trucks rather than gearing up to make new motor replicas. Using todays technology a more efficient motor taking up less space is probably feasable if we want to build new.

dave

What did Miner use for motors in the Galveston, Tex., streetcars?
What did Brookville use for the PCC-IIs for Philadelphia?
Jimmy McHugh of McHugh Railroad Maintenance Equipment, in the Strick Trailer Plant, Lincoln Hwy., Fairless Hills, Pa. claims that he has sources to make new D.C. traction motors, and has had to do so for some locomotive cranes.
While the above motors are for Diesel-Electric equipment, it seems like the skills are out there, just use different wire and insulation sizes, and pay lots of money. How much does a spare motor for a Light Rail Vehicle cost?

I can't imagine why everyone is so concerned about motors. I think those of us who are doing this project generally have motors covered. Sure, there are continuous duty DC mill motors readily available. Also, with a small cabinet of circuitry, you can use AC motors like MATA in Dallas. They have four brand new shiny AC motors sitting on their shop floor waiting to be installed in 754. Motors are not an issue.

You want to talk about hard to find, let's talk brake rigging, body end spring cups, quarter-elliptic spring yokes, etc....

I suspect this might be the most significant discussion taking place on this board... reflecting the growing maturity of our collective efforts. 7 or so organizations participating to make 10 sets of parts to restore one common model of streetcar... With ongoing discussions about how to solve collective problems, and source parts, either via adapting existing parts or creating new.

Similar discussions occasionally occur for steam, most commonly around the occasional Strasbourg Shops updates...

We are collectively moving beyond scavenging parts, and sharing our collective solutions.

I wonder if there would be value in a general database of what patterns are held by our groups, so we can benefit from each others efforts.

Randy