In November I replaced the ignition switch with a heavy duty one. I unwound the chain on the hand brake and straightened it out and wound it up again. The president of the museum feels that the Plymouth brakes should be more effective. I checked the level of the diesel fuel in the tank. It hardly registered on a rod that I lowered into the tank. I got a diesel can and put almost 10 gallons in the tank. The museum plans to add diesel when they fill the other equipment.

I went to the museum in October and got the starter Steve dropped off. The nose casting was oriented 180 degrees different from the Plymouth starter. I took it home and took the nose casting off and turned it 180 degrees and reattached it. I took the starter back to the museum and installed it in the engine. The train started fine. Because the old starter had gotten so hot I decided to check to see if there was some voltage applied to the starter motor after it was started. Sure enough the ignition switch was messed up and putting 12 volts on the starter even after the key switch was turned back to run. I put a disconnect switch in the line to the starter motor and that was a work around.

During August and September Steve and I have worked on the Plymouth. Steve bought a bell and he and I made a bracket and mounted it on the hood. We painted the inside of the cab. We made an appointment to run the Plymouth with the new batteries and rebuilt alternator. We made a few runs up and down the track when we smelled something burning. The starter solenoid and starter were smoking and too hot to touch. What caused this and what damage was done, we don’t know yet. Steve has another starter to try on the engine.

I picked up the alternator from the rebuilder and Saturday afternoon Aug 2, I installed it in the Plymouth. I started the Plymouth with 2 batteries, at first it showed a charge but when I turned it off and back on again it showed discharge. I didn't know what to do but the alternator was still not working. Sunday I took the alternator out of the Plymouth. I took the alternator back to the rebuilder Monday. He was not happy with me but he put it on the tester and showed me that it was still working fine. He said the problem is in the locomotive. I put the alternator and VR back in the Plymouth. I knew that there had to be 12 volts applied to the regulator to excite the alternator. The wire for that was connected to the ACC (accessory) terminal on the ignition switch. That’s the way it was wired on the old switch. I thought that might be bad and so I moved the exciter wire from ACC to the IGN (ignition) terminal on the switch. Now it shows charging on the ammeter. So the new ignition switch was bad. I dont need the ACC terminal so its fixed,

I went up to the museum with voltmeters, ammeters etc. I thought that the charging system had a short in it because the batteries were totally discharged after running in July 6. I put a 30 amp fuse in line with the alternator. I started the engine and measured the voltage of the alternator. I got 10 volts. I called Steve to ask if I could take the alternator to NAPA to have it tested. He said go ahead. NAPA’s tester was broken so I tried Autozone in Erie. Autozone asked what car is it out of and I asked what does it matter. They said they had to put it in the computer on the tester. It turns out that they couldn’t test it but knew of a rebuild shop in Erie. I took it to the rebuild shop. They tested it and gave me an estimate of $ 125. to rebuild it so I left it at the rebuilders to be rebuilt.

Plymouth runs

Steve K. worked to obtain two old industrial locomotives from possible abandonment or scrapping. Finally after 8 years of waiting and negotiations the locomotives were to be transported to Lake Shore Railway Museum in North East Penna. The 1949 Plymouth had been re-engined with a Cummins diesel. We did not know if the engine ran. We did not know what condition the diesel fuel was in being maybe 10-15 years in the tank.
This year 4th of July was on a Friday. I went up to the museum. I brought 2 12 volt batteries with me. I was to meet the owner Steve there. I added antifreeze to the radiator. I added oil to the engine. I connected the batteries to the terminals. I drained about 2 cups of black fuel off the bottom of the tank. I waited for Steve to come. At about 12 noon I asked Mark to try the key switch. I wanted to hear the starter and engine to see if the batteries would turn it over. As recommended I had made a piece of plywood that fit in the air cleaner in case the diesel ‘ran away’. Mark turned the key. The starter sounded good and the engine even tried to start. I was sure it would not run away. I went in the cab and started the engine. It sounded real good, oil pressure was good and ammeter showed charge. After initial excitement about it running we tried to put it in gear and move it. It would not move. The transmission and clutch all seemed to operate correctly but when you let the clutch out nothing happened. I left about 2;30pm. Steve came later and got to start and hear the engine run.
I got to think about the clutch and transmission for a day and thought the throw out bearing was stuck on its collar keeping the clutch from engaging. I went back to the museum Sunday July 6th . I envisioned the throw out bearing sliding on the collar and thought it was rusty. I thought I would clean up the collar behind bearing and force it back and clean in front of it. There was a grease fitting on the throw out bearing and other clutch shafts. I greased everything. I got a big pinch bar and forced the throw out bearing back. I worked the clutch about 50 times to get the grease in place. Ray got to the museum and I told im that I wanted to try the Plymouth. We put the hand brake on and took out the chocks. I was connected to the 25 ton GE locomotive. The Plymouth worked well. Ray called Steve and Steve came over to the museum. Steve operated the Plymouth for about an hour. After a while I noticed that the ammeter was showing a big discharge. I turned the engine off and the batteries were dead. The charging system needs looked at or tested.

Ray supplied the paint and i painted the Plymouth orange. The owner Steve and i are getting to know the engine. It was reportedly last run in 2008. We hope to get it running again. We are proceeding cautiously.

I replaced 11 panes of broken glass in the Plymouth. The windows came out and there was 4 small angle brackets holding each pane in. The glass was replaced with Lexan.

The Museum received a 1946 Plymouth JHG locomotive in May. This and a 1939 GE locomotive lost there storage at the Terminal of Commerce in Tonawanda N.Y. Windows on both locomotives have been broken. We are working on windows this week end.

Charge the battery and watch trains.

The Whitcomb locomotive Is run in warm weather. Right now the N.S. Dash 8 has the Whitcomb penned in. I charged the batteries in Feb 2014. Here is a video from March 2014.