Happy Holidays. We just had 3 feet of snow in December. I need to think back to warmer days like Memorial day, May 2010 when the LSRHS crew moved the Little Joe. Part of the move involved putting the refer on the Clifstar track. This required something like a flying switch. Watch the video below.

Titanx Radiator Core

Chris Bohn works for Titanx. Chris decided to take on the project of making a radiator core for the museum’s Whitcomb locomotive. Even though Titanx makes radiators for trucks and buses, they did not have a stock core big enough for the Whitcomb locomotive. Company president, Matt Moore, gave permission to build a super radiator using Titanx company resources, as time permitted.
The top and bottom pieces of the core are called the headers. Hollow tubes are soldered between the headers to make the core. Special headers were made by splicing two standard headers together. This was done with special wire in the Titanx sample shop. The new core should be completed in November.

Window Work

I have replaced most of the windows in the loco with clear plastic from Home Depot. The windows are made with a C channel frame. The top comes off so that the glass can be inserted. they fit in a larger steel C channel tracks at the top and bottom of the window. The bottom of the windows rusted out. I wanted to find some C channel to replace the bottom frame of the windows. That C channel is no longer available. Hank suggested 1/4 inch square tubing. Hank milled out one side making 1/4 inch C channel. I welded the channel to the bottom of the widow frames. The top track is removed by breaking off all the old screws. The new windows are placed in the bottom track, the top track is placed on top of the windows and the assembly is pushed back in the frame.

Working on the Radiator

The top and bottom cast iron pieces of the radiator are called tanks. The bottom tank was broken by ice many years ago. A piece broke out of the top tank when Hank and I disassembled the radiator. I transported the radiator tanks to J&M welding in Rock Creek Ohio. Joe did a beautiful job of welding the 5 foot long tanks. Back home I bought a piece of neoprene and cut 5 foot strips for a gasket. I coated the top tank with sealer to slow down rust. I took the tanks back up to the museum and put them on the Whitcomb.
Chris Bohn from TitanX is making final measurements and drilling holes in the brass header plates of the new core.

If you follow the Blog or look back to Oct 19th you see that Whitcomb's radiator leaked badly in several places. The bottom was broken out from water freezing in the bottom tank. A member of the LSRHS named Chris Bohn works for TitanX engine cooling in Jamestown New York. Chris approched the president of his company and TitanX agreed to donate a new radiator core for the Whitcomb. Thank you TitanX. Chris came and took measrements and made a CAD drawing of the new core. Hank and I went up to the museum July 6,7,8 to disassemble the radiator. We had to grind off many of the bolts because they were rusted tight and you couldnt get a wrench on them. We got the top tank free but we couldnt safely lift it off the radiator. A telephone man drove in and I asked him for help. We got the top tank off and got it on the ground. The side pieces and core were next. Both the top and bottom tank need welded.

ATCSmon Display

I think it would be great if the museum had a way to know or display if there were any trains in the area. People across the country are using scanner radios and computers to track trains like the railroad does. NS transmits data on 900 mhz. CSX curently uses telephone lines.

Febuary and March 2010

Hank and I went up to the museum in Feb 2010 and put in 2 new Optics windows.

I went up in March and made a new rocker cover gasket for the engine. The weather was rare warm day in the high 60's. The hood moved a little bit when running in the critter crawl. I lined up the bolt holes with a come along and put new bolts in.