Bay State DL-109 Restoration Project

[Rufus T. Firefly]

There is a lot more work to restore all this than originally anticipated.

Seems all too common, Goes closely with "What was I thinking?"

[up148]

Whoaaaaa. That is a very interesting drive and by design it's fabrication time when parts wear out. Some owner before you came up with some clever repairs, but wow, this is a monster repair.

[R.K. Maroon]

This is a monster repair

What was I thinking?

The line between a challenge and tedium lies in a different spot for each of us. Needless to say, I find the reincarnation of these dinosaurs to be an enjoyable and satisfying challenge.

Here is the plan for the restoration of the drives and chassis for unit #1:

-- Build up six wheelsets using a combination of new and old components
-- Recondition the journals on the truck sideframes
-- Restore the butchered truck bolster back to its original configuration
-- Clean and paint the chassis and sideframes
-- Service the motors
-- Assemble, wire, and test

I'll tackle these one at a time, starting with the wheelsets. The goal is to have all six wheelsets matched as far as wheels and axles and to recreate the original gearing and metal-chain setup. The existing wheelsets are a mismatched lot. Fortunately, I have new wheelsets of the correct length and wheel, axle, and journal diameters:



As can be seen, new gears are in hand too. This is part luck and part long-term planning. I learned early on that an inventory of gears is all but essential for doorstop restoration, so I squirrel them away any chance I get. But, even with a multi-pound box of gears, I considered it quite fortunate to find NOS Boston Gears that matched the original: 30 tooth axle gear, double-turn worm.

The next step is to salvage the sprockets from the axles. Not all were viable but I had a few spares. Unfortunately, they don't all match:



Off to the lathe!
Jim

[Rufus T. Firefly]

This is a monster repair

What was I thinking?

The line between a challenge and tedium lies in a different spot for each of us. Needless to say, I find the reincarnation of these dinosaurs to be an enjoyable and satisfying challenge.

I will concede that to be true. And in the near future I'll be going forward with that "What was I thinking?" trolley body I picked up in Strasburg, quite probably converting it into a diner after clearing several ongoing projects from the bench to make adequate space.

[up148]

Obviously our comments were compliments to your skillsets and ability.....as it wouldn't be possible for someone with less. The fact you have most, if not all of the parts in stock, is a major plus as fabricating them would be huge. Anyway you cut it, this project is not for the faint of heart and I look forward to your progress Jim. This is the kind of repair/build journey we used to read and see in train magazines......... and I miss them.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

This is the kind of repair/build journey we used to read and see in train magazines......... and I miss them.

Yes, and things could have been different. Poor choices and decisions were made.

[R.K. Maroon]

The Bay State DL-109 is not only rare but also not well documented. No catalog is known to me, and there are few appearances of them in the model railroad press over the seventy-five-plus years since their introduction and brief run. Given that, it is very fortunate to have found a model that appears to be in its original configuration. As the two models being restored will be run as a pair, I decided to make the effort to put the second model in the same configuration (or at least appear to be). I mention all this to explain why I have taken the time to make the sprockets I need all look the same. So here is what I've got:



The sprocket in the upper right is an original Boston Gear item. I need four of them, and I have two. I can make two more by turning the hub on the bottom right and then fixing it to the flat sprocket next to it. The sprocket on the upper left is an original Boston Gear item as well, but its hub has been turned down to provide clearance for the worm gear. As before, I need four, I have two, and so the hub on the bottom left gets fixed to the flat sprocket next to it.

All parts are cleaned and then pressed together:



I have said this before here, but the PanaVise arbor press is one of the best investments I ever made:



I was careful to machine the hubs for a good press fit, but I flowed solder into the joints for some insurance:



A resistance unit might seem an odd choice for this, but it's fast and easy and eliminates open flames. As an aside, I recently switched to Stay-Brite liquid flux and I have to say it works great.

All sprockets now ready for installation. The original four are on the top row, the built-up replacements on the bottom row:



Gear mods next
Jim

[up148]

All I can say is "WOW"! You've done some amazing work. Everything looks original......nice job.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Neatly done! I am envious of both skill and equipment

[R.K. Maroon]

Thanks for the kind words, gentlemen. It was a lot of hours spent for a seemingly small thing, but I am happy that I got this task out of the way early.

As mentioned, I have new worm-gear sets for both power trucks. All is good there but two modifications to the axle worm gears are required. First the new gears have a hub on them that is not present on the original gears. Most of the hub had to go to make room for the metal-chain sprockets. I temporarily pressed in a 3/16" piece of brass rod into the hole in the gears so I would have something for the lathe collet to grab. Then a quick lop with the nifty Taig back-mount cutoff tool does the trick:



The second modification involved adapting down the 3/16" hole in the worm gear to 5/32" to match the axle diameter. I had a short section of brass tube with the correct inside and outside diameters, fabricated for a previous project but not used. All I had to do was cut it to length, press it in, and wick a little solder into the seam. The gears as they look before modification are shown in the top row, with the modified gears on the bottom:



Axle assembly next
Jim

[steamaheadstephen59]

This is what you call love and devotion, next comes satisfaction! Love it, Thanks for the story.

[R.K. Maroon]

The sprockets and the gears were reamed to 5/32", which is the same diameter as the wheelset axles. This gives a light press fit -- not tight enough to hold under load, but generally tight enough to stay in place after pressing while they await soldering. I prefer to press the sprocket or gear onto the shaft to get it started, instead of vice-versa:



However, once the part is started, I turn the assembly over and press the shaft instead:



I fabricated a couple of pressing spacers to make it easier to locate the sprockets and gears on the axles. The sprocket spacer is a piece of brass flat bar with a slot milled for the axle. The spacer is placed as shown below, and the axle is then pressed until the wheel hits the spacer:



A second spacer was required to locate the gear. Here you can see the wheel-spacer-sprocket-spacer-gear sandwich:



The completed center axle and spacers are shown below:



And here is a complete set of wheelsets for one power truck:



Note that one could press the sprockets and gears into position without the spacers. You just have to be a little more patient. I take the time to make the spacers so that assembly proceeds with more ease and repeatability. Also, I fabricate a brass adapter for the arbor press ram to fit close and capture the end of the axle (you can see this near the top of the first four photos above). I consider this piece to be essential, as it eliminates wobble of the axle while being pressed. All I had to do is booger up an axle end once to learn how important a square, stable, rigid setup is when pressing axles (or most anything else).

Finally, as an aside, I bought a four-jaw chuck for my Taig lathe a couple of years ago, figuring I would need it "someday". That day came when I made the gear spacer:



No telling how many years it may be before I need it again.

Jim

[up148]

WOW! Nice work Jim. The right tool always makes a job go smoother.

[SWrailroader]

Jim,
This is very useful info. The tools, pictures and descriptions will be very handy for some of my future projects.
Thank you,
Rob

[sleepmac]

Jim, a great blow by blow description!

Dan Weinhold