Bay State DL-109 Restoration Project

[R.K. Maroon]

I am happy to report that the trial assembly of the power truck with the rebuilt bolster revealed no interference or other issues:



The truck is sitting on a jar instead of on a flat surface because the worm gear is longer than it needs to be and I haven't trimmed it yet:



The sprockets and gears can now be soldered into place. The insulated wheels will be pulled before applying heat to the axles to avoid damaging the insulating bushing, which appears to be nylon.

There is one other issue to deal with. The power truck arrived with a replacement wheelset with larger-than-stock journal diameter. The new replacement axles all have the original journal size, so the wallowed journals of the sideframes need to be restored. One solution would be to plug the journal and rebore, but I am going bore them all out and install ball bearings. I have done this on passenger cars before but not a locomotive. Something new.

Jim

[bob turner]

Or just fill with K&S Tube. Nice work; gears look brand new.

[up148]

This has been so cool to watch the evolution or this restoration. Absolutely a labor of love and job well done.

I've never seen or heard a drive like this run. Do the chains make it loud?

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I've never seen or heard a drive like this run. Do the chains make it loud?

I'm curious as well on that detail. Looking forward to a YouTube of these running in the future!

[sleepmac]

I'm interested in how you install the ball bearings!

Dan Weinhold

[bob turner]

I put ball bearings in a small Mallet - they actually added drag. They need to either be perfectly aligned or floating.

This one has a tiny heart pump Escap motor, and it is all it can do to haul four or five plastic cars around. I left the ball bearings in - but never repeated the experiment.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

..... a small Mallet...

Actually like the lines of that engine,

[R.K. Maroon]

Do the chains make it loud?

This project has been going on long enough that whatever happened on page one is long forgotten. Here is a video of the chassis from unit #2, which arrived more-or-less fully functional:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ie4u6h40cdeb5o5p77766/Bay-State-DL-109-2-Chassis-Test-Run.mp4?rlkey=43b9mmw3po1ubhbqxlnkgwr99&st=dax9pf6p

For what it is worth, the excellent operating condition of unit #2 was a big factor in deciding to restore the original drive of unit #1.

I'm interested in how you install the ball bearings!

I will provide the usual photos to show this. Boring the holes for the bearing is easy on a mill. The tricky part, as Bob implies, is locating the holes. Hole-to-hole spacing and sideframe-to-sideframe alignment is critical, especially on a rigid frame truck.

Having said that, I decided to fabricate the pair of kingpin shoulder screws that are needed before starting the ball bearing installation. New kingpins were needed, as one was missing completely and the other was all but sheared off. I decided it was easier to modify an existing shoulder screw rather than cut one from scratch. The first step was lathe work, which amounted to turning the part in the top of the photo into the part on the bottom:



The next step is to cut 4-40 threads. I would have this done already, but the 4-40 die I had turned out to be crap. A new one will arrive in a day or two.

Jim

[Rufus T. Firefly]

This project has been going on long enough that whatever happened on page one is long forgotten. Here is a video of the chassis from unit #2, which arrived more-or-less fully functional:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ie4u6h40cdeb5o5p77766/Bay-State-DL-109-2-Chassis-Test-Run.mp4?rlkey=43b9mmw3po1ubhbqxlnkgwr99&st=dax9pf6p

Impressive! Wonder if the electric meter spun up a few extra times,

[R.K. Maroon]

Here is quick update showing how the new kingpin screws were threaded:



What we have here is a 4-40 die chucked up in a Taig benchtop lathe. A flat-head screwdriver bit is mounted in the tailstock chuck. In between is the kingpin. The spindle is rotated by hand while the tailstock is used to feed the kingpin into the die. The tailstock is lever operated, which makes it easy to maintain constant (but limited) pressure on the kingpin while feeding it in and out of the die.



Doing this with a threaded tailstock would require close coordination between the motion of the die and the feed of the tailstock. Note that the second step in the operation is shown, whereby the kingpin is being run into the backside of the die to bottom-thread it close to the head. The die was originally mounted the other way to get the threads started and mostly cut.

Here are the now-threaded pair of new kingpins, shown with an original kingpin:



The new kingpins are obviously too long, but, as it is, the original kingpin is just a bit too short. Having them longer than needed actually made them easier to handle. They will get trimmed to fit as appropriate.

Jim

[bob turner]

Those are gorgeous. I really like the hand feed idea - with a conventional lathe, all you need to do is release the clamp on the tail stock. The lever would make for more precise pressure.

I had thought you were trying to cut five threads on the end of a fat screw. That would have been a bit more difficult.

[up148]

That has to feel good to be able to make almost anything you need for a project, instead of having to search and search to find something that will work, but isn't 100%. Those are beautiful!!!

[SWrailroader]

Jim,
I never thought of putting a dye in a tailstock. Very helpful info.

Rob

[R.K. Maroon]

That has to feel good to be able to make almost anything you need for a project

Making parts is indeed very satisfying, as you can imagine. The trick for me is to choose projects that line up well with my capabilities in regards to skills and tools. Challenges along the way are always welcome, but I try to avoid tar pits and suicide missions.

As to the project at hand, I had to double-back and pick up some tasks I had skipped. I posted a lot of photos on the restoration of one of the truck bolsters. The other one was in much better shape but still needed attention. Somebody had gouged-out a fair amount of material from the underside of the bolster. I restored the piece by milling the damaged area square and fitting it pieces of brass bar stock:



I cut the fitted pieces long and then went back and milled them to match the motor clearance hole:





Also, I have been putting off soldering the gears and sprockets to the wheelset axles. At first I found this to be easier than expected:



However, I quickly discovered that a room-temperature light press fit can turn into a slip fit when heat is applied. Time slowed down as I figured various ways of keeping the parts in place while they were being torched. It was best when I could keep the axle vertical, as the solder would wick neatly into the joint:



Unfortunately, the center axles had to be turned on their side to solder the gears, which resulted in drips and a mess. So a bit more cleanup was needed than expected, but they're done and ready to install:



Ball bearing installation next
Jim

[up148]

but I try to avoid tar pits and suicide missions.

Great line.....I'll have to remember that one.

Yankee Ingenuity is a great companion of talent and skill. Solving problems is part of the fun as long as you stay out of the tar pits.