Whitcomb Locomotive Rebuild

Putting antifreeze in the radiator

2011-09-26T10:01:00.001-04:00

September 26 was a beautiful day. My son Dave and our friend Jim had breakfast at Colt Station Pa and headed up to the museum to put antifreeze in the Whitcomb. I connected the battery and started the engine. I had put 5 gal of grease in the transmission the day before. That only brought the tranny fluid level to ‘low’. I still had a hard time getting the drive train to stop moving so that I could shift the transmission into gear. I finally got it in gear and backed up to remove the chocks. I had 110 lbs of air pressure, now more than I want, so I have to adjust it down. We set the switches and moved up to the water hose. I drained the radiator and each cylinder block and both water cooled manifolds. Then I put all the drain plugs back in. Jim and I mixed antifreeze and water 50/50 in 5 gal buckets. I handed them up to Dave who poured them in the radiator. We put in 24 gallons of mix and did not fill up the radiator but we felt that we were close. I went up to the hardware store and bought 2 more gal of antifreeze. We mixed that up and added it. We were still not full but decided to stop there. I started the engine and moved up to the GE 2501, then we parked the Whitcomb and went to lunch.
The Whitcomb engine has an oil leak due to a stripped threads on one of the bolts on an engine access cover. It needs more oil, gas, grease and antifreeze.

Some progress

2011-08-07T10:54:00.000-04:00

Since July I had trouble getting the clutch on the train to disengage. When the clutch is disengaged the mechanism applies a brake to the drive shaft. I took the PTO brake out and bought a lining for it, I discovered that one of the valves in the train’s air compressor had become loose and was not working. Saturday I took the valves out of the spare air compressor at the museum. Charlie was there and helped me. Sunday morning I put the best valve in the Whitcomb’s air compressor and installed the relined PTO brake shoe. The new radiator has been holding water well. After lunch the engine started and we moved it back and forth on the track. Jim moved his speeder down past the freight house and Ray, Charlie and I took the Whitcomb down the track and across the diamond. The engine ran great running West but ran rough coming back. Monday I took a carburetor out and cleaned it.

2nd Annual LSRHS Tractor Show

2011-07-23T08:10:00.003-04:00

I removed the valve cover on the Whitcomb's air compressor and found a damaged exhaust valve. This is why it is not making full pressure. There is a brake shoe on the PTO shaft to stop the drive shaft so that you can shift gears. I removed the brake shoe for relining. Ed and Jim from Conneaut Engine works brought a hit and miss engine to the tractor show.

2011 Night at the Museum

2011-06-18T19:24:00.003-04:00

The 3rd weekend of June The LSRHS was open 24 hours. A portable generator provided lights for the CSX mainline for night train watching. Chris Bohn showed up and we topped off the Whitcomb's new radiator. It didn't take much. The engine started and ran well. We could only get about 30 pounds of air pressure. The clutch would not disengage so we couldn't move the Whitcomb. Ray and Jim operated Ray's Nickel Plate Speeder

Memorial Day 2011

2011-05-30T10:14:00.000-04:00

Ray moved the Whitcomb up by the station so that it would be closer to the water faucet. Sunday was the day of the LSRHS volunteer cook out and pot luck supper. The Whitcomb was to be filled with water and run. We filled the water Saturday morning but it had a pretty good leak where at a gasket joint. (not the radiators fault). I went to the hardware store and bought a needle that you use to inflate soccer balls. I attached that to a tube of silicone sealer and injected it into the joint. It took 24 hours to cure, so the Whitcomb did not run Sunday night. Monday morning we filled the radiator and it held water. I hooked up the radiator hoses and filled the engine with water. I ran the engine back and forth on the track by the station. The torque converter did not seem to be working just right and the engine was leaking oil but this is another step closer to being complete and running. 50 people attended the volunteer picnic. The temperature was in the 70’s and the food was ahhhhh awesome.

2011-05-02T05:40:00.000-04:00

Hank and i went up to the museum in May and installed the fan, fan shroud. We started the enjine and it seemed to be running rich. I am thinking the float valves are sticking open or the fuel pump is pushing gas past them. The water was not on so we couldnt check the new radiator for leaks.
The Bessimer speeder is now at the Museum (photo)

Radiator together

2011-04-14T10:52:00.002-04:00

We had a blessed day Thursday. I picked the day because of good weather. I sent an info Email to Chris Bohn. He said he would be there. We met about 10 AM. I asked my brother Pete to help because I anticipated some heavy lifting. We unbolted the top tank and rolled it up on the hood. Chris made a bunch of measurements. We did not find any obstructions, it should fit. The edges of the hood were bent in blocking the radiator from going back under it. We used a 4 foot ajusta post to spread the edges of the hood. We put the top tank back in place. Chris used a tapered reamer to clear out the holes for the bolts. The radiator got straighter and straighter as we tightened the bolts. All the jacks and blocking came out and it is pretty much back together. Hank and I will test it with water when we get a chance.

Radiator assembly

2011-03-19T11:18:00.010-04:00

These are some of the great volunteers at the Saturday morning paper recycling at the Train museum. It was a cold windy 33 degree March morning in Norh East, Pennsylvania.

I got the new TitanX radiator core from the station. After removing one of the test tanks from the end of the core, I got a group of volunteers who were working on the gift shop in the station. We lifted the core up by hand and put it in place on the bottom tank.

While they went back to work, Charley and I put in some of the bolts that connect the core to the bottom tank. I removed the other test tank from the top and got the guys again to help with the top tank. We found that the top tank weighed more than the core and we needed to get the tractor with fork lift to get the top tank up to a level where Charles and I could move it over in place on top of the core.
When we got it in place it didn’t fit right. The radiator needs to be disassembled and a seam on the top and bottom of the core ground down and re-soldered then reassembled.

2011-02-27T17:59:00.002-05:00

Chris and the guys from TitanX finished building the radiator core. The sheet metal man at TitanX did a beautiful job of fabricating test tanks so that the core could be sealed up and air tested. Two small leaks were repaired and the core was ready for delivery. Ryan transported the radiator core up to the museum. Now Hank and I have to get up there and install it.

2011-01-06T09:12:00.002-05:00

I took advantage of a break in the weather in January to go up to the museum and check on the Whitcomb. Everything was in order. The Polar Summit was getting a broken spring replaced. I posted a picture that I took this fall of NS dropping off ties. The train was moving along while the excavator was running on top of the gondola cars. Two men were walking along directing the excavator operator where to drop the ties. It was interesting to watch.

2010-12-09T07:43:00.004-05:00

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

2010-10-30T11:58:00.002-04:00

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

2010-09-14T07:42:00.001-04:00

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

2010-08-20T07:18:00.001-04:00

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.

2010-07-08T13:37:00.002-04:00

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

2010-04-27T10:50:00.003-04:00

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

2010-03-21T09:32:00.000-04:00

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.

Christmas 2009

2009-12-21T12:57:00.002-05:00

I enjoy volunteering at the LSRHS museum. I get a sense of accomplishment fixing something on the critter. Many days you can smell the grape jelly cooking at Welches. The excitement of a train coming. You can hear the diesel horns sounding the crossings far away. Seeing the signal bridge light up, and listening to the dispatcher crackling on the PA. The rumble of the NS local delivering tank cars to Welches. Come and visit.
P.S. There is a fund to replace the radiator on the Whitcomb.

2009-11-10T07:53:00.002-05:00

I went up to the museum in November to work on the engines valve covers. You would think that the cast iron valve covers that go over the rocker arm assembly would go right on. Well they never have fit right. I changed some rocker arms from the spare parts and tried all 6 valve covers on the three heads. I think that I got finally got them all fitted correctly. I also had some parts for the original air cleaners. I went to the parts store and found paper air filters that fit them. I had to make some plywood ends for them. I installed them on the engine.

Cab ride in Big Red

2009-10-20T08:17:00.002-04:00

The Whitcomb boys were treated to a cab ride in the museums 25 ton GE locomotive. Thank you engineer Steve. We love the Whitcomb but were very impressed with the simplicity and smoothness of the diesel electric. See a short video here.

Winterizing the engine

2009-10-19T11:13:00.001-04:00

October 19th Hank and I went to the museum to winterize the Whitcomb. We wanted to run the Whitcomb so we got the water hose from the station and put 4 hoses together to reach the Whitcomb radiator.. With water overflowing the radiator, I started the Whitcomb. We ran it for about 15 minutes and then shut it off and went to lunch. After lunch Hank said ‘start it up’. It came back to life and I moved it back and forth a couple times. Then it was time to winterize it. We drained the radiator. There were drains on the exhaust and intake manifolds. There is a drain on each of the 3 blocks and the air compressor cylinder. We put RV antifreeze in the water pump and the exhaust manifold. We went back to work the next day and the GE locomotive was open. Steve gave us cab rides and I took video. After operating the Whitcomb the day before I was just amazed at how well the GE ran and operated

Fall colors: Red, Orange and Yellow

2009-09-26T13:01:00.001-04:00

It happens all the time on your model railroad; You assemble the train and start out when, Oh crap it came uncoupled. A full size prototype exists for that. We loaded up the caboose with people for a ride and started out, the two engines left the rest of the train behind. (how embarrassing - not really). A little adjustment on the coupler and we had no trouble after that. It was cold and rainy Saturday but cleared up Sunday afternoon.

2009-09-25T11:04:00.001-04:00

I met my son at the museum at 9:30 am to paint the body of the Whitcomb. I used a wire wheel on my angle grinder and knocked off the loose scale and rust. My son painted the upper portion of the cab red as it was originally. I rolled the cab and hood. We went over the louvers with a brush. We took a break about 2:30 and got lunch at Burger King. We finished up about 4. Later my daughter painted the number on the side. We plan to put a logo on the cab sides and safety strioes on the front and back. Ray and Steve coupled the Whitcomb behind the GE 25 ton for wine festival weekend

Whitcomb starting

2009-08-22T09:24:00.000-04:00

Here is video of the whitcomb starting.

Sad news

2009-08-20T10:26:00.001-04:00

The radiator core on the Whitcomb needs to be replaced. That's water running down the front of the radiator on the whole right side.
I put 4 buckets of water in to see how the patch on the bottom was doing. There was a place in the rear of the core where 4 tubes are leaking badly. I decided to fill it up and see if there were other leaks. I connected all the radiator hoses and filled up the radiator. The whole top header of the core is leaking badly. Water poured over the front of the radiator.
Replacing the radiator is a big deal. It needs to be removed with a crane and put on a flat bed truck. It is too big for a pickup truck. The tanks need removed and taken to a shop and welded up. A new core needs to be custom made ($$$). The top and bottom tanks need bolted on. Then the radiator and hood need replaced using a crane.

First start up

2009-08-01T10:29:00.002-04:00

Well here’s the good news. After nearly 3 years of work the 200 hp LeRoi engine started. I put gas in the spark plug holes and cranked it over and it started up, didn’t stay running, but it started. The single carriage battery turns it over. It had great oil pressure. and the air compressor pumped air. There are many adjustments to make and the radiator is still leaking, but the engine is running.
Wed July 29 I sealed off the bottom radiator hose and put some water in the radiator. It leaked a little.
Thur July 30 I cranked it over with a tire iron in the ring gear and saw the timing was off. The impulse on the magneto was happening too soon. I unbolted and slid the water pump, distributor and magneto out from the timing gears and rotated the gear 1 tooth clockwise (retarded). This was an improvement but it needed more. I moved it 2 more teeth. Almost correct now I moved it one more tooth.
Friday July 31 I filled the torque converter with hydraulic oil.
Saturday Aug 1 My nephew, who repairs machinery in the steel mill in Pittsburgh, came to visit. He was a good heavy machinery mechanic would be a good one to help me on the first firing. We put gas in the spark plug holes and put the plugs back. It started right up but wouldn’t stay running. It wasn’t getting gas. The fuel drum was set up right and the fuel pump wouldn’t pull the fuel up the 3/8 pipe. We tried to prime the pump but the engine wouldn’t stay running.
Sun Aug 2 We ran a single 3/8 copper line from the fuel pump in to the drum. The engine started but the fuel pump wouldn’t hold the prime.
Mon Aug 3 I made a rack or stand and turned the fuel drum on its side. Gas now ran gravity flow to the fuel pump. The engine started and ran but fuel pored out the front carburator. The float valve was stuck open.
Wed Aug 5th I took the bottom plate off the radiator and put water in it. I saw where the leaks were. I bought more epoxy and spread it over the leaks. I disassembled the front carburator and adjusted the float valve. I will grind notches in the radiator plate to fit better.

Bottom radiator tank

2009-07-09T09:07:00.000-04:00

I was previously unable to get fuel to flow from the gas tank to the carburators, so I decided to install an electric fuel pump. The fuel pump was installed and gas was brought to the carbs.
I had meant to epoxy around the piece that was broken out of the bottom of the radiator. The broken piece was in the shape of a flap. When I squeezed the flap up into the radiator it didn’t fit the hole. When I tried to straighten it so that it would fit it broke out. It turns out that was a good thing. With the piece out, there was a 5 by 10 inch hole in the bottom of the radiator. I was able to get my whole arm up in the hole and pull out handfuls of rust and a huge mouse nest. I spent quite a bit of time cleaning out rust and debris, most of it came down on me crouched under the frame between the radiator and the greasy motor. I mixed up a big can of PC7 epoxy and spread it on both the hole and the piece. I put the piece back in the hole and blocked it up to cure. I plan to sand the joint and put another light coat of epoxy on it. The new steel plate pictured above with a rubber gasket will strengthen the weak bottom.

Jun 24,25,26

2009-06-24T11:03:00.001-04:00

The Whitcomb has 2 Zenith carburetors and 2 governor bodies The governor linkage did not fit up well so I decided that the governors were facing the wrong way. So I had to take them off make new gaskets and put them back on with the linkage facing in. I wired the coil, voltage regulator, and magneto. The cotter pins in the air compressor connecting rod were not through the castle nuts. I tried some different things and ended up putting lock washer under the nuts to bring them down far enough for the cotter pins to be effective. I crawled under the back axle to connect the clutch linkage. I found I had to loosen the clutch air cylinder to get the pin in the linkage. I did find the grease fittings for the axles. They are hard to get to without getting under the axles between the wheels.

June 17,18,19

2009-06-18T10:58:00.001-04:00

Hank and I went up to the museum to work on the Whitcomb. It rained all 3 days. Ray and Steve spiked down rail into some new ties, getting ready for a CSX engine to come for a fire exercise. Hank ground off the bolts on the radiator grill because they were too rusty to be unbolted. We also had to grind off some of the 16 bolts in the bottom tank. We bolted in 'C' channel brackets which will connect to the 1/4 plate we are putting on the bottom of the radiator to seal the ice crack. We laid the new steel plate in and measured for the bolt pattern. I mounted the governors, the 2 carburetors and the magneto. Hank made gaskets for the valve covers. We got soaked through to our underwear.

June 2,3,4

2009-06-03T10:52:00.002-04:00

I put the reconditioned valves back in the air compressor. I took a passenger car battery which was new, to bulldog battery in Cleveland. They put battery acid in it and I took it back. Cyd helped me get it in the Whitcomb. I bought a 30 gallon drum to replace the gas tank. I put a 3/8 ball valve on it. I thought we might be able to close the split in the bottom of the radiator with a steel plate. I measured and drew plans for the fix. I bought 2 pieces of “C” channel and a piece of ¼ plate. Hank drilled it to match the bolt pattern on the bottom radiator tank.

Install the intake manifold

2009-05-24T14:15:00.001-04:00

Hank and I went to the Museum Sunday May 24th to work on the Whitcomb engine. We had three objectives: mount the intake manifold, disassemble the air compressor head and build a frame to jack the hood up.
We worked on the water cooled intake manifold at home. The water jacket on the manifold was cracked due to freezing. I epoxied the cracks and Hank drilled out the rusted drain plug. The exhaust manifold has six connections to the exhaust ports, three connections for water cooling to the head, and four water connections to the intake manifold. The intake manifold has 4 water connections and connects to all three heads. Just about everything needed pried up, down or sideways to get the bolts started in. All connections had new gaskets. We noticed quite a bit of rust and scale in the water jacket of the exhaust manifold. We removed the stuck thermostat and tried to get as much rust out as possible.
Monday we took the cover off the air compressor valve chamber using instructions from Andy Szabo from Arizona Railway museum. The leather seal washer was hard and brittle. Two new ones were ordered. Hank spent quite a bit of time removing some black hard carbon like crap that was blocking about half of the exhaust port. All the valves were stuck and I could not get the exhaust valve out. The others will be disassembled and cleaned. I installed the Conrader unloader and cut a copper line to attach to the air compressor head.
Tuesday Hank and I sawed up some lumber to lift or support the hood while the radiator is repaired.

Exhaust manifold mounted

2009-05-08T10:16:00.001-04:00

May 6,7,8. We got the water manifold, between the three blocks, on the right side of the engine on with neoprene gaskets. The water pump which drives the distributor and magneto was cleaned up at home and the timing was set. The water pump gear was carefully mated with the timing gear to have the spark occur at the correct time (20 degrees before top dead center we hope!). James was working on the 25 ton GE and Ryan showed up. They helped me get the 6 ft long exhaust manifold mounted on the engine. It is still loose because it has to line up, and bolt up to several other castings on the head and intake manifold. We are working on the intake manifold to drill out the pipe plugs and install ball valves to drain the water. The conrader unloader is being disassembled and cleaned.

Stuck in the engine

2009-04-23T09:26:00.003-04:00

I went up to the museum to put the cotter pins in the connecting rods. You use a tire iron in the flywheel to turn the crankshaft until a connecting rod is accesable thru the hand hole cover. It was a tough job reach through the hand holes and turn the nuts one way or the other to line up the cotter pin hole and the castle nut slot. I often had to use a hand mirror to see the allignment. I was laying on my stomach on the running boards of the engine, with my head close to the crankcase and my arms inside the crancase. Someone droping off news papers told Steve there was a guy stuck in the engine compartment back there. I got them in but I am still working on the air compressor rod.

I decided to use the flat tappets instead of the roller tappets because the roller tappets froze up so fast. When we put the tappets in their holes we found out that there was a misallignment between the cylinder castings and the crankcase. Hank machined the tappets to fit. The machined tappets went right in and the pushrods went on. I bought 5/8 inch studs, cleaned the threads in the heads with a tap and installed the 18 new studs. I disconnected the pipes to the sand dome in preparation to removing the hood.

April 11 2009

2009-04-11T12:14:00.000-04:00

We made 2 brake linkage pins from 1 1/4 inch bar stock. I made a clock, and an armrest to replace the rough old 2 x 4 bolted to the window. My son Dave came up to help lift the engine blocks. New base gaskets were cut out. We lifted the blocks to the walkway beside the engine. The rod caps were removed and the nuts put on to keep the shims from falling in the crankcase. The pistons were pushed to the top of the cylinders and the crankshaft turned until one of the two journals was at TDC. It took 3 guys to lift the blocks and put them on the crankcase. Steve helped us with the first one and James helped with the other two. The pistons were tapped down until the rod was on the crankshaft and the nuts were put on. They are not wired yet.
Hank and I put the last of the brake linkage together with the 2 new linkage pins. We had to use crow bars and jacks as the brake shoe and heavy linkage arms wanted to go every way but line up. Hank and I put the rebuilt heads on. I decided to go with newer type of tappets. They would not fit in the crankcase. Hank will machine them. much more work is needed. Donations are needed for hoses, belts, batteries etc. The radiator needs removed and the bottom tank welded.

March 15 2009 update

2009-03-15T08:07:00.000-04:00

Hank and I worked on the Whitcomb for 3 days in March. The weather was great, temperture in the high 50's. We assembled the brake cylinders with new cups and spring. We reconnected the air supply lines, rigging and brake shoes. Two connecting pins will need to be made from 1 1/4 inch bar stock. We mounted the air compressor cylinder on the crankcase. The cylinder was from the spare engine and the air supply piping was slightly different. We finished painting the last corner of the cab floor.

The Air Compressor cylinder

2009-02-04T15:14:00.001-05:00

I looked over the two air compressor cylinders and their pistons. The air compressor cylinder is a separate 7th cylinder, water cooled, located between cylinder 3 and 4 on the crankshaft. The A.C. jug from the locomotive had frozen and split. The one from the spare engine looked OK. In one A.C. piston all the rings were stuck. I had to purchase 2 oil rings for the best piston.
As it turned out the big end of the A.C. rod would not go straight through the hole in the crankcase. With 2 of the bolts removed and the rod at an angle it fits into the crankcase. I made 4 brass shims and 1 steel shim for the connecting rod. After several trial fittings I got the right number of shims in place. I was able to insert the A.C. piston in its jug.

Putting the pistons in the blocks

2008-12-29T14:51:00.000-05:00

I went up to the museum Dec. 29th and got to see the new 25 ton GE delivered the next morning. It was kind of a day that you know was too cold to be out for long but you cant leave because it was so interesting.
After checking the fit on the rods one last time I went in the freight house and put the piston pins in connecting the pistons and the connecting rods. I put each piston/rod in the vice and put the new rings on the pistons. I had made a ring compressor for 6 3/4 pistons,from sheet metal and used a large vice grip to compress the rings. I was able to get the pistons in the blocks. It felt good to get that done.

Fitting Rods to the Crankshaft

2008-12-10T12:00:00.005-05:00

To fit the connecting rods to the crankshaft, I turn the bare crank over using a tire iron in the teeth of the ring gear. When a journal is just past TDC I take the nuts off the connecting rod and remove the rod cap making sure the insert bearings and shims do not fall out. I put the top half of the rod though the hole in the top of the crankcase and reach through the hand hole on the side of the crankcase and put the cap on the rod. I hold the rod cap on with one hand from the top and reach through the side hand hole and put the nuts on the con rod bolts. This is not fun and a strech since the side hand holes are down in the loco frame. I reach down through the side hole and tighten the rod nuts with a 1/2 inch ratchet wrench inside the crankcase. After torqueing the nuts if the rod is too tight I have to take it out and add a shim. If its too loose I remove a shim. Do that 2 or 3 times on each con rod until the rod turn freely with no other play. It took a day and a half to shim the rods the first time. I took the rods home and decided that a couple inserts were rough and that there were better ones. I swicthed out the rough shells. I spent another day sitting on the crankcase fitting the rods. I took them home again and noticed a few of the shells moved laterally when the caps were bolted in place. I didnt want any shells moving when we were assembling the engine or running it. I did some research and decided to mount them in place using high temperature bearing mount. I used Locktite 620. After mounting the inserts I spent another day checking all the rods in the crankcase. They had changed a little bit and I had to shim two rods.

Insert Bearings

2008-12-01T11:33:00.001-05:00

I spent most of the fall of 2008 fitting the connecting rod bearings to the crankshaft. I coud not find new bearings from the major manufacturers, Clevite and Federal Mogul. I would like to have a new set of bearings (number 12 187). The ID is 3.5 inches and they are about 3 and 1/4 inches wide. I bought brass shim stock, 7 thousands of an inch thick and cut 30 shims. To make the bolt holes in the shim without tearing them up, I clamped the shim in between 2 halves of the connecting rod and drilled though the bolt holes in the rod.. The design of the bearings is different from the babbited rods that I have worked with. To fit these bearings correctly the insert shells would be fit to a 3.5 inch mock up journal. Then the rod cap shimmed to fit the journal. I collected all the inserts that I could find from the 2 engines. Four of five sets of shells were destoyed from overheating and when the Whitcomb engine siezed. I matched up the remaining bearing shells by striations in the inside and outside of the shells. After pushing the pistons out of the blocks I numbered the rods and pistons trying to keep the pistons in the same holes that they came out of. I put the bearings in the rods and number the shells to match the rods.

Pictures from Dave at Shasta Cascade R. P. S.

2008-11-22T10:43:00.003-05:00

All the copper oil lines were removed from the LeRoi sometime in the distant past. There were at least 6 fittings on the crankcase and I didnt know what they attached to. I knew there were a few Whitcombs in museums around the country but I didnt know which ones still had the LeRoi RX1S 6 cylinder engine in them. I put some pictures of our engine on the Yahoo group 'Rail critters and asked for information about the engine. Dave Jungkeit answered right away and voluteered to take pictures of the engine at the Shasta Cascade Rail Preservation Society in California. Dave sent pictures which were a great help to me. I uploaded them to my Picasa album 'Shasta Cascade'. To get there click on the picture in the slide show near the top of this page. Thanks Dave.

Crankshaft Journals

2008-11-20T10:57:00.003-05:00

When we removed the front block and 2 stuck pistons, I looked inside the crankcase and saw a shiny surface. I thought 'Oh this is good' but it turns out that what I saw was the back side of the insert bearing. It was siezed and stuck to the crankshaft. The bearing side was black and motled. I worried about the main bearings but after all the stuck cylinders were removed the crankshaft turned. I used a 4.5 inch angle grinder with a wire wheel to clean up the hardened journal surfaces. Some journals were discolored but they cleaned up and look like they will work. Where the connecting rod bolted to the journal there are 2 small lines etched in each journal. I believe from acid in the oil. I felt it with my fingers and it felt rough. I used a ball grinding stone on a cordless drill and polished the rough spots. My friend Bob told me that he had sucessfully rebuilt John Deere tractors with etch lines in the journals.

New Brake parts

2008-10-19T11:08:00.001-04:00

I got both brake cylinder pistons freed up. One of the return springs was broken into many pieces. I called Westinghouse Air Brake. Sadly it took 3 or 4 calls and return calls to find someone at WABTEC to research our brake piston cup and spring. Finally I got to Michelle in Chicago who found the part numbers for our 8 inch cylinder. The bad news was that there was a minimum order of 12 pieces at 60 dollars a piece. I called Bill at Pittsburgh Air brake. He pretty much fixed us up with 2 new piston cups and a spring. I made 4 each, eleven inch flange gaskets from a 12 x 24 sheets of neoprene from McMaster Carr company.

Brake cylinders

2008-10-01T12:28:00.003-04:00

Hank went up to the museum with me and we took the brake cylinders apart. I did not know how they worked or if they would come apart, but there were unions on the air line pipe fittings and a row of bolts at each end so we took them apart. Both brke piston rods were rusted and stuck. A lot of water and rust came out of the cylinders. One side we had to put a wood 4x4 on the piston and hammer it out. We were able to get the ends off the cylinder and the pistons and push rods out from around the brake rigging. The cylinders were cleaned up with 4.5 angle grinder with a wire wheel and greased. The return springs springs inside the cylinders were broken. The options are to get new springs and rubber parts or whole new generic replacement cylinders. The cost of the new cylinders ranged from 800 to 1000 dollars. We plan to fill some of the pits in the cylinders with epoxy and get new cups and springs. The cups are 85 dollars and the springs 35 dollars. All will be packed in air brake grease.

Best blocks and pistons

2008-09-20T12:07:00.002-04:00

Many of my friends have farm workshops and work on trucks, tractors or 7.5 in trains as a hobby. One of my friends Hank said he would like to see the museum and agreed to help fix up the whitcomb. We took all the remaining pistons, blocks, and heads up to the frieght house. We worked to loosen the bolts on the hood and radiator that have to come off next spring. Many of them broke off and were replaced with new ones. We honed the cylinders on the three best blocks. One block needed new studs. We installed them. The best blocks and pistons and rods are being cleaned, polished and fitted. The next day we wire brushed and painted 6 engine hand hole covers.

Modifing Aluminum piston to fit older style con rod

2008-08-29T11:50:00.001-04:00

The pistons and connecting rods were different in the two engines. The engine from the locomotive was 10 years older and had cast iron pistons. The donated engine had aluminum pistons. I was not able to get all the old pistons out and decided to go with the aluminum pistons. Trouble was there were only 5 connecting rods for the newer pistons. I had to modify an aluminum piston to work with one old style connecting rod. Bronze bushings were made and pressed into the piston so the piston pin could pivot in the piston.

The pistons are pushed out

2008-07-08T09:53:00.003-04:00

I took Whitcomb block (cyl 5-6) and 2 blocks from the spare engine to J&M welding in Rock Creek Ohio. Joe used a 100 ton press to push out 4 stuck pistons. The newer Aluminum pistons seem to stick tighter than the cast iron ones. Then my friend Al and I chiseled the rings out of the pistons. The three best blocks were degreased and honed with a glaze breaker. The two best blocks are in fine shape. The third best block has a few small pits in the cylinder but is serviceable.

Disc clutch

2008-06-23T11:54:00.000-04:00

After the torque converter there is a single plate clutch operated by a foot pedal. The foot pedal controls an air cylinder. When the foot pedal is pushed down it puts air into the cylinder and disengages the clutch. A large spring returns the cylinder and engages the clutch. The clutch did not move under air pressure. I tried to move the cylinder with a large bar. The cylinder was rusted stuck. I took the cylinder out of the loco and took it home. I hooked the cylinder up to the winch on a tow truck and put some tension on it. after 4 days it broke loose.
With the linkage disengaged, the clutch plate was stuck between the flywheel and the pressure plate. I worked on that for a couple days. I finally got the clutch adjuster freed up and the with the adjuster backed off the clutch plate freed up.

Torque converter

2008-05-11T11:16:00.002-04:00

Locomotives need a way to apply power to a load (of cars), exerting a force on the load until the rolling friction is broken and the cars start to move. You dont want to do this by 'slipping the clutch'. In our Whitcomb gas mechanical loco the power is exerted through a torque converter. Whitcomb called it Hydro-Motive. I so fortunate to get a copy of the operation instructions for the Twin disc torque converter. The torque converter is basically two fined plates which operate in oil. The instructions recommend light turbine oil or 10 wt oil. I am planning on using 10 wt. hydralic oil. Our model is a 24 HU-00 which takes 18 gals of oil. The book says to fill it until oil comes out of the fluid over flow level hole. Apply a small amount of lubricant through the fittings every 50 hours. I wonder when that was last done ? I hope that the seals are still good after 67 years.

Good neighbors

2008-04-26T16:18:00.000-04:00

The pistons in both engines were stuck. I called Bill R. at Cliffstar about pushing the pistons out with a hydraulic press. Bill said that Cliffstar would help us anyway he could. I took the blocks over to Cliffstar and they put them in the press. They were able to get two pistons out. Two need a bigger press. Thanks Bill and his excellent mechanics.

Fill the crankcase

2008-04-14T10:38:00.002-04:00

There is a big cast iron strainer basket in the bottom of the crankcase. Somehow this got broken on the locomotive. One of the first things that I did when I started on the rebuild was to take the good basket out of the spare crankcase. Over the years the copper screen that surrounds the basket deteriorated probably because of acidic conditions in the crankcase. New screen was found and wrapped around the basket. When I went to put the basket in I found that the copper pipe to the oil pump was split. Whether that was what caused the engine to sieze or whether that happened after the engine siezed, I dont know. I spent a whole day just removing the good pipe and oil pump from the spare crankcase and installing the good pipe and new basket in the Whitcomb crankcase. I began to wonder, could the oil pump pull up the new oil when the copper pipe to the strainer basket had air in it. I thought of a way to prime the oil pump and fill the pipe with oil. I stuck a piece of plastic tubing up through the strainer into the pipe. It was downhill to the oil pump. I forced oil in the tube and filled the pipe with oil. I filled the crankcase with 15W40 oil and Lucas oil stabilizer.

2008-03-23T16:13:00.002-04:00

In January 2008 I went to the museum with the idea of getting 4 pistons out of blocks. I have freed up several stuck engines by using a hardwood dowel and pushing down on alternate pistons. My friend Al and I had found some hardwood logs about the right size to fit in the cylinders. I laid the block on the floor and put a 6.5 inch log in the cylinder and hit it with a sledge hammer. Ray helped me. Only one piston would budge. We agreed the rest would have to be pushed out on a hydraulic press. I took the pistons to Al's house to soak in solvent. After 3 or 4 days in the solvent we tried to get the rings loosened up on the pistons. We started tapping gently on the rings after a half hour it was obvious the only way to get them out to break them out with a cold chisel. It was a tough job and even cleaning the groves was tough. The good news is we had 2 good pistons.
I got prices on piston rings from several auto parts stores in my area. Prices varied from 21 to 27 dollars per ring. the 6 cylinder engine takes 24 rings. Quite a bit of money. I called Hastings Piston Ring company in Hastings Mich. I talked to a technical specialist named Dawn. Dawn gave me a special price for the museum. Ray gave me the OK to buy the rings. Al and I put the new rings on 2 of the 6 pistons.

update on the cylinder heads

2008-03-23T13:32:00.002-04:00

The Leroi engine has 6 cylinders, with the blocks cast in pairs. There are 3 blocks and 3 heads, with over head valves. In November 2007 Ray, James, and Jerod helped me load 3 heads in the trunk of my car. I took the 3 heads home and took the valves out of the heads. There were different style valves, different springs, and different conditions from useless to excellent. This is evidence of past maintenance and limited availability of parts. One head was excellent. The seats in the head were excellent and the valves were excellent. I ground the valves, reassembled and painted it. The other 2 heads were pretty rough so I took all 3 back to the museum hoping to find 2 more excellent heads. There were no heads any better in the freight house, so again I came home with the 3 next best heads. I took the bare heads to Jeff Gardner at Gardner competition engines. Jeff is a friend of mine and agreed to grind the valve seats in the 3 heads as a contribution to the museum. THANKS JEFF. The valves are over 8 inches long and were too big for anybody's valve grinding machines. I called my friend George. George has a machine shop in his garage and builds 7.5 inch locomotives, steam, gas and electric. George put the valves in the lathe and a small grinder on he tool holder. He resurfaced the best 8 valves. Eight were needed and we used the best 8. The rest of the valves from 2 other heads are too rough to be used. As it turned out 2 of the heads from Jeff were in better shape. Out of the Whitcomb parts in the freight house we were able to rebuild 3 heads required for the engine.

The Air system

2008-03-04T13:14:00.000-05:00

The Leroi engine has a seventh cylinder That acts as an air compressor. Because I overhauled the brake controller and installed new copper air lines to the new air gauge, I asked James if he would run air to the air tanks and see what happened. One snowy day in early March, James got the air compressor out and put 30 pounds of air in the locomotives air tanks. James found a few air leaks with his hearing and feeling with his hands. A few joints were tightened up and the system held air pretty well. We worked the brake handle. The red needle in the air guage showed air pressure in the brake cylinders. Working the clutch pedal sounded like it was doing something but the clutch cylinder seems to be stuck. The brake cylinders that move the shoes are stuck also; But it was thrilling to see something operational on the loco after 40 years of not running.

Feb 2008 update

2008-02-03T09:33:00.003-05:00

After Ray and I removed the last engine block, the crankshaft turned a little bit. My goal at the end of stage 1 was to turn the engine (just a crankshft now) over with the starters. The main bearings have to be dry of oil. I want to get some oil to them. I took empty 2 liter Pepsi bottles and hooked plastic oil lines to them. I connected the lines to the oil fittings on the side of the engine. The oil went in the motor, Im not sure that it got to the main bearings.
Other things that got done were that I found an 2 and 5/8 inch ammeter that fit in the dash (it is separate and larger than the dash gauges). I ran 10ga wire from the battery to the ammeter. I got 2 battery cables from the freight house and put them through the dash. The ends need drilled for a larger hole. I used some 3/8 copper tubing from the freight house and flared the ends and connected the air pressure gauge to the main tank. James is going to check for leaks in the air system in the spring. The starter switch on the dash was wired to the starter solinoids. I used the extension cord from the frieght house and used my 4.5 inch electric grinder to remove the old rusted off headlihgt bolt. I got an old 11 inch headlight and put a 12v sealed beam lamp in it. A row of light switches that I thought was OK turned out to be rusted to pieces. I got new toggle switches to replace them.

Hood Lock Rods

2008-01-14T13:36:00.000-05:00

I thought it was a good idea to have some way to lock the engine bay access doors on the side of the hood. I decided to put 3 eye bolts on each side of the hood and make a piece of pipe that would go through the eye bolts with a lock on one end. This pipe blocks the engine bay access doors from opening. I looked at many eye bolts trying to find ones that were not too large and not too small. I finally decided on an eye with a 3/8 threaded bolt on it.I was thinking of drilling 3 holes on each side of the hood for the eyes As it turns out there was a 3/8 bolt holding the hood together close to the spot that wanted the eyes. I removed the 3/8 bolts and substituted the eye bolts. I bought 2 pieces of 3/8 pipe and had them cut and threaded at 8 foot 4 in. I flattened one end of the pipe and drilled a hole for the lock. James found 2 locks at the station that I can use. I know that we are going to have a bunch of money in the motor and lot of hours of hard work. I feel better already that the engine bay is locked up.

Starting Motors

2008-01-13T13:05:00.000-05:00

The 1500 cu LeRoi engine has two 12 volt electric starting motors. The motors are about a third larger than typical tractor starting motor. The distance between the mounting holes is 5 inches, normal tractor motors is 3.5 in. Originally we could not find any staarting motors from the locomotive or the spare engine. I took measurments from the mounting holes and searched electric motor rebuilders. I had no luck. Ray contacted Roger and he said he had 2 good starters. I got one rebuilt starter from Roger and a box of starter parts. I made another starter from the parts. I had to have some bushings machined to match one starter to the Leroi engine. The Delco number on the older starter is 412. The delco number on the newer starter is 1109889. They are clockwise rotation, 12 tooth, direct drive starters. I believe a brand new updated starter could be found for about $ 200. I contacted several after market starter manufacturers listed on the internet but they could not cross reference our Delco numbers and were not willing to open boxes and check measurements against my list. One starter bolted right in and the other has some clearence problems. I may have to re-orient the case at a later date.

Christmas at the Museum

2007-12-03T12:33:00.000-05:00

I went up to the museum Dec 2rd for the last of two weekend open houses 'Christmas at the museum'. Food was served in the dinning car by volunteers Charlie, Tom and Al. Jared worked in the gift shop. Curt was selling model trains in the station. Roger kept the HO train layout going for the visitors. Ray and James helped me get some LeRoi heads out of the Freight house. James gave me a tour of the South Shore Little Joe electric locomotive.

The instrument panel

2007-09-19T10:02:00.000-04:00

When I put the brake controller back in, I took out the instrument panel and 4 inch duplex air gauge. The panel had been vandalized, the glass had been broken and the pointers removed from the gauges. The panel consisted of a volt meter, oil pressure and water temperature gauge. I bought 2 inch gauges that are pretty readily available. The prime mover type and serial number are also part of the panel. The type is GM which stands for Gas, Mechanical. The s.n. is 13204. I spent quite a bit of time working with the ignition switch. It has 4 positions, magneto on, battery on, both on, and off. This allows you to run a set of spark plugs with battery, coil and distributor, or a second set of spark plugs with the magneto, or both at the same time. This is a redundant system for reliability used on fire engines and expensive cars at the time. I cleaned up the switch but I had trouble with continuity. You had to wiggle the switch on the position to get a good contact. I didn't want to trust that switch so I put in 2 toggle switches, 1 for battery ign and 1 for magneto. Of course you can have both on or both off as needed. I painted the panel like the one in another museum. I put in all the gauges and made a lens for the instrument cluster. I believe the fuse is 20 amp KTK type.
The air pressure gauge indicates the pressure in the main tank and the pressure in the brake cylinder. I found 1 side of the gauge still worked and glued a needle pointer on the shaft. I made a lens for the gauge. Im looking for a working 4 in. duplex air pressure gauge for the locomotive

Independant Brake Valve

2007-08-12T11:03:00.000-04:00

Whitcomb loco has an independent train brake system. That is it has no provision to power air to train cars that it is connected to. The Leroi engine has a 7th cylinder located in the center of the engine between number 3 and 4 cylinder that operates as an air compressor. Compressed air is stored in cylindrical tanks under the cab of the loco. A Westinghouse SA2 brake controller supplies air to the air brake cylinders. When I got the brake controller, the handle was stuck and would not turn. It was questionable as to whether it could be fixed. I took it over to a friends house. The controller was built in an age when things were meant to be repaired. We thought something in the valve was stuck causing the handle not to turn. Taking it apart there were some heavy gaskets in it. These were molded rubber, both were brittle and one broke as the parts were separated. after disassembling the valve there was nothing stuck or broken just the bushing on the valve was corroded and dry. with blaster and oil the valve handle was began to move. It moved a little further in each direction with each try. Finally it moved nicely in both directions. we cleaned the parts in gasoline and did not disassemble the smaller components. The valve was reassembled, wire brushed and painted.
I decided to go on the Internet and see if I could find the gaskets. I found the phone number for WABCO in Pittsburgh Penna. I called and the gaskets were available. They are in the mail to me.

Whitcomb background

2007-07-15T09:30:00.000-04:00

The Whitcomb Locomotive works was located in Rochelle Ill and founded by G Whitcomb. Its 6 cylinder LeRoi engine is a whopping 1,500 cubic inches. That's 4 and a half Chevy 350 engines or about 5 times a normal car engine. It is an over head valve engine with cylinders cast in pairs The pistons are 6 and 3/4 inches and the stroke is 7 inches. The horse power is close to 200 hp in 1941 measurements. The crankcase holds 7 gal of oil and the radiator 20 gal of antifreeze. It runs on regular gasoline and uses 2 Stromberg up draft carburetors. Each cylinder has 2 spark plugs with dual ignition, Battery (coil & distributor) or magneto It has a torque converter connected to a 4 speed transmission with a reversing differential. Both axles are chain driven with 36 inch wheels. As I understand it the locomotive was bought new by the Erie Iron Works in Erie Pa. The engine was used into the 50's or 60's. when it seized due to overheating or lack of oil. The locomotive was vandalized in the 60's . Most of the copper lines and battery cables were stolen. The windows were broken and the dash smashed. Various control levers were bent or broken. At sometime the heads were removed from the engine and the cylinders badly rusted. The bottom of the radiator was broken by water coming in the radiator and freezing. In 1967 the locomotive was donated to the Lake Shore Railway Historical Society. At some time the museum acquired a spare engine.

I drafted a plan to put the good parts from the spare engine on the crankcase in the locomotive.My first job was to remove the remaining rusted and stuck cylinders and pistons. When the front block (2 cyl.) came off the bearing inserts stuck to the crankshaft. The surface of the bearings were galled and not use able. I worried about the main bearings. would they be stuck and unusable too.

Removing stuff from the "parts" engine

2007-06-21T14:13:00.000-04:00

I took the distributor and water pump off the parts engine. The parts engine had been covered with a tarp. during the winter the tarp had disintegrated. I took the oil strainer basket out of the parts engine as the basket in the loco was smashed. I took the governor off the back of the engine. These parts I stored in the locked loco. Ray helped me tarp the engine with a good heavy duty tarp.

The latches on the loco for engine access were rusted up. Two latches were incomplete and I was able to free two latches up.

The Le Roi engine is a six cylinder. the blocks are cast in pairs. There is an air compressor piston and jug, so that makes 4 jugs. I removed the nuts from the connecting rods on the block for cylinder 1 and 2. The nuts from the block base were already removed. Ray and I lifted the block for cylinder 1 and 2. We stored the block inside.

I removed most of the sludge from the crankcase with a fire place shovel. I removed the broken strainer basket from the crankcase.

A visit to the Lake shore Railway Historical Society

2007-05-10T12:30:00.000-04:00

I visited the LSRHS in North East Pennsylvania in 2006. I looked at a 1941 Whitcomb switch engine. The engine had been partially disassembled and the pistons had rusted up in the block. This engine was a six cylinder manufactured by the Le Roi company of Milwaukee, Wisc. I once owned a Baker 25-50 ag tractor with a similar four cylinder Le Roi engine. I met the other volunteers at the museum. I discussed the possibility of working on the Whitcomb switcher with the idea of putting the engine back together. The museum had acquired a spare engine and extra parts in a trade. I got permission to work on the Whitcomb.