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  • HVRM GE 95-ton restoration

  • General discussion related to all railroad clubs, museums, tourist and scenic lines. Generally this covers museums with static displays, museums that operate excursions, scenic lines that have museums, and so on. Check out the Tourist Railway Association (TRAIN) for more information.
General discussion related to all railroad clubs, museums, tourist and scenic lines. Generally this covers museums with static displays, museums that operate excursions, scenic lines that have museums, and so on. Check out the Tourist Railway Association (TRAIN) for more information.

Moderators: rob216, Miketherailfan

 #537144  by JasonA
 
The HVRM (http://hvrm.railfan.net/) runs on 10 miles of the former C&O main line through northern Indiana. This piece of track is part of a short line railroad and is located on the general system. Therefore all HVRM engineers are qualified under FRA guidlines and we are covered under hours of service and all other FRA rules. Right now, we have 1 blue carded locomotive, an Alco S1. We are working on carding a 2nd loco, a GE 95 tonner. GE only made 18 95 ton locomotives. They are basically a 70 tonners, except they have a 4" deck plate and slightly bigger wheels, otherwise, they are basically 70 tonners.

Ours was run hard in steel mill service, and needs a lot of work. We have been working on it for about 2 years now, and earlier this year, I have spent a couple hundred hours working to get this guy into shape.

First off I had to replace a large piece of the front pilot that was missing.

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Much of the work that has been done to this loco to comply with FRA regs, many of them fairly new. The gap from the rail head to the pilot must now be between 3" and 6".

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Due to the high number of near misses, as well as the speeds we will be able to run at in the near future, the decision was made to add these:

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The front, which is pretty much done.

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The FRA has some sort of fear of welding, so they said the steps on the loco would need to be rebuilt. They were so rough, I built new ones.

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I also changed the step lights as we were missing some pieces from the old ones.

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The back end.

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 #537150  by JasonA
 
85% of the loco has been rewired, and should be finished fairly soon.

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One of the last major issues to deal with is the cab floor and rear sand boxes. I have ripped out much of the fireman's side and have started the rebuild process. The metal was so rusted, that the torch wouldn't cut much of it. It's going to take me some time to finish the cab, and we are hoping to have this guy ready to roll by the first of August.

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I'll post more as we make progress.

Jaosn

 #538981  by rbarcus
 
Jason has been doing a phenomenal amount of work on this locomotive. The progress is significant and it has to be seen to be appreciated!

 #540474  by Mr rt
 
Please make sure you keep detailed records of your work, in case this engine ends up in a museum :-)
Seriously best of luck !

 #541961  by Otto Vondrak
 
LOL It's already at a museum!

Nice work on the steps and other parts. You're going to have one nice engine when you're done. Want to come out to Rochester, NY and work on some more GE's?

-otto-
 #543035  by midwest fred
 
Jason does great work, as does the whole HVRM crew.

Can't wait to get the 467 in the shop there !

Fred.
 #543203  by JasonA
 
Put in 50 more hours since my last post, and here are some more progress pics.

The new fireman's side sandbox

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Got some help from a few members 2 weeks ago. General view of the work area.

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The rebuilt sand filler spout.

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The top of the sand box as well as the inside of the cab. There is a lot left to do in here.

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The front of the battery box.

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New support members.

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Patch on upper cab side.

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I had new lower corners rolled to match what was there. The back corner is pretty much done.

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I will post more as work progresses.
 #543247  by pablo
 
Not only is your work impressive, documenting it like this is incredibly valuable. Thank you so much for doing this, and doing this this way.

Dave Becker
 #545769  by JasonA
 
More progress. The fireman's side is getting closer. A couple more weeks and I'll be moving over to the engineer's side.

Got the front of the battery box put back in. It's all tacked up now.

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The front side.

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Cab side nearing completion, minus the doors.

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The upper and lower seem. The old lower was stiched to the top. I seam welded it now. I am going to grind the weld smooth. I have 3 more pieces to install in the battery box, and a good day of welding before I put the floor back in.

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 #545821  by midwest fred
 
Jason - looking good. Just an FYI, I ordered epoxy primer and battery box paint, there should be more than enough for both the 2937 and the GE. Also got seam sealer, so you guys should be able to coat her up good on the inside to protect everything you've done.

Fred (Mike).
 #547130  by BERK44
 
Wow thats some really nice metal work. I like the shop photos too. Rust restoration is is such a pain. What kind of welder are you using?
 #549327  by JasonA
 
The wire machine is a Miller 135 running straight CO2.

More progress. I have about 2 more hours of welding to finish sealing up the battery box. I will seal weld everything, then coat it with the sealer. The old box had holes in it, and I think much of the rust was due to the battery acid fumes.

The seal weld from the battery box to the deck plate.

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The seam between the cab and battery box.

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At one point, someone cut a large hole through the battery box.

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The bottom of the sub floor.

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I replaced part of the front wall, and put an over lay on the rest of the rusted metal.

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I got most of the floor frame in today, on this side. By the time this project is over, the entire sub floor and floor will be new.I am going to hold off on the final floor plate until the whole sub floor is leveled.

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I think I have about 3 more days of work before I will switch to the engineer's side, which isn't nearly as bad. SHould have more progress pics by the end of the weekend.
 #550965  by JasonA
 
More updates. I finished weleding out the battery box. We got one of the doors mounted. We still have one more door to install and a small divder wall between the front and back half of the box. This will be ready to paint when you are here Mike.

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Came in Saturday expecting to finish the battery box, but got side tracked. Todd and I did get the air tanks mounted, which is something that we were not planning to do that day. The new tanks are longer than the old, so they sit on the loco a little different than before.

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This was a big step, now we are 4 or 5 days of work away from firing it up. We still have a lot to do though.
 #552546  by JasonA
 
More updates. Finished the battery box. One more day and the destruction will begin on the engineers side. I also spent some time and did some cleaning. Also including a few shop area pics.

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The shop area and some of my tools.

My little wire welder. It's been thourhly abused.

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The plasma arc.

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General shop views.

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The pile on the left is from the GE. Mostly the parts from the 2nd control stand.

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