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.
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".
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:
The front, which is pretty much done.
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.
I also changed the step lights as we were missing some pieces from the old ones.
The back end.
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.
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".
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:
The front, which is pretty much done.
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.
I also changed the step lights as we were missing some pieces from the old ones.
The back end.