Plans for my H12-44 #1845

[railroadcarmover]

As soon as my mechanic gets his shop situated I am going to have my FM H12-44 moved from its present storage location to his shop so we can work on getting it operable. I am also going to reactivate the remote control system.
Once it is servicable i am planning on having it repainted in the red white and blue paint scheme, stripes and all, that Fairless Works used on some of its fleet back in the early 80's.

I will then have the unit available for rent.

Nothing will happen for at least 6 months, as i cannot move the FM until some work is done to the brake rigging and the shop tracks need to be installed for the location that it will be shopped at.

I will keep you updated. This is going to be a nice project and the quicker it is servicable the better as i have a couple potential uses for it.

[trainspot]

Sounds good, Pete! Keep us updated on her progress!
Looks like yours will be operational before the other surviving USS
H-12-44!

[railroadcarmover]

Little update:

I am making arrangements to move my spare engine out of Fairless Works and over to my mechanics shop.

As far as my locomotive is concerned, I decided to not wait until the track is installed at his shop so in the mean time, as soon as i have permission to park it on the passing siding up there i will arrange to have #1845 moved out of Fairless Works.

I hope to have #1845 running within 6 months to a year.

[railroadcarmover]

As soon as #1845 receives some brake rigging repair and a few other minor repairs, i will be arranging to move it out of Fairless Works.

[trainspot]

Check your private messages!
Tim

[Luther Brefo]

Sounds good, Pete! Keep us updated on her progress!
Looks like yours will be operational before the other surviving USS
H-12-44!

Here is another operational H12-44. It's located in Rochester, NY at the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum.

http://rgvrrm.org/about/railroad/usa1843/index.htm

[trainspot]

I've finally put my old video to use! Its on You Tube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENGa7-Z2wlY

I copied it off the TV, and there is some skipping, but nice to see and hear the sounds of working F-M in the 1990s, I never thought I'd see one after USS retired them!

[Luther Brefo]

...nice to see and hear the sounds of working F-M in the 1990s, I never thought I'd see one after USS retired them!

A rare sight indeed but you have a chance to see it in person in 2007 and for years to come at the RGVRRM.

Just this past Saturday, 1843 (still in US Army paint) was doing some switching at the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum. Visit our website to find out more about this locomotive and also to see our calendar of events for the coming year. http://www.rgvrrm.org

[10lbReduction]

Railcar,

Has there been any progress on your Fairbanks?

-10lb

[railroadcarmover]

Railcar,

Has there been any progress on your Fairbanks?

-10lb

There has been some progress. After an airbrake test we discovered an air leak in the train air system.
As a result LTS changed out the distributing valve and the independent valve. We also blocked off the air line to the remote control panel ( This unit has a Femco remote system on it. ) to remove that item since the remote system is not in service right now. The dead man brake feature was also removed. There is still a minor air leak which could be due to an air line fitting. This may not be enough of an issue in order to have the loco shipped, but I will find out.
Also the brakes do not engage / release due to a few rusty bolts locked in on the pistons from the air cylinders to the brake rigging. Soaking the bolts with WD40 did not free up the pivots so LTS will have to replace these parts.

Part of the issue with the air / brakes is that the unit sat for over 10 years without moving so its typical that moisture would cause things to rust and also seals would dry out.

Lastly the parking brake lever needs to be rewelded to the truck assembly since it broke when it was leased to Novalog several years ago.
Once everything is done, I will put together UMLER regristration and reporting marks so I can have the loco shipped from the mill. I figure I will ship it out in the spring.

Once it leaves the mill the next step after this will be to pull the top crank out in order to swap out the defective verticle connecting shaft. I will use an updated shaft assembly that I will remove from my "spare" FM 38D8 engine that came out of USS FM H12-44 #11. After this I need to add new batteries and perform a FULL PM on the loco to place it into service.
Finally I will reevaulate the remote system to see if it works.

Eventually I want to repaint the unit in the red / white and blue scheme that was used by Fairless Works back in the 80's. The paint scheme will actually be IDENTICAL to the former USS #23 ( H12-44 ).
I so love that scheme and wish to recreate it.
I will keep you posted as things develop.
I have been wrapped up right now working on 3 Trackmobiles of mine so I am not in a rush to have the loco moved just yet.

[Earle Baldwin]

Hi, railroadcarmover.

Do you have any updates regarding the 1845?

Thanks in advance.

Best regards,

Earle

[railroadcarmover]

Hi, railroadcarmover.

Do you have any updates regarding the 1845?

Thanks in advance.

Best regards,

Earle

Hi Earle.
This week there is a welder lined up to weld back on a missing side handrail and also the extension of the parking brake lever.
After that the air brake system will be checked to see if it passes the leak down test.
Once this is out of the way, I will apply for Umler and reporting marks.

Once my mechanic has a few hundred feet of track installed to access his shop building, I will ship the #1845 there so we can start working on it.
Presently I have been working on 3 of my 5TM Trackmobiles at my NJ shop so I haven't had a chance to focus on the #1845.
I will keep you posted as to when it will ship out.
Thanks for the inquiry.
Pete

[RDGTRANSMUSEUM]

question,where are the frame serial numbers located on this unit?

[railroadcarmover]

I will find out and let you know. Off hand I am not sure where it would be stamped.
BTW, I have some of the original paperwork from when the unit was built in 1953 that shows the frame number. This was supplied to the US Army when they bought it new and since it was sold in 74 to US Steel, they received all the papers along with it.

[railroadcarmover]

question,where are the frame serial numbers located on this unit?

The serial number would be located on the prime movers "end plate". Its right near the governor.

There are no number stampings on the frame itself. The only other ID info would be found on the builders plate, which is usually long gone.