One of our RS1's -- 1951 build with Westinghouse air brakes --- is popping off the safety at 150 lbs pressure, when it has up to now happily cycled between
120 and 130 pounds. The overpressure blew out the old, brittle gasket in the governor, which we replaced. The governor does not seem to be the problem --- it is clean inside and all its few, simple parts seem intact and in adjustment, the air passages are clear. Which brings us to the unloaders and the input valves, of which there are two on each of the three cylinders. I'm assuming, and asking if anyone knows if it's correct, that a failure of any one of these 6 would lead to air reaching the main tank. Troubleshooting this looks like a big job...the valves are not horribly inaccessable, but if anyone has any suggestions on how to track the problem down without removing all this hardware, we'd really appreciate hearing about it. The Alco manual has some detail but no diagrams and very little troubleshooting info....thanks for any help!
W. B. Vaughan
Gold Coast Railroad Museum
Miami, FL USA
120 and 130 pounds. The overpressure blew out the old, brittle gasket in the governor, which we replaced. The governor does not seem to be the problem --- it is clean inside and all its few, simple parts seem intact and in adjustment, the air passages are clear. Which brings us to the unloaders and the input valves, of which there are two on each of the three cylinders. I'm assuming, and asking if anyone knows if it's correct, that a failure of any one of these 6 would lead to air reaching the main tank. Troubleshooting this looks like a big job...the valves are not horribly inaccessable, but if anyone has any suggestions on how to track the problem down without removing all this hardware, we'd really appreciate hearing about it. The Alco manual has some detail but no diagrams and very little troubleshooting info....thanks for any help!
W. B. Vaughan
Gold Coast Railroad Museum
Miami, FL USA