Preserving a Locomotive Bell

[WonderinAloud]

In the 1950's, my father was given a bell from a locomotive by someone who worked for a railroad in Pittsburgh.  My dad had that bell mounted to a brick and stone pedestal in our back yard - as a child I remember my mother ringing it to call the kids to dinner.  It has tremendous sentimental value to me, and I want to preserve it. 

The house is now up for sale, and I intend to retrieve the bell before the property is sold.  I am looking for advice on what I need to do to free it from its pedestal and what (if anything) I should do once I have it home to take care of it.  (I know with some things, doing nothing can be the best thing to do :-)

I haven't seen it in almost 10 years, but I believe it was bolted to the stone through its base, and the bolts were painted as was the rest of the frame holding the bell.  I assume the bolts are rusted tight after over 50 years in place.  I appreciate any advice on what tools I should have with me, and techniques for safely freeing those bolts.  I'll have help (my brother will be there, too).  I just don't have the experience I assume you all have, which is why I am here asking your advice.

Many thanks in advance for your help.

[henry6]

Sounds like you might need a contractor to do the work...especially since you will not be able to lift the bell and holder without a winch or something like a small crane.

[WonderinAloud]

I was afraid you might be right, since I have seen pictures of bells that looked about the same size that weighed upwards of 300 lbs.

Fortunately, a reciprocating saw cut through the bolts holding the base to the brick pedestal, and my brother and I were enough to lift it off the pedestal and into the back of my car. It is very heavy, but we didn't need a crane.

Next stop is a local company that specializes in processing metal parts to discuss cleaning up the cast iron base and polishing the bronze. ( I will let the guys there lift the bell out of the car - my wife and I are not strong enough to do that.)  The inside of the bell is painted red - I assume this is original, and I intend to leave that alone.

[CB&Q Modeler]

Keep in mind that useally any cleaning/polishing/painting of such a historic item most likely will detract from its value.

Proceed with caution....

[WonderinAloud]

I was concerned about that very thing - certainly the rule in antiques is to leave things untouched if  possible, only clean if you can do that without harming the original. But after talking to curators at the B&O museum and at the New England Railroad Museum, I became comfortable with the idea of restoring the bell as if it were a fine car - bring it back to the original.  The shop that is working on the bell now has a proven track record with brass (my wife has used them for years on andirons and other old brass pieces) and chrome (they do beautiful work on motorcycles, cars, even old fire engines).

It turns out the bell was originally nickel plated brass (unusual but not unheard of), and, as was traditional, painted red inside.  Based on what the B&O curator said, we believe it came off a B&O locomotive from the Glenwood yard outside Pittsburgh (I have seen photos of locomotives from the late 1940's in that very yard that show the same distinctive shape to the cradle - one arm is rounded, the other is flattened, apparently to provide clearance for something that waved back and forth as the bell was rung).  There's a date inside the bell - 1927 (maybe 1924, my memory's foggy on that detail).

So the steel parts are being cleaned of any rust and repainted black.  The bell itself is being replated nickel, and the inside repainted red.  We'll mount it on a wood base, and we have a spot picked out for it, inside, protected from the elements.  Both my wife, who has forgotten more about antiques than I will ever know, and I are comfortable that this is best for the bell - respecting its heritage but recognizing it is a piece of machinery, and with machinery (including even antique clocks), the best path is careful restoration.

[cx500]

WonderinAloud

.....  There's a date inside the bell - 1927 (maybe 1924, my memory's foggy on that detail).

 

Some railroads would stamp the locomotive number on the bell (as well as other mechanical parts), so you might want to check that possibility.  With a number like 1924 or 1927 it is easy and reasonable to assume it represents the date, but maybe it is just coincidence and it came from a locomotive in the 1900 series.  Obviously the B&O roster is the prime one to check, but don't completely eliminate the possibility it might have come from another area road.

John