Mechanical Department "No no that's fine shove that 20 pound set all around the yard... those shoes aren't hell and a half to change..."
The Missabe Road: Safety First
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
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QUOTE: Originally posted by Randy Stahl Railway traction motors amaze me. These machines have to endure everything that mother nature dishes out from moisture to temperature extremes. A motor also has to stand up to the pounding from rail joints, switches etc. Bad joints are like dropping the poor thing out of a second story window, I am impressed that they run at all. The most impressive is the fact that the average life of a traction motor is around 5 years! Randy
QUOTE: Originally posted by coborn35 Coming straight out of notch 8 into dyno 8 will also do it.
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
QUOTE: Originally posted by tree68 Re: Slow, underpowered trains and the Illinois "flatlands." Many moons ago I was in Rantoul, Illinois, watching trains at the station on the old double track ICG. A southbound behind two Geeps labored through. Although the hoppers were empty, the train consisted of two unit trains worth of empties, around 180-190 cars, as I recall. Southbound into Rantoul is an upgrade of probably 4-5 miles. Those two Geeps were definitely earning their keep that night. Too long ago to estimate their speed, but it had to be near the lower limit...
QUOTE: Originally posted by gfjwilmde Hey gabe, once when I used to work in Amtrak's Wash., DC engine house, I had the oppertunity to see a really fried traction motor from an AEM7. The engine's t/m actually caught fire in New York, but they didn't have a drop table to fix the problem, and the Wilmington shops at the time were packed full with b/o stuff also. So management made the decision to deadhead the unit to us in DC. The crew started out one late Friday afternoon and didn't reach DC until that late Sunday night. Since I used to work the night shift, the t/m change out landed in my lap. I'll tell you, the paint on the t/m was completely burned off, the internal wiring was all blown out and the paint on the gearcase also was burned away. I've seen the result of 'flash over', but nothing like what this t/m went through. 'Flash over' occurs when there is a build up of metal dust either in the armature or where the commutator is. Anyway, as a joke, I wrote on the b/o slip where it has 'cause of defect', I wrote down, 'Reactor core meltdown'. I and my coworkers(even some of the management) thought is was funny. GLENN A R E A L RAILROADER!!!!! A R E A L AMTRAKER!!!!!
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