Problem Solving on the Union Pacific Cheyenne Division

With so many pieces of brass on the layout, John Gray must perform constant tweaking to get them to run right. He actually enjoys it because he likes problem-solving and getting the engine to run. Phil Gazzano demonstrates the tweaking. Phil starts by taking the superstructure off. Then he starts inspecting, slowly spinning the drivers and feeling for any binds and rotating the coupling to the gearbox. Soon he will take the gearbox completely off and place the mechanism on a glass plate. To remove the gearbox, he first removes the cover plate and sets it aside. He uses tweezers as a pickle fork to slide off the rubber coupling to the gearbox. After removing the gearbox, he places the mechanism on a glass plate. Next, Phil pushes the car forward across the glass to see how smoothly it rolls. In this particular case, it’s moving smoothly.

Next Phil wants to make sure that all the moving parts are well-lubricated. He places a drop of oil on each of the side rod pins. This case has a split coupling side rod, so he must make sure there is oil in there also. The eccentric, the pin inside, the crosshead guide, piston rod, and basically all the moving parts are oiled up. Next to oil is all the journal boxes, starting at the top and working to the back. It seems like a lot of oil, but the tip of the oiler has been squeezed with pliers so not much oil actually comes out. The trailing truck will be lubricated the same way, making sure both sides are lubricated as well as the front and rear center bronze bushing. View the full video to see the other work Phil does.