SP NG Diesel #1 (GE 50T) - Triennial or Bust

[0351]

Here's some close reference photos of the trucks on Sumpter Valleys GE 50Tonner. The photo of the truck assembly is interesting. Were there two variations of side frames GE,s 50tonners? I'm seeing some models
with a V in the top of the sideframes and some models the top is a straight line. Also I'm assuming that the X-1 had 33" wheels, with a 6'10" axel spacing, correct?

[0351]

Disregard the above question on side frame variations. I now see it's just an illusion due the 45 degree angle brace on that little platform that juts out on the top.

[NP317]

It's a...
Oh never mind.
~RN

[0351]

now the obvious question arises, what is that platform for? Jack pad?

[senorgilamonster]

WOW! Thanks a ton. I didn't have a good reference for the side frame.

I had assumed that the "pad" was for stability since the body was still standard gauge width at 10' and trucks were re-gauged to 3'.

and yes, best that I can tell SP1 was 33" wheels.

[0351]

I pretty sure the SP1’s width is 9’. At least that’s the rough width I get scaling it up. I checked RMI’s webpage and their 2.5” scale SP1 is 22.5” wide which would confirm 9’ also. If I’m missing something please correct me.
http://www.rmirailworks.com/X1.asp#.WnpueRNMHYV

[rkcarguy]

That is not the industry standard code for pillow blocks. Most manufacturers have different codes for these types of units. That may be what this particular company is using, but we made pillow blocks in our plant right up until last year, and none of the nomenclature is the same as what that shows. You have to look it up to cross-reference from one company to the other.

The flange units you are talking about can come in a couple of different configurations. The most common has two plates which sandwich together and then bolt onto the mounting surface. Using the stamped mounts, the plate they bolt to has to be rigid, something like 1/4" or so thickness to give it stability, and the most common ones are also not flat on the back. there has to be a hole large enough for the rear part of the housing to protrude through. Most of your 2 bolt iron flange units are going to be flat on the back and can be bolted straight on to something. The stamped units derive a lot of their rigidity from the surface they are mounted on, and they have to be bolted directly to that surface.

What I would recommend doing is making your axle boxes out of whatever material you want, bore your hole for your bearing about 0.020" oversize, and then put the ball bearing directly on the end of the shaft by pressing or using sleeve retainer. That will work well. Have a step in your axle box bore so that the bearing will bottom out against it and absorb the thrust. That is a simple method and it will work and last a long time. I have used this method quite a number of times and they are all still running. Biggest failure modes: (1) the bearing can move on the shaft and will either wear the shaft down or the shaft comes out of the bearing bore (2) get them soaked/submerged in water and get water in the bearing (3) bearing seals fail and all the grease runs out of them. This last one, may happen because of abuse, hitting or bending it on installation, or just from time. When the seals fail, it's over with.

I guess what I meant, was that I was able to use those codes in the picture to get a lot more results in searching for different types and brands of bearings to choose from. Not sure if that's because the companies use some HTML cross references to come up in more searches, but it does work. Some of those bearings look really cool, the one type UCT looks like it could slide right into vertical slots in the side plates with a spring on top and you are done. Probably use those for my "Hustler" later:) My thought was that the stamped 2-bolt bearings seem to have a lower profile, and could be attached such that the larger portion of the stamping and the bearings inner sleeve would protrude through the side plate, then cover it up outside with a cosmetic bearing box. The cast pillow blocks have a thick flange and pretty wide inner race, mounting those inside the side plates would push them out a long ways from the wheels and it might not look so great. Covering them with a bearing box "cover" on the outside would be far too large. Then again I went function over form, my pillow blocks are simply on the outside of the side plates on my S12 for easy replacement and greasing, so it's all up to you.

[senorgilamonster]

0351 - 10' seemed a bit wide to me as well...but when I scaled up this photo, I got 10'. It is not completely orthogonal, but pretty close and it gives me a really good look at the space between the rails to base my measurements on.

I wasn't quite ready to believe 10', so I started looking at drawings online. One drawing claims the GE 70 Ton is 10' side. Another (Is that an RS1 ?) also shows 10'. Since I almost instantly found 2 other std gauge switchers at 10' (as well as other rolling stock) I was satisfied that I hadn't made a gross error.

Having said all of that, mine will be a hair under 10' since I will limit the width at 24" (instead of 25") for simplicity + cost of materials. I actually can't make the RMI measurements work in scale in all three dimensions.

Maybe if I make the 9 hour trip to Sumter Valley and lay a tape measure on theirs that was actually built for narrow gauge, before I set the width in stone (not likely) I might change it.

[senorgilamonster]

[senorgilamonster]

Sorry, I had problems with my attachements

[senorgilamonster]

I have set a goal for myself to have both trucks (1 powered and 1 not) by the end of the month. My stretch goal is to have them temporarily attached to some sort of partially completed frame, so they can be tested.

Today I started cutting metal. I cut 2 side frames out of 1/4" x 6" steel flat bar (might be overkill here) and 4 equalizing bars out of aluminum. I decided to only build one truck at a time...in case I mess up the design and need to buy more metal, it will cut the replacement cost in half.

I started shaping the first equalizing bar. I am going to have to figure out a better way to make the last cut though. My Skill saw is not happy cutting this for some reason and while tolerable for the short cuts, it isn't going to be acceptable it for the long straight cut. However the holes are great...the first time in my life that I have ever set up a fence (I thought that was a guy who buys stolen jewelry) and they all align so nicely. Who knew?

The four nicest bars will go on the outside of the side frames, with the dogs facing inside. Come to think of it, I really don't have to shape the top for the insides...hmm.

[senorgilamonster]

I see that I do have to cut the tops of the inside equalizer bars down also.