Getting close to the end. Finally tackled the two most onerous jobs of this build - making up 48 roller bearings to replace the ones in the trucks that had rusted and galled from exposure and old age; and forcing the suspension springs back into the truck frames.
First off, each axle end takes 11 bearings, so a total of 88 bearings for the two trucks.
I was able to salvage about 40 existing bearings - they were made from 3/8” drill rod originally. All the rest I discarded after two or three rounds of derusting, buffing and inspecting.
I had a nice existing length of NOS 3/8” drill rod in my prized collection of junk yard steel. So made up a little jig with some welding magnets to cut the correct lengths with my small table top bandsaw. Each bearing needed to be 1.560” long, Max. Setting up a temporary stop with the big triangular magnets just outside the bandsaw blade made it a quick job - 15 minutes of sawing maybe. Turned out to be not as big a job as I expected.
The best part was what happened next - using my 100 year old Dalton 7 1/2” lathe to turn each piece down to correct size - 1.560” (+.000, - .006). The Dalton uses 1/4” bits, so I could also throw a quick, tiny bevell on each end of the new bearings. This squared each end and cut off the jagged bits from the saw work.
I really enjoy working with the Dalton. It’s a high end lathe from yesteryear, that typically exhibits almost no bed wear after 100 years use. They factory named it a “Dalton 6”, as it was advertised as capable doing 6 different machining operations with all the optional attachments. It’s great fun to use to make small parts.
These lathes were shipped to the Western Front in huge numbers during WW1, supporting the French, British, and finally, American artillery units, trench railways, and Army depot maintenance shops for the Allies. Many lathes ended up mounted in mobile, railcar machine shops. A side note: 100 of these lathes were shipped in the hold of the LUSITANIA , when it was sunk by a German U-boat, and still reside on the bottom of the Atlantic. Mine is the same model, a “lot 5”, but was produced in summer of 1919, just after the Armistice, and sold new to a farmer in the agriculture industry in the Skagit Valley, here in Washington State, where I found it for sale 3 or 4 years ago.
Here’s the lathe in action
The lathe still has the original bits and pieces. including a set of change gears, and a nice little steady rest. I added new thrust washers, replaced the bronze spacers on the spindle, the yellow metal bearings in the headstock, and sourced some replacement drip oilers for the ones that somehow walked away. Also gave it a new coat of paint and a QCTP.
The brass builders plates were all complete and still in good shape. I used little brass split rivets to reinstall all the plates after the paint dried. These rivets are similar to a cotter pin, but with a brass rivet head on the proud end. Actually the same style as the factory installed 100 years ago. Amazing you can still buy them over the counter. The ends of each rivet stick through a hole in the casting and easily bend over on the inside of the housing, to secure the plate to the casting.
Turning the ends of the bearings down to tolerance, and cutting small bevels.
Finally re-assembled the trucks - which consisted of chasing the inner and outer springs all around the truck frames until they seated properly. And applied the upteenth coat of spot paint to repair the nicks and gouges on the trucks after wrestling with the springs.
Trucks, ready to roll. 2 ea.
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Glenn