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P2K SD7 - help with the bits..
QUESTION:I've just obtained a P2K SD7 in HO. This is my first US locomotive,
the impetus for buying it coming largely from reading this website -
and I am thouroughly delighted with it.
However, my knowledge of US railroading is very limited, and that
leaves me with a couple of problems. In the accessories bag I have two
black plastic parts which look like they should attach to the bogie
sideframe - as a test I fitted one into one of the pair of holes in
the sideframe. The exploded chassis diagram shows four of these
"bits", so I'm confused. Can anyone help as to where they should go?
Are these bits part of the braking system?
Also there is a length of silver-coloured wire with a largish loop at
one end - this is shown on the exploded body shell drawing, but for
the life of me I can't figure out what it is.
When a car went "on the ground" a call went out by radio for us (the section gang), and
we would show up with our pickup, backhoe towing a compressor, Terex loader, and 10
wheel rigid frame 20' flatbed (1950 dodge) loaded with spare rail, ties, plates, rail
saw, Huck machine (sort of a rail riviter), spiking mauls, LOTS of wood blocking (old
pallets, crates etc.), and re-rail frogs.
I'd very grateful for any help on the above.
ANSWER: My reply (below) is intended to "set the scene" for anyone to model a re-rail frog in
use. I apologize for the length, and I hope that this is of general interest. I have
decided, in the process of writing this, tht I will try to model such a scene on one of
my yard tracks.
A few years back (82-83), I had the priveledge of working two summers for the Kodak Park
Railroad. This "short line" consisted of approximately 25 miles of track, completely
within Kodak Park (EASTMAN KODAK CO, ROCHESTER NY). At the time, we had an Alco S1,
GP9, and MP15AC. Track ranged from trolley track for in-street running, salvaged 70 lb
rail to "new" 110 lb rail, so we had to use a number of "transition rail joiners".
Derailments, while not common, were not unheard of (particularly with the light rail and
100 ton ACF covered hoppers (plastic pellets), so I am INTIMATELY aquainted with the use
of re-rail frogs.
Cars that had dropped only one axle, or one
truck, and were near (5-10 feet) intact rail were re-railed using blocking and the
frogs. The frogs have a slit down the middle (offset to one side) starting from the
wide end that was placed over the rail head, with the wide end facing the derailed wheel
and the narrow end facing the place where the car should end up, and the wider side of
the frog on the same side of the rail as the derailed wheel. The frog was stabilized
with LOTS of blocking, and blocking was used to build an approach to the ramp (2-4 feet
- we DID NOT work UNDER derailed equipment unless absolutely necessary). Note that it
only one truck is down, you have to work under the car and rerail towards the truck
still on the rails! The other derailed wheel (they come in pairs after all!) was given
a ramp to the railhead using blocking (no frog). The car was then dragged up the
blocking and frog and onto the rail using either the locomotive, if still coupled (and
on the rails itself) or the Terex loader and chains. The frog would guide one wheel and
the other would simply climb the blocking and fall into place. If both axles of the
truck were "down" the second would be blocked so that it would simply follow the first
up the frog and onto the rail. If multiple cars went "on the ground" the cars near the
ends were cleared first, and then cars in the middle dragged to good rail and re-railed,
either with frogs or in cases where a lot of loads or a locomotive were re-railed,
cranes. Finally, the rail was replaced or repaired, gauged, and put back in service.
Any wreck site (even a minor one) gets to be a real mess real quick with equipment,
hoses, scrap rail and lumber all over the place.
The work accomplished above was done by 5 section hands (dirty shirts in "public areas",
shirts off in "non-public areas"), and the three man train crew (clean work shirts) who
were supervised by the section foreman, his boss the Rail Operations Manager, his boss
the Plant Services Manager, and sometimes his boss, the VP for Plant Services (all in
clean white shirts & ties), as well as two or three safety inspectors (clean white
shirts, ties and white hard hats), and countless gawkers (suits/dresses). One of these
gawkers, an engineer (electrical) once asked the foreman "what happened?" and nodded his
understanding when told "The power steering on the locomotive went out, and they're a
real bear to keep on the rails when that happens!"
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