ELDCPS Vice President–Communications Mike Steinberg and Vice President–Operations John Boehner, accompanied by their wives, made a site visit to Midwest Locomotive on August 26. The purpose of the visit was to inspect the all work, to date, on Diner 741. Newly arrived Diner 470 was also evaluated and inspected. The work list on NKP Pullman City of Lima was updated, and Midwest will be addressing the light welding work that is needed around two of the windows. The timetable for the completion of the car has been updated. The major expense for COL will be the exterior paint job.
Erie Lackawanna Equipment Leasing, LLC’s equipment was also inspected. The work list for 1318 was updated with the repairs necessary for road service, as well as cosmetic work such as restoring the GMY paint scheme. Pullman 6-6-4 Green Bank/American Way II will be placed into service after the completion of 1318.
A detailed and thorough update will be provided at the ELDCPS Convention
during the members meeting on Sunday, October 23. For this reason, the
Car Report in this issue will primarily cover Diner 741. The next Car
Report will revert to coverage on all the equipment that will be used
for the Lake Cities project.
Many of you are aware that our national rail-freight system is very
busy, so the railroads are contracting with private shops such as Midwest
Locomotive to assist with scheduled car and locomotive maintenance.
With this in mind, Midwest has asked us to be flexible, as they may
not be able to work on our equipment every day. To help handle this
unprecedented demand for shop time, Midwest added a second shift to
their operation starting in mid-August. Midwest is doing a great job.
Many thanks to Dave Winn and his competent and professional staff.
I believe all of you are aware that ELDCPS will be holding our first
convention to be held at the Hilton Hotel at Scranton, Penn. Oct. 21-23.
Running concurrently with our convention, we will be sponsoring an
Erie, DL&W and Erie Lackawanna Veterans Reunion. We have scheduled
a broad slate of interesting activities for the three days. ELDCPS
will hold an official meeting on Sunday morning for our members and
guests. I will be presenting a complete report to our membership at
that time. Of course, the three days will permit many of you to meet
us, ask questions, offer input, and discuss our future. I look forward
to visiting with you in October!
Diner 741
Since our last car report, Midwest Locomotive is progressing with the exterior and some interior structural work on Erie Lackawanna Diner 741.
Roof: In late December 2004, Midwest craftsmen inspected the sheet metal over the Dining and Lounge area. Although we originally thought that the metal was in fair condition, Midwest discovered it was thin in several places. They recommended that all the sheet metal be replaced, and we concurred. New metal was welded into place in early January. Any compromised underlying roof supports were repaired or replaced.
The new roof in the kitchen/pantry is visible below.
The old rusted roof ends became patterns to exactly duplicate the "streamlined" roof, which the Erie Railroad installed during the upgrade in 1949. Eric at Midwest fabricated new stove vents,
an air conditioning access hatch on the roof
and a new air conditioner intake vent.
Although the work was very tedious and time-consuming, Midwest did a great job duplicating the original roof and vents.
By late March, the new metal work on the roof of the car was completed. All seams were sealed, and lightly sanded to conform to the contour of the roof. A rubberized sealant was applied to the roof.
Once the car is ready for exterior finishing, the roof will be painted black.
Side sheets: With the roof work completed, Midwest turned their attention to the side sheets. Water had leaked from the roof, causing corrosion and rust-throughs to the side sheets, supports, crash posts and end sills. Midwest began the work of removing the corroded side sheets approximately 8 to 10 inches above the side sill under the kitchen end of the car.
As expected, this revealed several I-beam supports which were no longer serviceable The lower portion of the I-beams were removed, and replacements were welded into position.
New sheet metal will be welded in place.
End sills: Midwest removed the rusted sheet metal from about 2 ft. above the side sills at each end of the car. Replacement supports and the I-beam crash posts were installed as required.
When new sheet metal is welded in place, these repairs will be complete.
Interior: While work progressed on 741’s exterior, new floor supports were installed in the hallway between the kitchen and the wall. Note indentation to the left—this area contained the piping for the former steam heat system; it will be for the electric strip heating elements.
Overview: Repairs to the roof, end sills, and sides of 741 are nearing completion as of late August.
Midwest will next concentrate on closing off the doorway cut in by EL MoW forces in 1972.
We are on schedule with the restoration of Diner 741.
Lackawanna Phoebe Snow Diner 470:
The AOE Car Shop performed the necessary repairs to 470’s air brake piping, connections, slip joints and air brake valves to perform the required air test for interchange. The shop reprogrammed the AEI tags and re-stenciled the car as "DL 470". Dave Monte Verde graciously permitted ELDCPS to use Delaware-Lackawanna reporting marks for the car.
After arrival at Midwest Locomotive on July 8, Diner 470 was positioned in a secure area. We inspected the car on August 26th, and will present a full report at the ELDCPS Convention in October at Scranton. During the inspection, a work-order list was compiled. We are waiting for a cost-estimate from Dave Winn, president of Midwest Locomotive, to meet our grant submission deadline.
We look forward to the day when Diner 470 will once again proudly wear Lackawanna on its letterboards!