California Trolley & Railroad Corporation (CTRC)
Preserving the historical heritage of railroading and trolleys in the Santa Clara Valley of California.

Posting Pullup - 2011

SP2479 - Dec 27, 2011

John Ezovski

Today the left crosshead was returned to the locomotive. With the crosshead in place, bolts were installed in the lower guide. All of the news is not good.

The crosshead was found to be pinched tight when full forward. A .025 inch shim was added at the front upper hanger to free the crosshead. When the crosshead was pulled to back to end of travel, a similar situation was encountered.

Measurements show the upper and lower guides being within .005 inch at the two points that have been used to establish guide positions. Neither guide is perfectly flat. The upper guide has a very slight arc to it. Solution to the problem will be identified after the first of the year.

There will be no work session Saturday, Dec 31, 2011

SP2479 - Update Oct. 8, 2011

John Ezovski

This past week, on two occasions, the fence along Healey Ave. was cut. There was no apparent attempt to break into any of the containers nor any graffiti applied. A walk along the entire site fence showed no other damage.

Cuts in the fence occurred under a tree that probably provided some cover. Today several workers heavily pruned this tree. A good portion of the trimmings were removed. Hopefully this work will help discourage this activity. Fairgrounds management was informed. Night security will now patrol the area on Healey Ave.

Work has continued on repairs to the right side crosshead guides. All holes have been bored and bolts machined. Measurements between the guides appear to be within acceptable limits. When 2479's master mechanic returns from vacation, he will make the final decision regarding any additional work in this area.

Measurements of the position of the left crosshead guides to the stroke of the piston have been completed. These guides will also require repositioning. With any luck, the process that has been learned on the right side will allow these repairs to be completed in a shorter time frame.

The locomotive and tender have been not been moved in almost two years. There has been some concern about journal surfaces. Over the past several weeks the exposed journal surfaces on the locomotive were cleaned and lubricated. Journal oil levels were checked on the tender and locomotive lead truck. Today the tender was pulled forward an back several times one full wheel revolution. The tender resisted the pull on first move. All other moves were completed with almost no effort. In the next several weeks the same operation will be performed with the locomotive.

SP2479 - August 28, 2011

John Ezovski

During the past several months repairs to SP-2479 right side crosshead guides have continued but at an agonizingly slow pace. With the lower guide in position and the upper surface of the crosshead machined, workers turned to installing the upper guide. Before this could be completed guide position to center of the cylinder had to be made along with repairs to the holes in the upper guide and its associated hanger holes. Obstacles were encountered in each step of these repairs Each obstacle caused at a minimum of a weeks delay to devise a solution.

The guide’s position to the cylinder has been set and is near ideal. The greatest challenge has been the match boring of the rear holes in the upper guide and its associated hanger hole. This past week the first of these holes was finished. Hopefully the second rear mounting hole will be completed in a more timely fashion.

These images show the various tooling used to complete boring of the upper hole. All of these items had been used elsewhere but required modifications.

Cleanup of the front anchor points is much easier as these holes can be drilled. This process began late Saturday afternoon. The inside hole is almost complete.

The organization’s large Clark forklift has been running rather poorly and has received a considerable amount of attention during this period. A compression test was performed with satisfactory results followed by a complete tune up. With only a slight performance improvement, it was felt that a carburetor rebuild was necessary. Finding the model number and parts for a 58 year old carburetor was no easy task but parts were located. (One of these days we are not going to be so lucky.) Rebuild of the carburetor made a difference. The lift was driven and operated with no issues.

Two large machines have been removed from storage. The first of these, a Brown and Sharpe mill, has been cleaned up and made serviceable. This machine has not been used for a number of years. It had been stored outside in semi-covered area and thus required lots of help before power could be applied. Cleanup of the second machine, a surface grinder, is in work.

Weekly, members are cutting grass, pruning trees and clearing weeds. Maintaining site appearance is always a concern.

SP1215 - With Tender

Larry Murchison

The 1215 locomotive with a tender snuggled up to its backside.

SP2479 - Accomplishments: Saturday May 21, 2011

John Ezovski

A large crew produced the most productive day in a very long time!

Thanks to the generous donation of 30 gallons of hydraulic oil by Mr. Steve Lopes, Western States Oil, today the large planner was used to trim the top of the right side cross head guide's babbitted surface. Prior to trimming, this surface was heavily pitted. With this work complete, repairs can begin on the right side's upper cross head guide.

The last of four bolts for the lower cross head guide was machined. Nuts are all that is needed to mount the guide on the locomotive.

While machining of the cross head was taken place, welding of tire clips on the main driver was taking place. The right side tire of the main driver was replaced during earlier repairs. Tire retaining clips were not installed at the time of the repair. Several more clips need to be made to replace missing clips on the right side of number three driver.

Additional welding was performed on the backhead of the boiler. A small but deep gouge in the sheet was repaired by pad welding.

The area behind the shop was looking rather sad. Several members worked in the area most of the day. Appearance from Old Tulley Road has improved greatly. A bit more work is needed to complete this task.

Spring cleanup of the tall weeds in the round house materials area has begun. Lots more work is need in this area to complete this job.

Thanks to all that participated.

Location And Date Change For Monthly Meetings!

Starting May 7, 2011, our monthly meetings will be moved to the first Saturday of the month at the locomotive restoration site. The meeting time will be at 10:00 am in our double wide trailer. The change will enable meeting attendees to see restoration progress. Since Saturdays are the standard "work day" at the site. meeting attendees are encouraged to bring work clothes!

Access to the restoration site is available from Healy Avenue. For internet map directions, enter "2479 Healy Avenue, San Jose!".

SP2479 Status - April 20, 2011

Small crew today but a few accomplishments.

All machining to the lower right crosshead guide is complete which makes it ready to be returned to the locomotive. Before it can be mounted a pair of bolts must be made and some touch up work to the front shim plate is required for the guide to be preciously positioned to the piston rod.

In order to gain access to the group's large Rockford Planer, a cleanup of the outdoor shop was required. With "stuff" relocated, the planer's ways and various shafts were cleaned and lubricated. Power was applied to several parts of the machine to check movement and allow additional lubrication. A significant quantity of hydraulic oil is needed before the last section and most important part of this machine can be operated. 30 gallons of oil is on order and hopefully will be come available for next weekend's session.

Over the past several weeks a fox has been seen in and about the rail tie stack. A fox in this area has been seen often over the years. This visit has been a bit more interesting as a litter of seven kits have been seen with the vixen. The kits may be seen in this photo.

Board Meeting (Feb. 17, 2011) Minutes

The draft minutes from the February 17, 2011 meeting of the CTRC Board of Directors is available. (It's in Acrobat/.pdf format and is 5 pages long.)

2008 NBC News Item on SP2479

Here's an NBC news story on the SP2479. It's from November 2008.

Here are videos of the SP1215 move.

A Team Effort - 1215's Relocation within the History Park

Ken Middlebrook

In early August, Alida Bray, President of History San Jose, approached me about the possibility of relocating SP #1215 to the front of the museum parallel to Senter Road. HSJ was investigating upgrading their front yard appearance, the largest change would be a new garden to be installed between the Dashaway Stables and the perimeter fence. This museum location was underutilized and Alida believed relocating 1215 in this vicinity would attract both passing motorist on Senter Road and on-site museum visitors. Furthermore, the locomotive could be integrated into HSJ's Historic Transportation Program for grade school students. The new garden would involve removal of the existing lawns and was planned to occur before the end of the calendar year.

Over the previous eighteen months, CTRC volunteers had cosmetically restored 1215. The locomotive looked great yet remained hidden in its back parking lot location. Although less than half a mile in distance, relocating the locomotive would require an outside contractor to move the 75 ton artifact. Additionally, the new display location would require ground preparation.

Taylor Heavy Hauling was contacted and performed on site walkthrough. As conceived, the relocation would require removal of the museum's perimeter fencing and passing over the lawn area proposed for the new garden. Fortunately, the locomotive's north facing orientation in the parking lot would permit a new south facing orientation without a need of a second reload of Taylor's trucks. Because of the heavy loads, concerns were raised toward completing the move before the winter rains. Taylor planned for two days to complete the move.

At the August CTRC board meeting, a relocation proposal was made for funding approval. During the discussions, a suggestion was made toward expanding the display to include a 'train' involving other CTRC rail cars. As a result, the display would include 1215 and a caboose.

With a plan of how the relocation could occur, permission was sought by History San Jose from the city's parks department. Several meetings resulted with discussions focused on the various responsibilities of the involved parties. Final city approval was given October 21 leaving less than two weeks for the planned moved dates of November 1 and 2.

CTRC volunteers and supporters kicked in high gear....

A-Tool Shed (Rob Pedersen) provided much needed skip loader and forklift. Steve Raby volunteered to prep the new display site with the A-Tool Shed trackor. Rod Diridon arranged for base rock from Stevens Creek Quarry (Mark McKenna). John Evoski lead a crew to build three 33 foot track panels for the new display track. To utilize tools and material at the fairgrounds, two track panels were built at the fairgrounds and moved to the museum by Peninsula Crane and Rigginng (Joe Bauer). After spreading two truckoads of base rock, Steve discovered additional material was needed and arranged for a donation from Reed & Graham (Sal Guido). Rob Pederson provided a dump truck to move the Reed & Graham donation. CTRC volunteers greased and lubed 1215's journal surfaces.

Due to the wet weather forecast for the Halloween weekend, the move dates was pushed out a couple of days to November 3 and 4. On Wednesday, November 3, Taylor Trucking arrived from Roseville at around 11:00.am with three large truck and a very large forklift. By 5:30, locomotive 1215 and her tender were located on their new display track. A scheduled two day event occurred in six hours due to the various preparation and support from the entire CTRC organization.

The following CTRC volunteers assisted in this effort:

  • Tom Anderson
  • Rod Diridon
  • John Ezvoski
  • Lynda Jones
  • Gene Martin
  • Ken Middlebrook
  • Denis Murchison
  • Larry Murchison
  • Ron Pugh
  • Art Randall
  • Phil Ruhle
  • Bob Schneider
  • Ray Willaims
  • Jack Young
  • John Zielinski

A special CTRC 'Tonka' recognition is given to volunteer Steve Raby. Utilizing the A-Tool Shed skip loader, Steve spent several days removing 20 plus yards of turf only to replace this material with an equal amount and more of base rock. This vital activity was needed to provide a solid foundation for 1215's new display track. Before this time, Steve had only spent a couple of hours operating a tractor.

Additional work will be required to complete our new display train. Final ballast will have to be added; however, thank you to everyone for the work done to this point.

New Turntable Images

There is a new collection images of a computer generated turntable in our photo gallery. The actual turntable (disassembled) is at the Santa Clara Fairgrounds CTRC site. Other albums in the gallery contain images of virtual roundhouse and train-shed.

Click here to go to the collection.

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