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To: "oermsignal" Subject: Orange Empire Railway Museum Signals Update - 11/9/2004 This email is our semi-regular update about signals work (installation, maintenance and restoration) at the Orange Empire Railway Museum and is a collaborative effort -- the information for this e-news issue was provided by Gary See. If you have information that would be of interest to others, please email it to me and we'll include it in our next newsletter. If you would like to be removed from this mailing list, please email me. Likewise, if you know someone who would like to be added to this list, please have them email me. If you receive duplicate copies of this email, please contact me and let me know your preferred email address. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ SIGNAL GARDEN: Gate Battery Box: The conduit from the new Crossing Gate battery box was reinstalled to route it better. After the conduit update, #10 gauge wires were installed as one continuous run from the battery box to the gate. Now we just need to add a power supply/battery and we're ready to test out the gate. Gate Sign: A "2 Track" sign was added to the gate mast. The goal is to provide as many representative signs and signals in the garden as practical. A photo of it is attached. "Yard Limit" Sign: Thanks to Ron Beach's craftsmanship, the Signal Garden now has a "Yard Limit" Sign at the Broadway entrance walk welcoming visitors into the garden. A photo of the new sign is attached. MCI Refurbishment: The old "lighted" motor car indicator (manufactured by US&S) was refurbished this past weekend. It was fully disassembled and then needle-gunned (the main case) and sand-blasted (the visor/lens guard). Then it was repainted with the standard silver body and black visor. Now it just needs more wires in the conduit back to the controller case to be made operational. PE Signal Painting: The recently installed PE signal front face/lens assembly was painted this weekend as well. It was thoroughly needle-gunned and then repainted black. Next will be more work on the body assembly and wiring it the controller cabinet. Signal Garden Plants: Joyce continues to work on the "plant" portion of the Signal Garden. She is continually pulling weeds, adding plants (many now have flowers), and pruning the existing vegetation. 11TH STREET CROSSING REPAIRS: In the last email news, we mentioned that the holding coil for the east gate at 11th Street has failed which caused the gate to continually cycle by drifting part way down and then being motored back up. Here is some additional info on Gene's temporary fix until the new holding coil arrives and is installed. The temporary fix is to connect a resistor from the holding coil circuit to energize the pick up coil at about the same power as the normal holding coil. The holding power of the temporary resistor fix is nearly the same as the original holding coil and operation even seems a bit smoother. The pick up coil normally uses about 36 watts to pull in the holding ratchet. When the gate is up the pick up coil is released and the holding coil uses 0.6 watts to hold it in place. With the series 50 ohm resistor the pick up coil reduces to 0.5 watts to hold the gate up with about 4 watts additionally dissipated by the resistor. ALPINE CROSSING FLASHER INSTALLATION: The recently installed flasher (alternating red lights and bell) for the entrance walk has been made fully operational in time for Thomas. Last week, the sunshades and backshades were completed. This past weekend the bell was replaced (the installed one had a bad coil) and the mast leveled. After completion, the signal crew **had** to take a train ride to verify proper operation. Eventually this flasher assembly will be replaced with another basket wig wag --- Paul Orton is building the basket and refurbishing the wig-wag. UPCOMING SIGNALS MEETING NOTICE: November 13, 14 - Day Out With Thomas event November 19, 20, 21 - Day Out With Thomas event November 27 - No formal work effort -- Thanksgiving weekend but some signals crew will probably be working on Saturday December 11 (2nd Sat) - Normal second Saturday Signal's work day (main work day this month since the 4th Saturday is Christmas) December 25 (4th Sat) - No formal work effort --- Christmas Day January -- back to normal 2nd and 4th Saturday Signals work days Also Gene is usually at the museum most Fridays if that better fits your schedule. Call or email him for confirmation of the date and time. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For additional OERM Signals information, visit the signals website at: http://gsee.sdf-us.org/signals. Previous editions of these email newsletters are at: http://gsee.sdf-us.org/signals/enews/enews.html . Questions or comments regarding OERM Signals should be directed to the Signals Superintendent Gene Cranston. |