So. African Hoppers 2806 and 2807 - Official Work Thread

[Ed Lecuyer]

Didn't we pick up some spare couplers and buffers from EBT a while back?

Yes. Unfortunately most of them are cracked. Moreover, the adaptation of these cars to US-style couplers will be challenging.

[Benjamin Richards]

Moreover, the adaptation of these cars to US-style couplers will be challenging.

To quote Jason, literally just this morning, upon inspecting the current arrangement, "I like a good engineering challenge."

[Philip Marshall]

As another member of Wayne's EBT coupler salvage team, I'd be delighted if we could find a way to use them on the new SAR hoppers.

[Ted Miles]

I would like to see a picture and an explanation about how the ballast cars will be coupled up with the Janney couplers on
the museum's trains. Thank you!

Ted Miles WW&F Member

[Benjamin Richards]

The current method uses a link-and-pin arrangement, with a special offset link to accommodate the mismatched height of the draft gear. I tried to find a photo of it, but was unsuccessful.

Any knuckle arrangement will also need to address the height mismatch. So it won't be as straightforward as just dropping a coupler into the pocket.

[Bob Holmes]

The EBT did it...possibly a model

[Mike Fox]

[Bill Reidy]

Closeup of wagon 2807, which Brendan delivered from Edaville this past week.


And wagon 2806 was put to use again today.  Here is No. 52 about to depart with 2806 late in the day, to be loaded with ballast at Alna Center before a drop on the Mountain extension.  Dan, Bryce and others tamped a section there in the morning, requiring additional ballast after.


The coupling/link arrangement between 52 and 2806.

[Jeff Schumaker]

I  take it that the car can be dumped manually, if there is no way to activate the vacuum system.

Jeff

[Stephen Piwowarski]

As I understand it, the hopper doors are always manually operated by the large, centrally mounted wheel. I believe only the brakes use the vacuum.

Best,
Steve

[Ted Miles]

Bill,
         Thank you for showing us the clever bit of metal work used to couple the two cars. You had to bend the coupler just right to
make up for the difference in height. That was the part i could not get my head around.

I guess later you guys can change the whole coupler pocket to make a permanent arrangement.

Ted Miles WW&F Member sinc 1989.

[Jeff Schumaker]

It looks like a metal bar bent into a shallow S, with a hole at one end, for the pin to drop through.

Jeff

[Bryce Weeks]

Hi all, so unfortunately I'm terrible at keeping people informed on here (work first type later) BUT here we finally are.
I've adopted the hoppers and have plans for one of them (the rougher of the two) and will update as I can moving forward with it once ideas are finalized and work begins.
so far we've used the red hopper 2x since arrival. The first time was during FWW to test it, and 2nd time was 11/09 as Bill has posted.(thank you Bill)
The way the hopper dumps is the car is divided in half and each end is operated manually, UNFORTUNATELY it dumps on both sides which is problematic if you only want stone on one side. When we went out on 11/09 I simply blocked the gates on one side to block any flow. which worked well for the most part but was a pain to remove after the fact.
Another challenge is that it only dumps stone on the outside. So some manual shoveling is still required until we figure something out. The change of couplers is going to be a real challenge but we will steadily work on it. The next step I have is to add actual safety chains that will be in the next week or so, I will do my best to keep everyone updated as we continue on!

[Pete "Cosmo" Barrington]

Hey Brice, way to step up! I wish I lived about an hour closer so I could help you (and everyone else) more often.
One thought I had on the couplers:
There's some sort of "interference" (part of the chute/door mechanism?) directly below and parallel to the end beam, at least on the end I could see, making the idea of simply lowering the draft gear pocket rather complicated.
Now, I'm no structural engineer, but I think it may be possible to cast a set of "offset shank" couplers. If the EBT couplers have workable pins and knuckles you might just get away with only having to cast the body/shank of the coupler itself.
A tricky project to engineer, to be sure, but we've no shortage of knowledge in-house and we have good ties with foundry and machine shops.
Anyway, that's my 2c 

[Marcel Levesque]

To add to Bryce's comments on the SAR hoppers a couple of thoughts.  One: maybe it would be possible to add a steel plate perpendicular to the centerline of the car to make two sperate bays one on each end.  Second: fabricate for what I would call 2 individual dump covers to block each delivery chute on the inside that can be removed or left in place. They could be added to one side of the car or the other to control ballast if one side of the mainline would need all or more of the ballast than the other.  These ideas would keep both ends seperate and control dumping to one side of the car or the other when/if needed.  However, I have not looked closely at the inside construction of these cars so I am not sure if these suggestions are possible.