Re: [Vic] West Coaster 15/7 Sat

[James Brook <ajmbrook@ozemail.com.au>]

I now have a few big concerns about the future of the R766/R700 swap.
Will WCR be able to honor the agreement with Steamrail to restore R700?
This repair job to R711 will certainly be costly and I doubt that they
will bother with R700 before R711 is back in service. I would be
suprised to see R700 back in service within the next few years. There is
also the danger that this unexpected cost will mean they can't afford
the extra money to rebuild R700. In any event, Steamrail will only have
one normal R for at least the next few years. In addition to this,
without two Super R's Steamrail won't have access to a second R every
Saturday and the last Sunday of every month unless they hire out R707.
This will definitely cut down Steamrail's flexibility until R711 is back
in service. Of course, I hope that everything goes well and we see R711,
R766 and R700 all back in service. I just won't be happy about this
until then.
   
BTW, its lucky that this didn't happen on the left hand side during the
parallel run at Easter.
    
Stuart Thyer wrote:
> 
> James, no damage to wheels from obstacles, nothing was struck AFAIK. The
> firemans side piston punched the end cover off the cylinder, shearing 16 of
> 22 1" studs in the process and destroying the cylinder cover. The cover most
> likely passed under the train, reportedly striking cars on the way through.
> It was nor found on Saturday. The main connecting rod has been bent S
> shaped, the crosshead wedge (holds the piston rod to the crosshead) was
> sheared in to 3 pieces, the return crank was badly bent, the radius rod
> broken and the dieblock has suffered some distortion.
> Steamrail staff were phoned by the train crew and requested to attend to
> assist in stripping the motion gear so the loco could be pushed clear of the
> section.
> It is unknown exactly what caused the failure, possibly the piston nut
> working loose and striking the cylinder cover. For those with a copy of
> Hudson Power who remember the photo of R 748? after dropping the main
> connecting rod, the damage is similar, except much more has been damaged. R
> 711 can be expected to be out of service for a considerable amount of time,
> parts are thin on the ground.
> 
> Stuart Thyer
> Photographer
> University of Melbourne

-- 
- James Brook -

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