This and That for March

I had this wheelset from the GP40X taken apart 3, maybe even 4 times, trying to solve the problem with the thumping and lurching that I wrote about last week.  I cleaned gears, replaced gears, checked for bent axles, removed the drive shaft (to see how it would move if that end was unpowered), and then reassembled and test ran after each of those procedures. Nothing seemed to help.

And then finally...I happened to notice that one of the metal plates in the power truck assembly looked like it was bent just a little bit outward toward one wheel. The plate of course conducts electrical power from the wheels to a wire that runs to the motor. I bent it back inward, too far the first time, adjusted that, and then the truck was able to run smoothly across the workbench.  Reassembled everything again, and the locomotive now runs just fine, so that's a big win here.

That's the metal plate, the black looking area with the large round hole near the bottom, that I'm referring to as having been bent behind the one wheelset

I was going to order new power trucks from Athearn, but that doesn't appear to be necessary now.  I have ordered a new handrail set though.  My belief now, given the damage to the locomotive that I noted last week, is that it had been dropped at some point. Buyer beware I guess.

So moving forward now, here's the GP40X on the bench, masked in preparation for some paint work to blank out the word "SOUTHERN" on the side.  Once that's done I'll move forward to the weathering.

In other news, a lifelong friend of mine, John Bell, and I grew up around the corner form each other.  John is president of the Edmonton Train Collectors Club in Edmonton, Alberta. The club has a display in the Bonnie Doon Centre mall in Edmonton, and they were featured on the Edmonton TV news on this past Sunday.

Here's the link to the TV news feature: https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=2650497&jwsource=fb&fbclid=IwAR1xka7fgpgrFjqSrFGC9_DfVwZ9aWNzNfKe21EHkFnOjqltSUjuRIrSm2g 

Also, in local news from around here this week is the story that the Pere Marquette rail bridge in Port Huron, Michigan is about to be taken down, or demolished as the news story reads.

Here's my photo taken from Ferry Dock Hill here in Sarnia, taken this past Monday.  I certainly don't remember ever seeing the bridge lowered, but whenever anyone looked across the river here, it certainly stood out to us locals as an iconic landmark.  I guess maybe it was somewhat taken for granted too. I'll be sorry to see it go.

A couple of cranes at the the site of the Pere Marquette bridge over the Black River

The story doesn't mention why the bridge is being taken down, just that it's about to happen.  Here's the link to that news item: https://thesarniajournal.ca/photo-of-the-day-goodnight-to-port-hurons-iconic-rail-bridge/   There's a much nicer photo accompanying that story.