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| Re: R46 Electric portion question (1239033) | |||
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Re: R46 Electric portion question |
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Posted by Train Dude on Fri Aug 2 14:05:21 2013, in response to R46 Electric portion question, posted by gbs on Fri Aug 2 00:42:49 2013. The side slung electric portions on the R-44 & R-46 were replaced with the more traditional electric portion during the GOH in 1990 to 1993. The so called "experts" would claim that the side slung EPs were problematic, especially on curves. Of course this is an oversimplification because it's easy for some to grasp. The real problem was never truly the electric portions.This particular coupler is designed to have "zero" movement between the opposing coupler faces when coupled. The mating is accomplished by the hooks holding the coupler faces flush against the opposing face. Unfortunately, the hook is mounted on a vertical pin which passes through the coupler head, top to bottom. This pin has a brass bushing where the pin passes through the hook. After several years, those bushings began to wear, introducing slack into the hooks. This allowed for just enough movement between the couplers that on curves the opposing electric portion pins could separate. This was exacerbated by the lack of pushback on the portion pins but the true culprit was the coupler hook pin bushing. The reason the electric portion was changed was two-fold. First because some still believed that it was a problematic component. More importantly, the new Electric Portion and brake system on the R-46 was sold to NYCT by a company called New York Air Brake. The new portion works better because during GOH and during all heavy SMS those pesky bushings are inspected and replaced. In reality, I found this new portion is more labor intensive during routine maintenance and especially when it requires replacement. |
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