This is a reproduction of a library book that was digitized by Google as part of an ongoing effort to preserve the information in books and make it universally accessible. https://books.google.com Electriccarmaintenance WalterJackson library of the THntverelts of Wltsconstn T_" — ELECTRIC CAR MAINTENANCE McGraw-Hill BookCompany Piij6(is/iers qf 3oo£§ for Electrical World The Engineering andMining Journal Engineering Record Engineering News Railway Age Gazette American Machinist Signal E,ngin<?<?r American Engjneer Electric Railway Journal Coal Age Metallurgical and Chemical Engineering Power ELECTRIC CAR MAINTENANCE SELECTED FROM THE ELECTRIC RAILWAY JOURNAL BY WALTER JACKSON ASSOCIATE EDITOR, ELECTRIC RAILWAY JOURNAL First Edition McGRAW-HILL BOOK COMPANY, Inc. 239 WEST 39TH STREET, NEW YORK 6 BOUVERIE STREET LONDON, E. C. 1914. Copyright, 1914, by the McGraw-Hill Book Company. Inc. 188023 AUG 20 1914 STF PREFACE The articles on "Electric Car Maintenance" have been selected from the columns of the Electric Railway Journal exclusively except that some braking and wiring diagrams were added in order to secure a more extensive series of shop instruction prints. It is believed that this work should find ready acceptance among those who are in charge of the maintenance of electric railway cars because it places in such convenient form a great deal of useful data which hitherto had been lost to most shopmen within a few months after the original publication in periodical form. As a rule, the methods described are such as require no costly apparatus and of a kind which can be applied to a great many situations. Unlike a text-book, a shop practice compilation of this kind remains up to date as long as the equipment described is in use, and even longer, since many of the labor-saving methods are applicable to any form of car equipment. W. J. New York, February, 1914. V CONTENTS Preface CHAPTER I Mechanical Appliances fob Train Operation Carrying air connections in Denver — Chain carry-iron for draw-bars — Special bumpers to prevent overriding — Inter-dashboard spring — Coupler with signal and lighting attachments — Train cables covered with rubber hose — Jumper testing in Brooklyn. CHAPTER II Non-electrical Parts of the Carbody Wrapping rusty hand rails — Wood-cushioned bumpers for steel cars — To hold machine screws — Standard sizes in shop drawings — Renewing cement floors — Clean air for single-end arch-roof cars — Reducing platform wear by using reinforcing strips — An unusual trap-door lift — Steel car panels over wood — Home-made safety tread — Babbit bearing for door rollers — Prevent ing accidents from opening gates — An insulated roof for electric locomotives — Protecting rattan seats — Protecting rubber seat buffers on open cars — Seating and curtain practice in Brooklyn — Easel for curtain painting — Richmond bell and register fixture — Ringing up two registers from one rod — Conductor's transfer box — Car-wiring methods in Denver. CHAPTER III Brake Equipments and Brake Rigging A simple improvement in brake rigging pins — Brake hangers in Richmond — A light-weight brake hanger — Drilling jig for brake hanger — Improved truck brake rigging — Instruction prints and jigs for gaging brake rigging — Brake leverage diagrams at Brooklyn — Brake leverage diagrams at Hartford — Rusting of air-hose nipples— Tightening compressor motor bearings — Rebushing air-compressor cylinders at Richmond — Adjusting Westing- house electric pump governor — Clasp brake rigging. CHAPTER IV Trucks, Wheels and Axles New design for swing link — Rub-irons for journal boxes and pedestals — Hartford wheel gage — A twofold wheel gage — Indianapolis wheel practice and gages — Axle-bearing sleeves — Brooklyn wheel practice and gages — Wheel changing at Mobile. vii vin CONTENTS CHAPTER V Page Cleansing by Dipping or Sand-blasting, Car Washing, Painting and Glazing 46 Caustic-soda baths for trucks and motors — Sand-blasting at San Francisco — Car cleaning in Denver — Instantaneous electric water heater for car washing at Cincinnati — Motor-driven car-washing device — Combined suc tion and pressure apparatus for car cleaning — Disappearing scaffold for washing cars — Heating water for car washing — A power- driven car cleaner — Car washing versus paint preservation — Painter's scaffold at San Fran cisco—Painting fenders by dipping — Painting fenders and trucks with an air-brush — A paint shop kink in drying racks — Handling varnish by air pressure — Sand-blasting of cars — Sand-blasting at Syracuse — Cheap transfer type signs on glass — Frosting glass at Syracuse — Gear-washing machine. CHAPTER VI Sanders and Sanding Devices, Scrapers, Brooms 61 A Removable sand hopper — Air sander on interurban cars — Simple sanding device at Rochester — A novel sand-drying plant — Snow scraper for limited clearance space — Jig for boring sweeper broom centers — Rattan broom- filling machine at Milwaukee. CHAPTER VII Lubrication 69 Capillary oiler — Oxy-acetylene process for changing grease to oil lubrication — Oil box for grease-type motors — Integral oil cups in Brooklyn — Lubrication in Brooklyn — Keeping oil warm — Keeping oil warm at Hartford — Oil economy at New Orleans — Oil reclaiming tank — A siphon for emptying oil barrels — Water saturating and renovating plant at Chicago — Safety waste cans at Chicago — Reclaiming compressor oil in Brooklyn. CHAPTER VIII Bearing Practice 84 Cast-iron armature beatings and motor axle linings — Bearing practice at New Orleans — Bearing practice at Columbus — Bearing metals in Richmond — Bearing composition for armatures and journals — Removing and replac ing motor bearings — Adapting a shaper for planing journal bearings — Chuck for boring bearings — Lathe attachment for boring and facing arma ture bearings — Non-babbit bearings — Boring motor bearings on a con verted planer — A standard method for rebabbitting bearings. CHAPTER IX Current-collecting Devices 95 Trolley wheel formula — Trolley wheel manufacture at New Orleans — Atlanta trolley wheel practice — Trolley wheel practice and casting formula at Boston — The roller trolley — A rotating spiral sleet cutter — Repairing a trolley retriever — Trolley-stand repairs — Trolley-adjusting device — Truss- CONTENTS ix Page supported trolley bases at Mobile — Telltale for third-rail shoe tripper signal — Removal plate for third-rail shoe — A sleet-removing device for ex posed third rails — Pneumatic sleet shoe used by Michigan United Railways. CHAPTER X Motors and Gearing 103 Paving clearance gage for motor shells — Sealed grease hole cover for gear cases — Providence coil practice — Brooklyn field-coil practice — Coil work by 'Vest Penn. Railways — Coil practice at Baltimore — Field coils on Third Avenue Railway, N. Y. — A field coil repair economy — Coil terminal an chorage — Blowing out armatures — Commutator leads at Indianapolis — Some Toronto electrical practices — Applying banding wire — Brooklyn ar mature and commutator practice — Deep commutator slotting at New Orleans — Commutator building at Toronto — Method of recording wear of gears and pinions — Experience with slotted commutators on railway motors — Splicing with silver solder — Portable transformer for testing armatures — Broken commutator leads — Sparking at commutators — Brush-holder jigs at Providence — Brush-holder jigs and armature clearance gages at Toronto — Brush-holder troubles — Some brush-holder experiences — Field testing at Brooklyn — Armature testing at Brooklyn — Armature testing at Cincinnati — Motor testing at the Indianapolis railway shops — Impregnation of field coils at Brooklyn — Impregnation practice at Anderson, Ind. — Motor lead connec tions — Railway motor connections — Motor data sheet, Hartford. CHAPTER XI Control, Circuit-Breakers, Controllers, Resistances and General Tests 146 Controller changes, Third avenue railway — Controller maintenance in Brooklyn — A novel arrangement of motor control — Controller work at Toronto — Simplified controller diagrams — Montreal apparatus for testing circuit-breakers — Changes in multiple-unit control circuits at Brooklyn — Improving resistances in Brooklyn — Resistances with removable grids — Resistance adjustment at Indianapolis — Calculation of resistance and rate of acceleration — Installation and connection of grid resistances — Construc tion of grid starting coils — Resistors for street railway service — Practical shunting kink — To remove brushes on GE circuit breakers — Addition of mechanical reverser throw — Simplifying the B-8 controller by eliminating the braking feature — Standard car connections — Practical shunting kink. CHAPTER XII Heaters, Lighting, Signs and Signals 175 Brooklyn heater testing — Specializing electric heater maintenance in Brooklyn — A stand for headlight resistance coils — Assembling glass in headlight doors — Step-lighting device for Saginaw prepayment cars — Method used for lighting markers electrically — Novel route signs on the Peoria (Il1.) Railway — Detroit United train number sign — Manufacturing . sign boxes and signs — Route number signs at Baltimore — Painting illumina tion destination signs at Nashville, Tenn. — Conductor's push-button signal. X CONTENTS CHAPTER XIII Page Welding Methods, Shop Tools, Storage, Etc 186 Oxy-acetylene welding at Hartford — Electric welding in Pittsburg — Electric arc welding — Electric arc welding by the Third Avenue Railway, New York — Portable heater at San, Francisco — Tool for driving nails in inaccessible positions — Home-made metal cutter — Wrecking truck used in Pittsburg