Monday, April 9, 2012

A horn for the SW1

When the SW1 was donated to the Utah State Railroad Museum by Cargill, the horn was stolen at about the same time as the cables to the traction motors were stripped. Luckily the museum had a Leslie single-chime that wasn't being used (above), but was still attached to a locomotive (Utah Railway 401, ex-ATSF Alligator). The Arizona State Railroad Museum is interested in this locomotive, but for cosmetic purposes only, so the USRRM approved the removal of the horn to place on an operational locomotive.
Once the horn was removed it was found that it probably wasn't the original, as its mounting was home-built and the bell was filed down on the bottom to clear the air line. It was also dented in several places, and Bob Wachs, who does the blacksmithing for the 223, tapped out the most notable ones. Now on to the locomotive, or so the plan went...
Once we got out to the locomotive it was discovered that the thieves didn't just remove the horn, they snapped the bracket off at the mounting holes. This complicates a seemingly simple installation as a new bracket will have to be made.

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