Hi, I'm Gideon. I've been lurking on the forums for years for model railroad advice and railfanning appreciation, and finally thought I'd settle in here. I'm working on a sectional N/Nn3 layout of a series of southeast Missouri freelanced shortlines, the backbone of which I call the St. Louis, Leadville, and Rosetta. Out in the big world, I've worked on the Cumbres & Toltec as one of the maintenance techs finishing up the D&RG #168 project, and I've had the pleasure to work on electric traction trains as well. Looking forward to settling into the community here!
We're fortunate to have you here I see 168 has inside valve gear ........ that must make things that little bit harder to work on.
Indeed. During the Cumbres and Toltec's Victorian Roundup a few years ago, #168 dropped one of the cam arms on the roadbed. They recovered the part and limped into Chama on one cylinder. They spent all night in the shop fixing it so the locomotive could run its scheduled train the next day. A very fortunate collection of location (Chama has a pit and the needed tools) and knowledgeable individuals (a collection of mechanics and machinists who were at the event with visiting locomotives). Disclaimer: I wasn't there, above synopsis is based on reading accounts of the event. Others who know more, welcome to correct/clarify.
