Track Crews In Broadway And Flat Top

The track crews were working in both Broadway and Flat Top to get the Bad Track Orders corrected.

In Broadway they reinstalled the turntable bridge after cleaning the pit rail and the bridge rails.  A test of the turntable showed everything to be back in working order.

In Flat Top the track crew tackled the bad switch at the east end of the siding.  The series of photos below show the process for replacing a bad switch machine.  Elapse time was about an hour.

The work area is prepared.  The replacement switch machine is sitting in Flat Top.

This is the defective switch machine that will be replaced.

The defective switch machine has been removed.

A clothespin is used to keep the throw rod from falling out of the hole in the throw bar on the turnout until the new switch machine is installed.

The new switch machine is in place and mechanically connected to the turnout.  Now if I had used edge connectors I would be almost done.  But since I didn't I now need to remove the wires (8 of them) from the old machine and solder them to the new machine.

This is the work area getting ready for the electrical work.

The old machine is secured to make removing the wires easier.  I removed each wire and placed it in its corresponding position on the new machine and then soldered all of them at once.  The new switch machine can be seen in the background.

The new switch machine is now in place and connected mechanically and electrically.

A test showed everything to be in working order.  The track crew then filed down one of the point rails for a better fit.  Now we should not have anymore problems with this switch.  That us until the next OPS session!

I am on to track cleaning which should be completed today.

3:28 PM update:  All of the visible track has been polished with a Bright Boy and vacuumed.