GregM posted:Pat, no apologies needed, I had been following along and just wondered if you had been able to make progress on this project. You are performing upgrades well beyond anything I would ever attempt. Do you think a similar upgrade could be done to the K-Line PRR K4s engines?
Yes, it certainly could be done in the K4, I’m sure the flywheel configuration would have to be studied and approached differently. I used up every lick of space going up into the sand dome with this experiment....it just so happened, the slightly longer Pittman, pointed itself towards the sand dome void in the casting....that’s why I had to turn down that little bit of an angle at the top....I snuck up on that measurement, I just set the lathe up at that pitch, and let the flywheel tell me it was clearing things....a couple back and forths, and we had it licked......
one note of mention on this swap, I did lose some top speed, but I gained gobbs of torque, and I put the amp draws down in the dirt where they belong....I was after longevity, and better slow speed operation anyways.....my Hudson always wanted a “ time out” if I asked it to do anything more than commuter duty....( 3 coaches and a short stent) I drug 9 heavyweights around with this set up for hours on end in straight TMCC ......I’ve got a cruise M to pop in here sooner or later....I’ve got to thank Pete ( Norton) for sending me the 4 lobe cams, cause now it has 4 chuffs per revolution, so that’s really nice now....just need to add synchro smoke, and the M, and she’s back in revenue......I think I’ve taken a video of it pulling a consist somewhere, I’ll see if I can find it......Pat
