Back to life... The Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum's Fairbanks-Morse H12-44 #1843 roars back to life after its winter slumber. The F-M had been pre-lubed and had some replacement batteries installed prior to its 2006 startup. USA 1843 is the only operating F-M locomotive in New York State.
Transmission nears completion... The friction drive transmission on the museum's Plymouth Model BL is nearly complete. This image shows the complete transmission along with the brake lever (red handle) and engine throttle.
A closer look... A closer look at the friction drive transmission. The flywheel on the right is directly connected to the Buda engine while the spoked wheel runs off of the flywheel via friction; transferring power via chains to the wheels. The position of the spoked wheel to either side of the flywheel determines the direction of travel for the engine.
The engineer's view... Shot from the back of the BL looking forward, here we see the transmission as it will be seen by the engineer. In this view, the drive chains can be seen. The spoked drive wheel is hidden in the center of the photo under the red guard. The small spoked wheel in the center of the image is used to move the larger spoked wheel left and right which adjusts the engine's direction and speed.
