RDG 3640 Restoration

[Tooling17039]

For the last year the RCT&HS has been actively working on restoring EX RDG GP-35 #3640 it was built new in 1964 by EMD in LaGrange Ill.

Here it is shortly after its delivery to the Reading Company in 1964



The 3640 had the distinction of being the last locomotive to be rebuilt in the Reading Company Shops and was the only RDG GP-35 to receive the "All Green" paint scheme here it is in 1974 shortly after its rebuild.



It was no different from most of the RDG power it went into Conrail here is a view after receiving CR Markings



It later got painted blue like everything else on Conrail.



3640 went in an out of service till it put into storage in 1989 it was never reactivated after that. It was donated to the RCT&HS in 1994 and was returned to operation after a 13 year slumber in fall of 2002.



In 2003 and 2004 3640 was put into service for multiple test runs an attempt to get all the bugs out of it from its lengthy storage.



3640 performed flawlessly on all of its test runs some minor repairs were required. Typical things when returning a locomotive to service that had been stored for a long time.



3640 turned out to be a very reliable well operating engine



After we were happy with its mechanical status we started its complete restoration (Not just a paint job)



There are many different projects that have been done to 3640 so this is the first I will post this is the rebuilding of the Number board Housing we decided to rebuild this area because of pit holes in the metal.



After the Number board was removed this is what was on the inside



After the bottom was cut out



While the bottom was removed we took the opportunity to rebuild the front window frame



The new frame



New skin welded on top



The new bottom for the housing



Welded in place



Another view



The same view as the first photo



The new inside wall fit into place



And welded in place



Smoothing out the welds



A new terminal board mount had to be fabricated



A picture of TB16



Schematic Diagrams were made of all the wiring



And Cross referenced with EMD Schematics unfortunately we do not have a set of schematics for 3640 so we have to make them from scratch



TB16 test fit on its new mount



TB H was also test fit



After being test fit the new mount was welded into position and round stock was welded in place to tie off all the wiring



The other side



The entire housing was then primed



Another view



Head on



The original angle again



Then it all got finish painted



Another view



Another



Head on



Engineers side



Original Angle



After the finish painting everything got rewired



We were lucky to find the original manufacture of the number board light sockets and buy brand new ones



Another view of the rewired housing



TB 16 again with its new wires in place



A side view



A view of the Engineers side



TB H One of the things we are adding to 3640 is a 120V AC Lighting system to display the Locomotive after it restoration and to help with general maintenance



Another view



Before



And After




I hope you enjoyed these photos I will gladly post more if there is an interest in it.

[Richard59]

excellent and detailed restoration photos, outstanding job !!
and welcome aboard !!

[Alco83]

Thanks for sharing, Tooling, the updates are appreciated. By the way, is there any time frame set on when restorations are to be completed?

[Tooling17039]

We were shooting for this year sometime but I am unsure if we can pull that off with the current resources available. We are still gonna try to paint by fall but I am not going to rush through anything just to get it done. So far we have maintained a standard we work at and I don't want to change that, so that when we get it done it will be nothing short of a Museum Quality Restoration.



It has to look worse before it looks better

[Tooling17039]

One of the other projects was to replace the rear panels of the long hood

After removing the old metal it was obvious it was the right decision to make.



The rust had really accumulated over the years in between the outside skin and the structural steel.



A view showing the whole area



Everything was needle scaled down



This shows where the hood lifting bolt threads in



Both sides were done at the same time this shows the rust inhibitor painted on.



This is the welding process



Thats me laying on top the sand box welding the new panels on



It was a little tight but we got it done



It didn't turn out too bad this shows the inside welds



The new outside skin



Hard to see the seem? Thats the idea



The new panel.

[Tooling17039]

Some work done on the front pilot of 3640

The front pilot was removed



It was a little disfigured

\

Starting to torch out the bad metal



The new bottom was test fit then welded in



Smoothing out the welds



A new piece was added to the top of the pilot where Conrail had torched it out



A new brace was welded in to reinforce the pilot



A look at the new piece



New MU hose hanging brackets were welded on the pilot where the old ones used to be



After all the fabrication was done the inside of the pilot was painted



After all the Mating surfaces were primed they were painted.



A freshly painted pilot



Another view



Before



After





After its full rebuild the pilot was rehung on 3640

[Alco83]

Slowly but surely, eh, Tim?! She's looking better all of the time, thanks for keeping us updated.

[Richard59]

thats one heck of a facility and operation you got there, its amazing to see the progress of this restoration.
thanks for sharing.

[Tooling17039]

One of the other projects was to rebuild the short hood floor. Here is a view of what it looked like after we removed the toilet



EMD used allot of aluminum conduit on the locomotive. Well to say the least over the years some of it had started to corrode a bit. the other problem with this conduit was that the location it came into the termination point the wires were bent very hard in order to clear the mounts for the Terminal Boards.



The solution was to bend a new conduit rectifying to problem



The new conduit on top of the old to show the modification



Next the old diamond plate was taken out



The entire floor was needle scaled



There was one thin spot in the 1/4" thick floor so it was cut out



With the new piece welded in



After the new steel was put in and everything needle scaled the entire thing was coated with rust inhibitor



The new diamond plates underside was also sealed with rust inhibitor to prevent future deterioration



The before



And the after

[Alco83]

Looks nice. I'm guessing the toilet will not be reinstalled?

[Tooling17039]

No it is not, we don't have much use for it and they tend to take allot of resources to properly maintain and such. Interestingly if you look closely at what was there you can see 3640 had at least two different styles of toilets in it over the years. The drain pipe was most definitely an add on and now makes undercarriage maintenance easier with it gone.

[Tooling17039]

Here are some recent photos taken of project 3640

Remember the Number board Housing well it is now completely rewired

Its got a few more wires to it now



The 120V also was fed



A view of the whole thing

[Tooling17039]

Before TB16 could be finished the terminal boards that feed TB16 had to be rebuilt as well. Here are TB13 and TB14 before anything was done to them



Next the old wiring was removed after all the wiring names were recorded a verified on the schematics



This is the new 120V TB test fit on its new mount



The new mount was welded in place also a new side was added to the box to seal the TB's better



New round stock was added to secure the new wiring



After the box was needle scaled and sanded it was primed



Finish painted



Next TB13, TB14 and TBN were mounted in place



The wiring was pulled to feed TB16



Then I got to wire it all up



This is all the feed wires for TB16 terminated on the three terminal boards



Finally all the feed wires for TB13 and TB14 were re-terminated till they can also get replaced

[Tooling17039]

Some more update photos

The feed wires for TB17, TB15, TBNL, The forward sander and the nose lights were pulled next.



All the wires pulled were then terminated



This is the trough that the wires get pulled to after leaving TB13, TB14



It was then primed after getting sanded



Finish coated



After the wires were pulled



From the trough the forward sander got rewired



After leaving the trough threw a conduit the rest of the wires go to the nose.



The front walkway light socket was replaced and rewired. This is located just above the conduit.



The four blue wires going out the bottom go to TB15. TB15 is added to feed the Ditch Lights.

These are all the pieces roughed in the wire raceway to the left and the mount for TB15 in the center.



After everything was welded in place the entire area was needle scaled and primed.



Then finish painted





Then the wires were pulled and TB15 was mounted and everything was terminated.

[Tooling17039]

After leaving the nose the Wires end up at TB17 above the sandbox.

This is what the box looked like after it was sanded. The class lights and the nose light are all fed from TB17



Primed up



Finish painted



New wires pulled



This is the mounting plate for TB17



Primed up



Finish painted



TB17 remounted



Re-terminated wires



The Physical drawing of TB17



Also fed out of the box for TB17 is the new TBNL used for the 120V lighting





New wiring in place



A new switch was added below the 74VDC switch for the existing Nose light for the new 120VAC lights



Also added were two new 120VAC lights to the nose here is one roughed in



The other



TBNL with one of the New lights



The new switch Box and the other new light



One of the new lights



Another View