East Broad Top - William Sellers Co. Locomotive Wheel Lathe - Video #2

This 1906 William Sellers Co. locomotive wheel lathe resides in the Machine Shop of the East Broad Top Railroad in Rockhill Furnace, PA. It was last used more than twenty years ago to turn some wheel sets for the nearby Rockhill Trolley Museum. At that time it was believed to be broken. The lathe is one of the largest tools in the EBT shops, being about fifteen feet long and face plates five feet tall. It is equipped with three speed drive, dual tool posts and an auto tool advance mechanism.

The "broken" part turned out to be broken tooth corners on one faceplate. Upon further investigation the gears on the lathe were found to still be fully serviceable. The lathe was restored to operation by FEBT volunteer and machinist Dave Richards, who also built the mobile power rig which is operating the machine. Being portable, the rig has only a 1/4 HP motor so the machine is run at a very slow speed. The rig is designed to step down the motor's speed and convert the V belt drive to the leather flat belt drive that the machine used traditionally.

This video shows a test run after the machine was rehabilitated and brought back into service in the spring of 2008. FEBT volunteer Tom Diehl, FEBT's main shops tour guide and a machinist, is operating the machine in the video. The wheel set in the lathe for testing is a freight wheel set that has been on display in the machine for several years. It is much smaller than the locomotive wheel sets the lathe is capable of turning. Also, only one of the two cutter attachments is being used so far, but the other is fully functional.

In this video the mobile power rig and drive mechanism can be seen.

The locomotive wheel lathe is the second of many machine tools in the EBT shops that Friends of the East Broad Top hopes to bring back into operating condition. Visit us at www.febt.org for more information on our mission, the preservation and restoration of the East Broad Top Railroad.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• antique
• wheel
• lathe
• railroad
• narrow
• gauge
• machine
• tools
• east
• broad
• top
• mechanics