 Prior to Restoration - In the Paint Shop in 2003 |
 Restoration in Progress - May 2006 |
This page details the restoration work performed on the EBT railcar M-3 during 2005 and 2006. The goal of the work is to return the unit to safe and reliable service as a historic relic.
From late 1923 to 24 the East Broad Top constructed a small enclosed motorized unit for use in inspections of the line. Built primarily from Maxwell automobile parts and components fabricated inthe EBT shops, the car was larger than the other maintenance cars the line used.In 1928 the car was significantly rebuilt using the drivetrain and other parts from a Nash automobile. At that time (two years after the M-1 was built) the car was christened the M-3.
The M-3 served as an inspection vehicle during the rest of the railroad's operating lifetime. In 1960 when the EBT reopened as a tourist carrier, the M-3 was also re-operated. However the car has not run since the 1960's. There were several stories about why. One was that it was run without enough oil and the engine siezed. Another is that a replacement cam shaft was installed without being hardened enough and was ground down.
In 2005 with the approval of EBT management, the car was removed from the railroad for the first time in it's existance so that it could be restored to operation.
Once the car was moved to a location where it could be worked on, the first order of business was to remove the engine and send it to a professional rebuilder, Rhinehold Restorations. At first the rebuilders had no idea what it was. After a thorough cleaning of the engine and inspection, the serial numbers showed that it was Nash, 1924 production. As the car seems to have received the 1924 engine in 1928, it would have been a used engine at the time it was installed. According to stories the donor car belonged to a railroad executive at the EBT.The restoration shop disassembled the engine to get a better idea of what would be needed to return it to service. An initial inspection showed that neither of the rumored reasons the car was not operable were true. The engine turned fairly easily once the head was removed. Some valves were stuck to the head from lack of use which prevented the engine from turning until the head was removed. The cam shaft lobes were normal.
There were a number of issues, though, most involving the head and valves. At some time in the life of the engine the head dropped valve into the #3 cylinder. When the piston came up it forced the valve into the head. To repair the head a slanted hole was bored through the head and a solid copper rod was inserted. This "injury" may have been the reason the engine was rendered surplus from its role in an automobile.
Unlike more modern engines, this one has no center bearing halfway down the crankshaft, leaving only two main bearings, one at each end. The main bearings were not worn out, but had been worn to a cone shape from flexing of the crankshaft. The flexing was a result of the engine being overreved, possibly due to high engine speed during backup moves. The backup gear has a high gear reduction.
It was found that the points in the distributor were the wrong ones for the engine, resulting in a spark that was not timed for the valve movement. This may be the real reason the car no longer ran after the 1960's.
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At present the unit has a Ford Model A rear end. The unit previously seems to have had a Nash rear end. This is evident because when the Ford rear end was installed the railroad welded the spline from the Nash rear end to the Ford rear end. The changeout may have been motivated by the fact that the Ford has lower gear reduction than the Nash, allowing higher speed. The Nash rear end was presumably installed in 1928 with the Nash engine, transmission and drive shaft.--MORE TO FOLLOW--
Inspection of the car also revealed suspension problems. In addition to several broken leaves, the springs had lost some of their "spring" causing the car to ride low and the wheel flanges to eat away at the fenders. The front and rear spring mounts also had enough lateral slop that springs rubbed on and cut into the frame. This was due to undersize bolts being installed in the spring linkage. The front axle had about a 1" play side to side.--MORE TO FOLLOW--
The electrical harness in the car was entirely replaced with modern wiring with more reliable insulation. The M-3 is unlike modern automobiles in that it has a 6 volt DC electrical system rather than 12 volt. Where possible original dash components were reused, but most electrical switches had to be replaced with new ones. Originally a key switch was used for and ignition swith with a rotating outside ring that activated the lights. This switch could not be repaired so was replaced with a hand swtich that had one position for running and one for running with lights.The headlight is an unusual design, where an adjustment extended through the front wall that allowed the position of the lamp to be faried, changing the tightness of the headlight beam. The headlight was disassembled and restored.
The M-3 had two horns through most of its life. An "Aooga" horn is mounted above the headlight in the front wall and a bellow horn was later mounted on the front left fender. The original Aooga horn was still on the vehicle when restoration began, though it was not functional. It was removed from the car and disassembled. Worn parts inside the horn were repaired or replaced and the horn was returned to service. When tested it sounded strangely like the "dive" horns on WWII submarines.
The fender horn was missing from the unit for many years and it's whereabouts unknown. The original appears to be a Kalxon, possibly from a Model T. A replacement was located which, though smaller and newer, closely resembls the original horn. It is also a 6 volt unit matching the M-3 electrical system. Unlike the original, it has a mechanichal linkage that sounds the horn. In order to trigger the horn a cable linkage had to be run to the horn, and to avoid the front wheels, the location of the horn had to be moved from the left to the right fender.
The rear tail lights appear to have been from a 1918-24 Model T Ford. One of the tail lights was still in place while the other one was missing. A nearly identical Model T tail light was located for the unit. It varied in that it had a side light to illuminate a license plate and it had a single contact socket rather than a dual contact socket. These two features were changed to match the existing socket.
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After being moved to eastern PA, total disassembly of the car began. Roof, seats, walls, doors, axles, spring rigging, controls, floors and anything else that could be removed was removed. The unit was stripped down to the frame and connected metal components which was completely sandblasted, primed and painted.The steel composing the frame and substructure of the body was retained as no replacement was needed. Some broken rivets were replaced by either welding or bolting as appropriate.
During the disassembly most wood trim was damaged too much to be reused. This was due to the fact that the screws that held trim on were puttied over and virtually impossible to locate. Many of the side and roof boards were cracked, broken or warped. This led to the decision to replace the body wood with new material. With the replacements the thickness of the boards was increased from 3/8 to 7/16 for additional strength.
The floor inside the car was covered with a strange variety of boards, some tongue and groove and others not, some pine and some oak. The boards extended only as far as the seats and not to the outside wall. The boards werein poor condition with numerous holes, cracks, breaks and rot. The flooring was covered with a layer of conveyor belt (5 layers of canvas with rubber coating.) This left only the conveyor belt on the floor areas under the seats. A complete replacement of the floor wood was unavoidable. The new wood was oak and extended to the walls of the passenger compartment. They were covered with an epoxy coating to extend the life of the wood.
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Engine compartment prior
to Restoration - 2003Restored engine compartment - May 2005
The engine reinstalled in the chassis.
The rebuilt rear end installed under the motorcar.
The left side of the rebuilt engine.
