Two days ago, I put my 158 Santa Fe diesel on the Fastrack I have in my LR. The engine went a few feet and stopped. I took the shell off and powered the loco and observed that one motor was not turning. There is a large screw in the underside of the truck that holds the motor on to the truck. I removed that screw and took the motor off the truck. When I turned the wheels, one of the wheels produced a piece of wire from my Dremmel tool wire wheel. Moral of the story: Don’t use a wire wheel where the wires can land on the track. Also, one of the guys suggested that we all use a magnet car to pick up steel FOD which can foul a Matnetraction engine. Good advice, and I might even do it. I have some neodymium-boron-iron magnets. Bruce Baker
Air Force has been doing the FOD thing for years. Jets “suck” up things and it not good for motors nor is it good for the tires. We at my State fleet job had a golf cart that we got from Fed. surplus. It had been a former AF FOD vehicle. Had a big magnet bar hanging from the back. So, we rode all over our parking lot with it. Be surprised how many tacks, screws and etc it picked up. Cut down on tire repair. Also, I was into the scale thing on coal. Had cars loaded with scale coal. It would do the same. Get in the gears. Lock up the motor. Take the screw out, turn the gears and out fell a little chunk of scale coal. Now I use coal loads and do not fill the cars with the real stuff.
I have been working with the military for years and been on the flight line more than once. They flyers are emotional about FOD. Most places I have been where there are aircraft being flown are as clean as can be. No trash of any kind. The mechanics go through a real drill to make sure they don’t leave parts and/or tools inside an aircraft. Bruce Baker
I had an interesting FOD problem with a UP PA diesel set. I had the track on a shag carpet, and the gears would pick up a strand of the carpet and jam. I solved the problem with a small aluminum cover over the gears. The cover is still on the loco, but the shag carpet has been gone for many years. Bruce Baker
That’s why I use this:
The latest version of a “magnet car” to reduce the potential for FOD. [^]
Ok, I give up. What does FOD stand for?
FOD - means something like ‘Foregin Object Damage’. It is any misclaneous object laying around that gets into the machinery and gunks up the works.
Bruce…Due to my concerns with the wire wheel Dremmel tools, I now use Scotch-Brite rotary tools to clean. I have only found them at train shows.
I suspect you could buy some ScotchBrite pads and make your own pads for either a Dremel or a drill motor. Good idea, Buckeye I want to warn everyone to wear eye protection whenever using any polishing wheel or wire wheel or grinding wheel or sanding wheel. If you get a piece of steel wire or other steel in your eye, see an eye doctor immediately and get it removed. Steel can cause severe damage to your cornea. Bruce Baker
FOD is one of those abbreviations that has now become a word. Concerning the AA plane that went down in the Hudson River, it would be “correct” to say that the Canadian geese “fodded” the engines on the airplane. I can already hear the purist scream. FOD does stand for Foreign Object Damage, so what does FOD damage mean? Isn’t that sort of like PIN number or VIN number or ATM machine? Fun with words and the English language. Bruce Baker
I owe a now non-running Williams 746 N&W to FOD. Knocked a front main driver loose on its axle, and you can’t pull the driver due to the flanges and spacing. Not to mention bending the main side rod in the process. Man we must have hit that screw at a clip, never seen anything like it.
Try to get a Williams by Bachmann part now…BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
FOD=badness
Let me suggest a way to fix the driver without pulling it. Many years ago I had a similar problem with a pump impeller. I drilled two holes parallel to the shaft for very small roll pins. Half of the hole was in the shaft, half in the impeller. This fix worked for many years. Harbor Freight may have roll pins small enough. Bruce Baker
Thanks for the suggestion but that fix is beyond my abilities…
Several years ago when the F22 was still being tested, I got to go into the assembly line at Lockheed Martin. Boy was that interesting, but it was also interesting the search of our clothing, shoes, etc. Everything that could possibly come off was placed in a FOD bag that was worn about the neck. After the whole tour and finally getting to sit in the cockpit, we returned to the main offices and then they gave us all kinds of neat pins and things, but couldn’t have any of it in the work areas. It was really impressive all the safety measures they have involved there. Each tool has a place to be returned and it is checked by the Foreman to make sure everything has been put back at the end of shift.
Dennis
You should see what happens when a tool or part comes up missing. I have only heard about it, but everything stops until that tool or part is found. It has to be that way. The safety of the pilot is at risk. I have had the opportunity to instrument aircraft that were flight ready to measure the forces and displacements of the flight controls. We used some tie wraps to attach the sensors. We were always very careful to make sure we didn’t leave anything in the airplane. Bruce Baker
Mr. S, Loctite makes some products that might work to reattach the driver. You would only need to make sure the driver was in the correct position when you glued it to the axle. Some of their stuff is pretty strong. Unless you are happy just putting the loco on the shelf, it might be worth a try. Anybody else tried this method? I have used 680 Loctite for gluing pulleys onto shafts so they wouldn’t work loose. It took a lot of heat to get things apart. Bruce Baker