AUBURN — Most people would agree that train locomotives are loud.
A man who has worked in, on and around trains for 33 years would disagree.
“These things are surprisingly quiet,” said Steve Johnston, chief mechanical officer for the St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad locomotive repair facility on Lewiston Junction Road.
“You have to be very aware of your surroundings,” said Johnston as he stepped across the railroad tracks behind a blue signal, a sign that reads “STOP Men at Work.”
Eleven mechanics work at the facility, repairing diesel locomotives and rail cars bound for Richmond, Quebec. Four trains head north each day and four arrive from north of the border.
“Everything is heavy on a locomotive. Nothing is light,” said Johnston. “They are dirty, greasy, and heavy” is how Rick Mack described the 3,000 horsepower engine.
The 16-cylinder motor sips from a 3,600-gallon fuel tank while producing electricity. The power is passed along to four 750-horsepower traction motors that activate a set of four wheels. Four sets of four wheels on a “mother/daughter” is what moves the train.
Two locomotives actually act as one, said Johnston. The mother locomotive serves as the electricity generator and the daughter locomotive is where the engineer and conductor work.
Each locomotive must pass a daily inspection before the engineer moves the throttle each morning. An even more thorough inspection is done every 92 days. At 368 days, a more intense inspection takes place; and at 1,104 days, the granddaddy of all inspections and a complete air brakes overhaul are done, said Mack, manager of mechanical operations at the repair yard. “They don’t wait for a failure,” said Mack, while talking about the importance of brake maintenance. A mile-long train weighs 7,000 tons and takes a mile to stop if moving at 40 mph, according to Johnston.
“We have a lot of rules,” said Johnston, stressing that safety is the No. 1 priority when working around such heavy nonforgiving equipment. The repair facility has been injury-free for eight years and has adopted Canadian safety standards as an added precaution.
Paper, wood products and propane pass through the yard on a regular basis, but retail items headed for L.L. Bean fill many of the rail cars coming into Auburn, said Johnston. “Lewiston and Auburn are the gateway to L.L. Bean,” said Jonathan LaBonte, executive director of the Androscoggin Land Trust. He said goods for the outdoor retailer are shipped from overseas and loaded onto trains in Vancouver, B.C. Everything from trout flies to hardwood tables roll across Canada and arrive in Maine via an Auburn-bound train.
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- Justin Desrosier of Minot and Tim DeRoche of Auburn repair the dynamic brake grids on a diesel locomotive at the St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad locomotive repair facility on the Lewiston Junction Road in Auburn.
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- A mother/daughter set of locomotives is worked on at the St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad locomotive repair facility in Auburn. Two locomotives actually act as one, said Steve Johnston, chief mechanical officer. The mother locomotive serves as the power generator and the daughter locomotive is where the engineer and conductor work. The mother, right, contains a 3,000 horsepower motor. The daughter has only two 750 horsepower traction motors that receive electricity from the mother.
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- A Federal Railroad Administration inspection car uses a variety of sensors and measuring systems. The car gathers information about once a year on the alignment, smoothness and curvature of the track.
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- Train engineers use a control stand to operate the locomotive.
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- Alex MacDonald, left, of Albany Township and Jeremy Stevens of Sumner replace two 32-volt starters on a General Motors GP 40-3 diesel locomotive at the Auburn repair facility.
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- Wrenches hang on the wall inside the locomotive repair facility.
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- A “blue signal” sign is set up when maintainers work on railroad tracks. A device that is locked onto the tracks would derail a locomotive or rail car if one rolled down the tracks.
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- Justin Desrosier of Minot and Tim DeRoche of Auburn repair the dynamic brake grids on a diesel locomotive at the St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad locomotive repair facility on the Lewiston Junction Road in Auburn.
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