Some of members and supporters of Fulton County Voiture 812 40/8 who worked on rebuilding the organization's locomotive over the past four years are shown in front of the train engine at Canton American Legion Post 16. From left are member Gerald Smith, supporter Ron Wheeler, member Jay Boyce, supporter John Eyman, and members Wally Hammond, Robert Blue, and John Spahn. (Members not pictured who also worked on the project are Harold Rose, Milt Murphy, Darrell Parsons, Jim Watts, Harry Steck, Ray Geier, Carroll Coats, Bill Riley, John Crouch, Gale Roosa and Randy Guppy.) The locomotive was originally built in 1956 by Truax-Traer Coal Co. The engine and a boxcar it pulls are housed in a garage at the Legion. The boxcar has a capacity to hold 40 men or eight horses. The train engine and boxcar have appeared in numerous parades, public events and other special events over the years.
A long-term project to rebuild the Fulton County Voiture 812 40/8 locomotive has been completed. The familiar train engine will appear in the Canton Junior Women's Club annual Santa Parade which begins at 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 26. Santa and a few lucky children will be riding on the train.
The locomotive has been on the property of Wheeler's Truck Garage of Canton for the past three years, off and on. Ron Wheeler, owner of the garage, has been a key reason for the success of the train engine's restoration.
"If not for his letting us use his facility, equipment and his expertise in the truck mechanics field, this project would not have been possible," says Fulton County Voiture 812 member Wally Hammond. "He was one of the main contributors."
The locomotive was originally built in 1956 by Truax-Traer Coal Co. It had a 6-cylinder engine and 4-speed, manual transmission. It was later upgraded in the 1980s to a V-8 automatic transmission. With the change to unleaded gasoline only, problems began occurring, Hammond says.
"With the amount of horsepower and torque needed to get going down the road, the valves were the wrong material to stand the wear and tear and heat from the unleaded gas. The lead provided lubrication for the valve train. Without a special valve for unleaded, it wouldn't work long," he says.
"On the way to Omaha, Neb. for the National Promenade, the valves in the right head all but disintegrated and we limped into Omaha, and I spent the entire promenade taking the head off and getting a remanufactured head so we could make it back to Canton.
"It worked for a while. Then a valve cracked and broke, and they put another head on it. In the meantime, I was working at the proving grounds at Caterpillar, and I asked if they would donate an engine. They donated a used 3116 Cat diesel engine. We took the locomotive there and had a ceremony," Hammond says.
"They actually donated two engines, because the engineers helped me out a lot, too. They went to the plant manager and said some parts might be missing. They had two engines, so they gave us two, just in case. We could use the extra parts.
"I brought this project to the membership and asked them -- most are from the World War II era on up who were used to the locomotive as it is -- I told them we would change the size and shape as little as possible, just the engine and drive line. They agreed," Hammond says.
"We went to Ron Wheeler. He had installed the V-8 and automatic transmission in the '80s. He had done a lot of work on it and maintenance. We asked him if it was doable, and Ron, in his typical manner, said, 'Anything is doable.' Then in 2008, we got real serious about this project," Hammond says.
Hammond and some of the others were retired then and had more time to devote to the project. Along with the two used Caterpillar Inc. engines, the group had an old school bus to use for parts.
The group in 2007 had purchased from Canton School District a bus that was about to go out of service. The bus was stripped out and the chassis measured to fit the length needed for the locomotive. Then the front axle was re-installed onto the chassis to the correct wheel base for the locomotive.
"Then we installed the engine and the transmission and the driveshaft. And then we installed the cooler package, which is the radiator and the after-cooler for the turbo. After that point we fired the engine for the first time. We had a make-shift steering wheel and drove it around the parking lot to see how it worked.
"We had to make sure everything worked before we could go any further. It (the locomotive) was still intact and used in parades. This was to get it ready to transfer the chassis to the body. All this was done to the school bus. We started to dismantle the old locomotive," he says, noting the work at this point was in June 2010.
"We started putting everything together. We had the passenger part of the body setting on there last winter and the boiler in storage. We got the body secured and put the steering in. All this stuff had to be fabricated, because the chassis was new to the body.
"Ron was a great help. His motto is: 'I'm always right because I lay awake at night practicing being right.' He donated his facility and (the use of) a lot of his tools," Hammond says.
Manufacturing Services Corp. of Canton, where project supporter John Eyman works, donated a lot of material and time in the effort. Illinois Weld and Machine of Hanna City, where Voiture member Harold Rose works, donated items and sold other material at reduced prices. Tinker Thompson and Gary Vaultonburg of Tinker's Toy Shop of Canton painted the front part of the locomotive free of charge. Bolts and other parts were purchased in Canton.
"Ron Wheeler with his contacts got us some specialty parts, which we paid for, but his expertise helped us immensely in getting it put together," Hammond says.
One feature on the train engine is a steam whistle that was salvaged from a Fulton County coal mine by a Voiture member's father "and loaned to us so we have an authentic locomotive-sounding whistle," Hammond says. The boiler is just a shell to resemble a locomotive, but the exhaust blows out of the top "at Wheeler's insistence and persistence," he adds.
"The locomotive has been around since 1956, so it is now 55 years old. Our intent is to keep it on the road for another 55 years," Hammond says.
He notes the locomotive is usually in Canton's annual Christmas Walk, sponsored by Canton Main Street, but it unfortunately will not be at the event this year due to a prior commitment.
"As a local veterans organization, our intent is to give back as much as we possibly can. Sometimes conflicts don't allow it," he says.
Hammond stresses he hopes to coordinate plans next year so commitments do not prevent the locomotive from being in the Christmas Walk.
Membership to Fulton County Voiture 812 is open to any honorably discharged veteran. Anyone interested may contact the Legion at 647-0914 and leave a name and telephone number.
Hammond says he wants to recognize the members of both the Voiture and Legion, including Steve Wagner who was the National Voyageur of the Year in 2004.
"Along with him and World War II guys, we would not be what we are today. We owe what we are today to our heroes from yesterday," Hammond says.
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