<VV> Corvair Powered Train

[Mel Francis]

Thanks Seth,

A really heart-warming video! It shows the EM Corvair engine, mounted inside 
the coal car at about 3:52 and describes
how the train and Cameron Park track layout was restored with the help of 
local participants. Like any good barn find,
it looks like the 'Vair engine itself, just needed a bit of tuning and a new 
battery, and it's running again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5c-iCP0QWs

If there are any CORSA members in the area, it might be good to help them 
keep the engine tuned and in shape!
I'd hate to see them install a water-pumper 4-cyl if the engine wears out. 
'Steam engines' don't have radiators!!

Mel Francis


----- Original Message ----- 
From: <Sethracer at aol.com>
To: <corvair at serenska.com>; <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
Sent: Monday, September 03, 2012 2:14 PM
Subject: <VV> Corvair Powered Train


>I assume you know about the Corvair powered train, originally built by
> Arrow Development, a builder of concessions for amusement parks. I chugged
> around "Frontier Village" in San Jose Ca until the park closed in 1980. I
> interviewed the chief mechanic for Frontier Village about the locomotive. 
> The
> engine had (has?) a 95 HP with a PG. It chugged around the perimeter of 
> the
> park, like the train at Disneyland, but with no stops, as I recall. They
> bought  a new motor every other year, and would rebuild the one they 
> removed,
> keep it as  a spare, and swap it back in for a second run. That must have
> been tough  duty for the powertrain, stop and go, never more than about 
> 2500RPM
> and 8-10  hours a day. He said it was very reliable.
>
> _http://www.frontiervillage.net/pages/fvrr2.html_
> (http://www.frontiervillage.net/pages/fvrr2.html)
>
> and now in Cameron Park, CA
>
> _www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5c-iCP0QWs_
> (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5c-iCP0QWs)
>
> - Enjoy! - Seth Emerson
>
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