John Schaldack suggested that it's the screws through the plate and into the pinblock and the dowels at the ends that keep the block from moving - not the block's fit against the plate frange. Sorry, John, that's incorrect. Those screws may keep the block from rolling away from the plate up at the flange, but there is no way they will keep it from slipping with that 40,000+ pounds pulling against it. If tuning-pin bushings are used, they will limit that slippage some, but if they are not, as I believe is the case here, a good fit against the plate flange is an absolute must. Without it, you can count on having all sorts of stability problems. A good fit against the plate flange has been the accepted standard for well over a century. John also mentioned common hitch pins on the older Baldwins, and "Accu-just" roll pins on the newer ones. That's correct. Also, I should mention that the newer Baldwin plates - SD-10, etc. - do not mount against the rim in the same way as the older ones, and if a plate substitution were to have been made, that might present a problem unless the rebuilder really understood the newer system - which is patented, but that patent has now expired. Jim Ellis
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