Happy weekend all! Lets kick off the Weekend Proto Fun with a couple of switchers. Last Friday evening I was passing through Longview TX and jumped off I-20 to check out a small locomotive rebuilder there. These two fellows were among the sights to see. Not sure what's up with the cab on the black and grey unit but sure looks interesting, maybe one of those IC Paducah rebuilds? Enjoy the weekend!
From a cold and wet 10/21/1996 at Scholle, NM. The crew invited my wife and I into the cab of the 943 to warm up while we waited for an opposing train to appear. Scholle siding is east of Abo Canyon. Abo Canyon was a single track bottleneck at the time, so Scholle saw a lot of action as trains stacked up there. After years of battles to gain environmental permits, BNSF completed double tracking Abo in 2011.
I might have previously shared this one. This is Rayonier's #23 shop switcher, which was once used at their well noted Railroad Camp engine facilities, in Washington State.
Looks like an SW1001, an SW1000 with a low-clearance cab, that got a Paducah-like roof job. "Low clearance cab" means it can get into tighter spaces, but you have to duck to get in it if you're 5'9" or taller...
Here we have my great friend A C (Woody) Woodward on his usual WB train out of DV to GJ, working the inter-divisional pool in 1998. We see him here, on the super elevated curve, just east of the east switch Palisade CO 1998, almost home. You can see why I model the under-frame and other details. Note the welded over Mars light housing, and class lights, horn re-location, also note the almost white color of the trucks and under frame. This is due to many hours of the sanders being on, also note the PTC (not positive train control) cables, the bell, fuel filler necks and many other details. Note, the Black paint under the dyn brake grids fading. I think the discoloring is maybe from the heat from the engine's exhaust and not just dynamic brake heat build up. The exhaust manifolds on these EMD's would glow red hot upon hours of run 8 in the long grades, look at the fading increases towards the turbo/exhaust. The dyn brakes would also make great deal of heat for the grids, but I dont see any heat discolorations on this units upper Dyn grid environs. I also note a couple journal boxes have a wet/dark on the bottom appearance as well. This is due to the shop forces doing their job. There was no rubber type seal between the journal boxes and axle, it's a machined/close type fit, and nobody wanted to be they guy that didn't put enough oil in the journal boxes. Also the ratchet type hand brake has been replaced too. Many great details to see here. Dang near Miller time.
Tom, Thanks for the great rundown on the details. I'd like to know more about the PTC (Positive traction control modified--borrowed from the SD50s--increased tonnage rating to that of the SD50). Are they similar to the speed recorder cables we see on the rest of SD40-2 production?
The black & gray switcher was working at a steel mill.Looks like was AK Steel by the faded lettering.
"Are they similar to the speed recorder cables we see on the rest of SD40-2 production?" Yes, for the short answer. Several aftermarket outfits marketed different versions, Q-Tronics and a couple others that promised better controlled wheelslip. Theoretically a very slight amount of slip does provide better traction, so with a speed generator on each axle that sends signals to the 'puter, which compares speeds and is able to adjust power to the motors appropriately, allowing a tiny bit of slip. It does work out better.
PTC - Positive Traction Control, not the more recent Positive Train Control - was developed by CN's R&D department in the late 60s and early 70s to solve the problem of their very "slippery" GP40s. They had a tendency to spin their wheels like a souped-up hot rod doing donuts in a parking lot. Some tests of the completed prototypes were using fuel oil injected on the tracks ahead of the wheels to provoke wheel slip. A 45-gallon drum of the stuff was perched on the right front walkway just in front of the engineer's position of GP40 4006. To CN 4013 went the honor of becoming the first diesel-electric locomotive with a wheelslip control system using individual axle torque control. They managed to get a 20% gain in tractive effort. It was definitively implemented on CN's 40-2 series locomotives, the GP40-2W and SD40-2W. That all got the ball rolling for future wheelslip control development by both EMD and GE. CN showed them the way!