4 fan GP18's

orionfield May 1, 2014

  1. orionfield

    orionfield TrainBoard Member

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    Did anyone other than CNW have GP18's with 4 36in radiator fans like GP9s? Were they also high hoods? And were they dynamic brakes or not?

    I'm working on some custom ideas.
     
  2. AVR Mark

    AVR Mark TrainBoard Member

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    Boston and Maine had GP18s that appeared to have four fans in the picture that I looked at. If they had two fans, I think that they would have shown up since in the pictures I have seen, the larger fans are quite a bit taller. They were also low nosed and had dynamic brakes. I believe that those on units which had four fans, those fans came from a traded in (usually) F unit. A slight update: I have learned that BM also traded in their BL2 units on "new" power. I don't know whether the BL2s were traded in on GP18s.

    Mark
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 1, 2014
  3. Jerry M. LaBoda

    Jerry M. LaBoda TrainBoard Supporter

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  4. Point353

    Point353 TrainBoard Member

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    Didn't B&M eventually remove the dynamic brakes and plate over the opening for the fan?
     
  5. orionfield

    orionfield TrainBoard Member

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    Awesome guys! Thanks!
     
  6. Jerry M. LaBoda

    Jerry M. LaBoda TrainBoard Supporter

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    I suspect that the DBs were simply disconnected. The bulge and the grill on the sides remain but as mentioned the fan was removed and the hole plated over.
     
  7. nickelplate759

    nickelplate759 TrainBoard Member

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    The B&M had several GP-18s with 4 radiator fans. I was told they used trade-in components from FTs

    George
     
  8. Jerry M. LaBoda

    Jerry M. LaBoda TrainBoard Supporter

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    I had heard it was the EMD F2As that were traded-in, since the fans from the FT were different than on the other F-units... will do some checking to see if I can find something on this...
     
  9. Jerry M. LaBoda

    Jerry M. LaBoda TrainBoard Supporter

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    The trade-ins for B&M GP18s were four BL2s and one wrecked F7A with usable parts, including the trucks, being used to build 1750 - 1754... the sixth and last unit of the order, 1755, did not have a trade-in which resulted in it having the typical 48" fans...

    http://rrpicturearchives.net/locoPicture.aspx?id=59502

    Another interesting fact that I was able to glean is that the first five units which used the trucks of the trade-ins did not have roller bearings. While all likely were refitted later it is another interesting detail to take into consideration.

    This information gleaned from posts to the Boston & Maine list at Yahoo! Groups... its a great list to be on if you are interested in New England railroads... my time up at Ft. Devens just outside Ayre, Ma, provided me with many enjoyable hours of railfanning, which remains to this day (nearly 40-years later) some of the best railfanning that I ever had.
     

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