Us railfans have our favorites but we don't operate em, so i'm guessing the guys who drive have some different opinions... Engineers, let's hear it-
well i'll be the first i guess. i know i'm gonna get some flak but i hate the dash9's. where i run there is alot of switching and local work and engines that don't load fast don't cut it very well here as far as kicking cars. my fav has to be the sd60's, all the power in the world and loads very quick. basically any emd is better than a ge. sd40's are good too but they are starting to wear out and need replaced here on the nazi southern. ------------------ fly with route of the eagles.rock n roll all night and railroad everyday!
One of my favorite engines to switch with were the ex-WP GP35's, till they stopped fixing them. Once they got rid of them the GP40 became my engine of choice. When we had the worn out GP38-2's or GP15's the wheel slip and lack of braking power made them undesirable. Now, I have switched in the yard one night, with an SD60 and I must say "COOL." As stated before, GE's stink, even the B23-7's. As to over the road power the SD40-2's were my prefered power. The SD60's would be next.
I had more experience with a 1902 Porter 2-6-0 so I guess it should be my favorite. With steam up, if you pull the throttle, man you are went! (That's quicker than gone!) Unlike a diesel, you have full horse power whether the throttle is just cracked, or wide open. It takes rpm to get horse power with a diesel. In fact, if you popped the throttle wide open on a steamer, it would heat up the drivers red hot before it could gain any momentum. The engine doesn't seem to mind if it is coupled to cars or not. Slipping the drivers is wasted money, same as with a diesel. ------------------ Watash
Who actually "hates" a locomotive?! Paul ------------------ Paul Van Herwegen Rappannahock Terminal Railway
well i HATE the ns ex-cr gp15's. for some reason the ns thinks that this is road power and not local or switch engines. these engines have so abused and used that they can barely pull 15 cars on flat ground. ------------------ fly with route of the eagles.rock n roll all night and railroad everyday!
In my freight years. The worst were U-25's followed by most all Ge's. The EMD's were all pretty good. Each had their own little problems. Like the gp-15 being to lite the gp-35 having a problem with transition, Gp and sd 40's probably the best. Loved sd-45's for power but again transition problems and boy would they rock when you hit a jointed siding at 20mph you would figure it was just going to roll over. Now as far as passenger units. Can't say about any east coast units. But in order from worst to first out west here. worst-F40 then Dash 8's then F59's and can't beleive I'm saying this but the Genises is tops so far. yeah it has it faults but it has the best ride.
The ex-MP GP15's were ridden hard, put away wet and slapped dry. I don't know about the ex-CNW GP15's, but CNW was wringing out all they could from their fleet to survive. Speaking of bounce, the UP SD40-2s would develope lateral bounce at higher speeds. UP would wait till a major shopping to replace the worn out truck components, which would solve the lateral sway problem. I found that at higher speeds some of the GP40-2's have a bounce that reminds me of those toys with egg shaped wheels.
I don't hate any locomotive, but the GP series of locomotives all seem to have more swaying than any SD. This was due to the fact that the truck centers were almost identical to the length of rail, causing it to sway between joints...like a ship! I'll still take a GP, but my favorite locomotive is the SD40. Easy to board, run, and enough power for what we need them for. Not for switching in sidings with light rail, non-existant ties, and bad spikes because they literally pull up the spikes along with the rail. For switching, I like the ex-CNW UP GP15s no matter what anyone says! Small, not super fast, and give a nice ride when they're freshly shopped. After all, locomotives aren't supposed to run like European sports cars-we're talkin railroadin' with DIESEL AND STEEL HERE!! I think I get too excited..... Dave ------------------ NS "We need more SD40s!!!" Brakeman [This message has been edited by NSBrakeman (edited 03 October 2000).]
Got a question for you engineers; What does "transition" and "loading" or "load up" mean in relation to a locomotive? Maybe someone could explain how a diesel works? ie you just don't climb into the cab and move the throttle to run 3 or so. Right? ------------------ When in doubt, empty your magazine. Member #33
I had one short "Get Acquainted" ride in a War Bonnet a long time ago, so I wont even get into this! Ha. Do tell us more about the progress made on today's deezuls. Some sound pretty good, some about as suspected by old hoggers. I don't understand how one SD90 is supposed to equal one 2-8-8-4 Yellowstone ? The '90 doesn't have as many wheels, how can it have the adhesion and tractive effort? ------------------ Watash
Well Chris to give you a short maybe example would be to liken transition maybe to a cars transmission. you start in low gear and the faster you go you have to change gears. The older first generation units did the same start low and then they would make transition to a higher running speed or gearing and let's just say that you hoped they didn't all make transition at the same time because some of the units felt like you had been rear ended at 20 mph when they droped their load and then kicked it up a notch. This is what I liken it to. I would have to dig deep in my old railroad books for the real exact mechanical reason.
Ah throttlejock, you've opened up another can of worms; What does it mean "dropped their load"(don't get funny here!)? Does the engineer have to manually "transition" or is that purely electrical? Does "transition" only happen in electrics and diesel/electrics? Being a steamer, I really don't understand the nuiances of diesel operation. The same might be said of diesel drivers vs. steam drivers. Thanks for the help! ------------------ When in doubt, empty your magazine. Member #33
Chris, it's kind of like an automatic stick shift. No clutch needed, when you go from notch 5 to 6, the engines move from one gear to the next, so they actually stop pulling for the moment until the next gear is engaged. If they all "drop their load" (same as pushing the clutch in) at the same time, you get a hesitation, just like in a car. ------------------ Corey Lynch Pres - Rensselaer Model RR Society NEB&W RR http://www.rpi.edu/~lynchc/Railfanning/railfanning.htm - My Site http://www.union.rpi.edu/railroad/ - NEB&W
I understand about dropping the load. Its like we would top a grade and start down the other side. We could expect the cars to 'bunch' and give us a good 'kick' if we didn't handle them correctly. And if we were up to speed, and suddenly shut the throttle (Let off on the gas) all the cars would coast forward and push us. When we had a long string of cars, we sometimes had to back up slowly to 'bunch' the cars, (take the slack out of each coupler) and apply train brakes until stopped. Inorder to start a heavy consist, we would then go foreward while slowly letting off the brakes on the cars, so the slack would allow us to not have to overcome the total inertia , only one car at a time. The engine could be traveling as much as fifteen miles an hour when the slack came out of the caboose coupler that is still sitting still! Think about what happens to a conductor or brakeman who is not sitting down facing the engine with his head braced against the rear wall of that caboose! Most of us tried to hold the speed down, but there were some who didn't care, and hurt people. I always thought the diesels had a ride like a car. I can see the 'hunting' we had that on some six drives, but the track was not glass smooth like you have it today. Even on the 8 drives we were like on one end of a teeter-totter board! It would sometimes send you up in the air, slip to one side and could get funny trying to hold on, watch the sight glass, scowl at the fireman, reach the valve knobs, and spit coal grit out all at the same time. Ha. You guys have got it soft! Even air conditioning! Lord love a duck, you should pay them to let you enjoy those motorized circus cars! Ain't that right Chris? Hee Hee snicker ------------------ Watash [This message has been edited by watash (edited 05 October 2000).]
Probably what I like most about this board is how much you can learn if you ask the questions. Throttlejock, Rule 281, Watash and all of you are a wealth of information and it's lots of fun hearing(its funny but I wrote hearing rather than reading, its as if we were all sitting around lifting a few long necks and having a good time) these great "war stories" ------------------ When in doubt, empty your magazine. Member #33
Talking about long necks, take a look on Steam Railroading and Railfanning forum of an old girl I put up for your pleasure. She ought to bring back some fond memories to you Chris, Ha? How would you like to keep her pressure up? Now that was a water glass you had better keep both eyes on for sure! ------------------ Watash
i will have to say the sd70 series is my favorite locomotive.man they can pulltheir guts out and ask for more.i would have to say that anything not painted up in black and white and wearing a horse/packmule on the front of it is second. ------------------ ed pinkley home of the pinkley taurus
Ed, the SD70 you describe sounds like you got it mixed up with that Mustang you sold last week! Just kidding, Watash. ------------------ Watash
