Hello everyone, I've got a really good question for you all, can anyone tell me what the little "Lightning Bolt" designated on the bloody nose of the AC4400's? Units 100-199 lack this, they also lack DPU capability. Most units from 200-378 have the little "Lightning Bolt" and they have DPU capability. I have also noticed that units with the "Lightning Bolt" (#'s 200-378) also have a small box on the walkway about a foot or two behind the inverter box on the Conductors side, what is this for? Any and all help with this would be greatly appreciated. I custom build and paint most all my models and want to ensure their accuracy. Thanks!
Andrew, I am not an expert on this, but I think you hit the nail on the head--DPU-compatible. The lightning bolt, to my knowledge denoted that the unit was equipped to be a remote DPU. At first, I thought it denoted the AC traction motors, but perhaps not. What about the Dash 9's? SP had 100 or so of them--did they have the same lightning bolts? I think I may have just shot a hole in my theory....
On the older black widow scheme it seems to me that there was often a lightning bolt next to some indication that the loco was radio-equipped.
That would've been my first guess, seeing as that's how CSX does it. But your logic seems better. I don't think that box is the DPU equipment, though. On an ES44AC at least, it contains the crank switch (according to Greg McDonnell's Locomotives, which contains several errors regarding other small identifying features of various locomotives).
The small lighting bolt on the bottom red "feather" meant it was equipped with Locotrol III equipment.
That'll pop your popcorn! So it looks like we've got several reasons for the lightning bolt. Anyone know which is the correct one?
It was for units equipped with Locotrol. There was no point in adding a lightning bolt to show that it was equipped with AC-traction to only a limited number of units; if that was the case, the entire fleet would have had bolts, since they were all AC4400s. And SP discontinued the use of lightning bolts to show a radio-equipped unit decades before the AC4400s were delivered; pretty redundant by then, since radios had long since become standard equipment on locomotives, and no longer a "novelty".
Thanks for all the information, I really appreciate it! As for the box on the walkway, how come some units didn't have it? Units 100-199 did not have it and nearly all units from 200-378 had it? Does anyone have any ideas? Thanks!
IIRC, it was a running change/improvement GE implemented; I don't think it was a customer option, but since these GE's are near the tail end of my modeling interest (the end of SP), I haven't looked too deeply into the matter. Time for some research.
Thanks so much SP 8299! I have been asking about this for several years and no one has been able to answer my questions. If you learn anything more please let me know! I model the SP/DRGW in the late 1980's and early 1990's and they too are at the far end of my modeling era, however, they are just too cool not to have a few of them on my layout anyway.
