Pound Sand, Sucky Motor Club

[mathnerd]

BTW, not all diesels have generators to power them. Some small switchers were direct-driven by chains. I actually drove one of these (a Plymouth narrow-gauge switcher) at a museum. How did I manage that? I was there helping to clean up the county's steam engine, and the Plymouth (which owed its very existence to pulling said steam engine out of its shed for festivals) was being driven back and forth by one of the volunteers. I asked for a cab ride, and he let me take over until the fuel ran out. It was like driving a big truck. There were levers for direction, changing gear, plus the brake pedal on the floor. Below that lot, were the chains that powered the axles.

Saying I'm jealous doesn't quite seem to be a strong enough statement.

[dalesys]

I believe I just had a nerdgasm.

Here's your sign song.

[Kit-Ginevra]

Quoth mathnerd
I believe I just had a nerdgasm.

That'll be what's making the keys on the keyboard stick then

[protege]

Saying I'm jealous doesn't quite seem to be a strong enough statement.

I got *very* lucky with that one. Usually, the museum is pretty strict about who gets to run their equipment. I have a feeling that the director wasn't around

But seriously, if you're into locomotives and other equipment, you might want to join a railroad historical society. Many times, their annual conventions feature shop tours, model train layouts, and other interesting stuff. I've been inside the shops at CSX' Selkirk Yard, Amtrak's Albany shops, NS shops at Altoona and Conway, and the Wheeling & Lake Erie's shops in Brewster, OH. They'll let us sit in the cabs, show off the various facilities, and sometimes even fire things up.

During one tour, one of our members (an ex-Amtrak engineer), asked if they'd fire up one of the FL9s. Not only did we get to assist in starting it...but they let him behind the controls. Nothing like being in the cab, having him open the throttle all the way...and the unit rocking from side to side!

[Shalom]

But seriously, if you're into locomotives and other equipment, you might want to join a railroad historical society. Many times, their annual conventions feature shop tours, model train layouts, and other interesting stuff. I've been inside the shops at CSX' Selkirk Yard, Amtrak's Albany shops, NS shops at Altoona and Conway, and the Wheeling & Lake Erie's shops in Brewster, OH.

Back when I lived in Buffalo, I would occasionally visit the museum of the Rochester Chapter NRHS at West Rush, NY, now the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum. I happened to visit on a Thursday, not knowing that the museum was only open weekends at the time, but was lucky enough to land there on the one Thursday that they were open for a special event (annual meeting or something, I forgot). They let me stay in the cab of the 211 while they tried to start it (batteries were shot; they eventually jumpstarted it from the Kodak 80-tonner).

(That was a weird machine, once Conrail got done rebuilding it. ALCO frame and cab, EMD prime mover/long hood/control stand, GE electrics; it's as if someone took a Ford car and put a Chevy engine and Dodge transmission in it...)

[Chromatix]

It's not unprecedented, though:

The "Brush Type 2" in Britain was originally destined to become TOPS Class 30, and was fitted with a Mirrlees engine. After a year or so, however, it became clear that the Mirrlees engine was unreliable under the unique stresses of railway work (although it was indeed an excellent marine engine), so it was swapped en masse for an English Electric engine and redesignated as TOPS Class 31. The electrics and body work remained essentially the same.

Then the Brush Type 4 (Class 47) had an interesting history. By this time Brush were doing their own electrics as well as bodywork, but they chose a Sulzer engine as prime mover. At various times, experiments were done with swapping this engine for others, including Ruston engines derived from English Electric designs (EE already having two Type 4 loco designs of their own). Eventually, however, a programme of rebuilds resulted in the Class 57 - which was a Class 47 body with an EMD engine and EMD electrics. In other classes, Sulzer engines were sometimes paired with Crompton-Parkinson electrics.

I once came across a photo captioned "Attack of the bodysnatchers". It featured a lineup of trains, one of which was a Class 57, and another of which was a Class 455/7 EMU. The 455/7 is unusual in that it was assembled from three vehicles to standard Class 455 design (with a Mk3 bodyshell) and one redundant vehicle from Class 508 units (with PEP-style bodyshells) which had been reduced from 4 to 3 cars when they were sent north to Merseyside. Such mix-and-match EMU assembly is not unique either - the distinctive "tadpole" DEMUs were made from a mixture of narrow-bodied "Hastings" vehicles and standard Mk1 vehicles, after the Hastings line was upgraded to remove the width restriction.

Going back even further, the Great Western Railway managed to standardise its steam locos to the point where boilers and frames could pass through the overhaul process at different speeds and be reassembled into completely different locos. A particular set of 0-6-0 pannier tank frames might enter the works after a few months of freight work with a large boiler fitted, but come out with a small boiler and push-pull equipment for passenger work on the short valley lines; later the large boiler might come out fitted to a Small Prairie (2-6-2) tank for fast mixed-traffic duty. At one point an entire class of locos was built from half of a Duke and half of a Bulldog, thus cheaply yielding a more powerful type which remained within the weight limits of some backwater lines.

[Argabarga]

I had a "railfan spotting guide" once that had pictures of just about every major mass-produced engine made/sold in N America from the mid 50's all the way up to what was then cutting edge for ~1995 with pictures and step-by-step pointers on how to identify each make and sub-model, even went down to minutiae like switchers, yard slugs, the electrics that were unique to just the NE corridor and shop rebuild-program overhauls, (I swear there are like 30 different variants of the GP9 still out there..... ) stuff that you may never see in your lifetime depending on where you lived.

I remember, the very first picture in the book was in the preface and was titled "The Hazards of trainspotting" and had a picture of an engine that was, in retrospect, probably cobbled together from several wreck-damaged engines and spare parts to just not waste them or perhaps do something productive with slack time at the shops.

The frame/trucks looked like they were off an ALCO product, the hood was surplus EMD, who knows what it was using for a prime mover, the cab looked like it was partially culled from an old F unit and the nose/pilot were clearly a home-brew welded together from stock plate steel. The author then admits that, while he tried to think of everything, "Sometimes, you're on your own."

[protege]

I remember, the very first picture in the book was in the preface and was titled "The Hazards of trainspotting" and had a picture of an engine that was, in retrospect, probably cobbled together from several wreck-damaged engines and spare parts to just not waste them or perhaps do something productive with slack time at the shops.

Something like this? These started life as Baldwin AS-616s and DRS 6-6-1500s. By the late 1950s, they had developed some mechanical issues, namely massive oil leaks. So the URR sent one back to EMD for rebuilding. EMD kept the Baldwin trucks, frame, and cabs. Long hood was the same as used on the GP9s. The URR got their money's worth out of the units--the last one was retired in 1980.

But, if you really want to have fun, what about the GP40WH-2s rostered by MARC? Those are GP40 frames, with sections of SD45 long hoods, and nose/cab assemblies from retired F45 and FP45 units.

[Argabarga]

Yikes...... that said, I LOVE IT.

The more Frankenstein the better!

Speaking of Frankenstein, I think the engine I put in this picture also counts.

http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs70/i/20...a2-d36bof8.jpg

It's vaguely EMD-ish, but I honestly have no clue what it is or if it's even possible. Thus is the hazard of artistic license

[protege]

It's vaguely EMD-ish, but I honestly have no clue what it is or if it's even possible. Thus is the hazard of artistic license

It looks like a late GP9 (or even a six-axle SD9) that's been given a "nose job." But, I'm sure some artistic license was taken. Some of those models, used for Train Sim (and similar games) aren't exactly accurate. I've seen at least one F unit that uses the interior set up of a GP38. I've been in F cabs, and they're a bit different.

BTW, have you seen any photos of Penn Central/Conrail Alco RS3m rebuilds? Those were rebuilt from failing Alco RS3s, with the EMD 567s yanked from retired E units. RS3ms look a bit weird, with a huge square box atop the Alco hood. That box was added to compensate for the taller prime mover.

...and now this thread has *seriously* gone off-track

[ADeMartino]

...and now this thread has *seriously* gone off-track

it's my fault. everything i've touched lately has gone 'off the rails', so to speak.

[Shalom]

BTW, have you seen any photos of Penn Central/Conrail Alco RS3m rebuilds? Those were rebuilt from failing Alco RS3s, with the EMD 567s yanked from retired E units. RS3ms look a bit weird, with a huge square box atop the Alco hood. That box was added to compensate for the taller prime mover.

Yah, the 211 in my earlier post is an RS3m. It was weird even FOR an RS3M, though, being equipped with both dynamic brakes (for use in the hills) and an oil-fired steam generator (in case they needed to use it in passenger service). Having both these accessories under the short hood meant it had a REALLY high short hood, as high as the roofline of the cab. For obvious reasons it was known as "The Hammerhead"... Note, though, that this was a Conrail rebuild. The Penn Central ones had the box you mention; the later Conrail rebuilds just put a GP-9 hood on instead.



(Here's what it looked like before the rebuild. Note the difference in the roofline of the long hood, and the single square exhaust stack.)

[Argabarga]

Conrail certainly acquired their fair share of oddball stuff from the lines it absorbed.

Also on the list of were some SW series switchers that came from the factory with dynamic brakes. Instead of the characteristic dip in the hood right in front of the cab, there's a big ol' box there holding the grids.

They were ordered by one of the NE anthracite lines, forget which one, maybe the LNE, maybe the LV, but they were built specifically to haul coal down off branch lines with steep grades, sharp turns and bridges/culverts that couldn't take the weight of larger units. They were at least used into the 80's since there's pictures of them out there in Conrail blue, meaning they at least hung around long enough to get a repaint, lots of that merger cast-off equipment never got more than a blacked-out "CR" square for it's troubles.

[wolfie]

but they were built specifically to haul coal down off branch lines with steep grades, sharp turns and bridges/culverts that couldn't take the weight of larger units. They were at least used into the 80's since there's pictures of them out there in Conrail blue, meaning they at least hung around long enough to get a repaint,

Sounds like the A-10 of locomotives (ironically, Republic was known as the "Locomotive works" due to their planes being heavy). Built to do one specific job, and it did it well - if nothing in current production is able to do the job, then it's not obsolete.

[Jack7957]

Well, like I said ... standing on the end of the tire iron and *bouncing* didn't generate enough force to loosen them on at least one occasion. I have put on a good 30 pounds since those days, though. Might be hefty enough to do it now.

One time had a flat and was going to change it myself, I could only get 4 out of the 5 lug nuts off. Since I was at work I even had some of the stronger guys try, and they couldn't either. Ended up calling AAA, and their guy couldn't get it either, so ended up having the car towed to the dealer to get the old tire off and put the spare on.