Most durable locomotive?

[bmoeller]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiio1h_4ll0&NR

 

[Kissfan113]

I live in Cass, and worked on and around Shay engines for several years. I was a brakeman on the train, Shay 5 is truely a piece of work, it still pulls hard, the prettiest is Shay 4, Shay 2 has a lot of grunt, it is small but it is a Pacific Coast designated engine, the only one of it's type to opperate east of the mississippi, Western Maryland Shay 6 is a behemouth, I have actually had the opportunity to control that monster, nothing like the feeling you get with control of the throttle bar to 162 tons of powerful steam locomotive, Shay 11 is a nice engine too. I reccomend a trip to Cass, watch the real engines work.

Kevin

 

[Greenleaf]

I live in Cass, and worked on and around Shay engines for several years. nothing like the feeling you get with control of the throttle bar to 162 tons of powerful steam locomotive. Kevin

Thanks Kevin, for letting all the air out of our balloons :{ :{ :{ :{ :{

 

[bmoeller]

I live in Cass, and worked on and around Shay engines for several years. I was a brakeman on the train, Shay 5 is truely a piece of work, it still pulls hard, the prettiest is Shay 4, Shay 2 has a lot of grunt, it is small but it is a Pacific Coast designated engine, the only one of it's type to opperate east of the mississippi, Western Maryland Shay 6 is a behemouth, I have actually had the opportunity to control that monster, nothing like the feeling you get with control of the throttle bar to 162 tons of powerful steam locomotive, Shay 11 is a nice engine too. I reccomend a trip to Cass, watch the real engines work.

Kevin

Shay #9 is in south east Iowa. I've ridden in a railcar behind it.



http://www.mcrr.org/nine.html



http://www.mcrr.org/engines.html



http://www.oldthreshers.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=area.midwestcentralrailroad

 

[jwilliams3]

Anyone care for the DD35A's or DD40AX's?





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[Evan A. Beck]

As far as sound goes... It doesn't get a whole lot better than a few EMD 710 engines winding down a bit...



SD60

 

[Evan A. Beck]

It's hard to beat a 567 or 645 though...



16-567

16-645

20-645



The GE FDL engines always sound like they are broken... I'll see if I can find some clips. I've never been a GE fan, although the ES44DC does have a decent sound.

 

[EMD-Run8]

i personally don't care for the sd45 loco's, but that 20v645 engine under load does sound good

I'm not positive Nick, but I don't think there are any 20V645's anymore. The mechs I talk with say they had a tendency to break crankshafts (too flamin' long!). All of the SD-45's I see on CSX have been converted to 16's. Anyway, I've run SD-40s that were built in '67 and still ran good. GE dash 8's are also good, solid running jacks and are holding up well. I don't think the fit and finish on older GE's is as good as EMD but newer one's like the dash 9's and ES-44's are very, very good.

 

[nickleinonen]

all of the wiskey central sd45's still had the 20v645 engines. . however, cn is retiring them as soon as any major defect comes up. the dead track at homewood's woodcrest diesel shop is full of them. .



the fdl engines is an aquired taste i think. . it is noisy, and unsmooth, but works well. . the new evo does sound very good. .



a few weeks back, i had underload a 16fdl ge with a bad turbo. . i grabbed a few pictures with my phone, and i also snagged a short video clip. the sound is crappy with the phone, but you can still hear how it isn't suppose to sound while inside the cab. .



link to clip on photobucket. you can hear at the end when i am throttling down how the noisy turbo quiets down. . it was changed out by the next shift a day later, it had +0. 100" axial play on the shaft

 

[EMD-Run8]

Yeah, the FDL's kinda wobble when your sittin' still. You can hear every rotation of the crank. Now, the big Deutz in the CW60's is one healthy sounding motor, as are the "H" series EMD 4 cycles.

 

[Kissfan113]

that number 9 is pretty, all our shays are standard gauge, big shay 6 is the second largest shay ever produced, and the largest engine of its type still in existance.



Greenleaf, I never thought the day would come but Artie Barkley retired..... Cass just won't be the same without one of the best whistle blowers i have ever heard. Artie had a lot of practice designing tools to work on the ol shays too, several custom designs... . sad that he left I just hope they keep up the same good work in maintaining the engines as they always have.

Kevin

 

[Greenleaf]

:--)











He was working the line wwaaaayyyyyy back when it was MOWER LUMBER CO. in the late 50's. I have loads of pics of him as a youngn' standing next to the guys that drove the Shays when they were new!



He spent some serious time in No. 7 from Medow River Lumber in the 60's



I'm going to see just how far back he goes... ... ... ... .



So... your saying there is an opening

 

[nickleinonen]

Now, the big Deutz in the CW60's is one healthy sounding motor, as are the "H" series EMD 4 cycles.

i've never seen an sd90 yet with the H diesel in it [just repowered 16v710's], but i have had a couple of ac6000's come through my shop [csxt ones]. the 16hdl is very similar to the new 12gevo diesel. .

 

[EMD-Run8]

I've run a couple of the "H" series. I forget the UP number series. I think they started at 8550. When they first came out, we had a few pass through here (we get UP motors on swap out of NOLA). They are a very authoritative sounding motor, alot like the Deutz. I haven't kept up with them lately and have only seen one third out in a consist since I ran my last one. Never ran one of the SD90-43's but they're essentially the same as the SD70AC's and SD75AC's that CSX got in the last few years. Truthfully, the SD70M's that UP has gotten so many of lately are about as good an engine as is needed. Kinda like EMD's version of a Dash 8. DC power, wide body, air conditioning, mechanical controls, good seats-----that's all you need. AC's are too skittish. They buck and jerk alot and lack the smooth linear feel of a good DC jack. The electronic controls (some of the new DC's have them too) have no "feel"-----kinda like a fly-by-wire aircraft my pilot buddy tells me. They DO have AWESOME dynamic brakes though! They'll brake right down to a stop. When I was at engineer school, one of the instructors told me that UP was rumored to be hittin' up EMD to build them some SD90s with DC power. Guess the idea died off. GE has sort of picked it up with the ES44s and I've run a few of the UP CW45ACCTE (I think it means "accelerated tractive effort"). They load quicker than any GE I've ever experienced. Almost as good as an EMD------almost

 

[nickleinonen]

all the new stuff is wabco "fastbrake" now. . i personally like it [any equalizing leak will not effect the pressure maintaining of the brake pipe], but the crews don't. ac motors have db that works great, dc motors db works ok at high speeds, but not near as good at low speeds. . i had a csxt on shop tracks making some moves. . just for hits, i used db, and on that ac4400, the db was almost as strong as ind. brake. i was impressed. i have no real ac experience though, as cn won't be getting ac anytime soon [until emd & ge stop making new dc units, or until cn aquires another RR who has ac power: kcs maybe?]

 

[Moose Truck]

Here's a video for train lovers- an old F10A #413 working a commuter train in Danbury CT recently: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Xd-YVFk0Aw



Love the generator whine of those first-generation diesel locomotives. This isn't no tourist line or excursion train locomotive. This thing has been working the rails like any everyday diesel since the day it was put into service. Engines newer than 413 have been put in museums or restored for vintage rail excurions for many years.



#413 went into service December 1946. It has been in continual use since then. Happy 60th B-Day #413



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I saw that old F10A Was working the Waterbury Branch this week from Last Thursday 11 Jan 06 till yesterday. Today 18 Jan 06 the World's Uglist Diesel locco is back :{ Moose00

 

[rbattelle]

all the new stuff is wabco "fastbrake" now. . i personally like it [any equalizing leak will not effect the pressure maintaining of the brake pipe], but the crews don't. ac motors have db that works great, dc motors db works ok at high speeds, but not near as good at low speeds. . i had a csxt on shop tracks making some moves. . just for hits, i used db, and on that ac4400, the db was almost as strong as ind. brake. i was impressed. i have no real ac experience though, as cn won't be getting ac anytime soon [until emd & ge stop making new dc units, or until cn aquires another RR who has ac power: kcs maybe?]

[drool]... locomotive talk. What is an "equalizing leak"? You mean an air leak in the equalizer? What's a "fastbrake"? I have a very rough understanding of train brakes... extremely rough. I always get the terms mixed up.



DD40AX's are awesome, jwilliams! Never seen one for real.



EMD - who do you drive for?



How about the most durable track ?



I have GOT to get myself to a good railroad museum.



Ryan

[drool... drool... slobber... drool... ]

 

[nickleinonen]

yep. equalizing leak is a leak in the equalizing resovoir. the way the brake works is in the cab, you control the brake pipe pressure remotely. you actually control the equalizing resovoir. you do a 10psi reduction in equalizing, then it in turn makes a 10psi drop in brake pipe. . now if your equalizing pressure leaks off while you are in a braking position, you will get an unwanted increase in your braking effort [more brake pipe reduction]. . if you have an automatic brake valve with a 3 way cut out valve [pass/freight/cutout] you can get yourself out of a jam with the eq leak by putting the cut out valve from freight to passenger mode. . this changes how the brake valve reacts, but also pressure maintains the equalizing res. [just don't bump it accidently, or you will loose your brakes]



freight mode is direct release [an application can only be released by a complete release of the valve]

pass. mode is graduated release [an application can be released by moving the auto brake valve just a little]



fastbrake is wabco's newest epic electronic air brake setup. it is an expensive setup, but very simple to work on. . independent brake doesn't work right, change that module out. automatic brake doesn't work right, change that module out. emergency doesn't work right, change that module out. no more spending lots of time trying to chase down some air brake fault. the fastbrake has an equalizing system on it, but it is always pressure maintaining [can maintain up to 30psi/min leak according to wabtec]

 

[rbattelle]

you do a 10psi reduction in equalizing, then it in turn makes a 10psi drop in brake pipe. .

That's part of what I find confusing: less brake pipe pressure = more braking force. It's backward!



I've played around a bit with a train simulator, and I can't seem to operate very smoothly (bring the locomotive to a stop exactly where I want it). The freight brakes always screw me up because you have to apply full pressure to get them to release.



I think if I had the chance to see the system in person, both the mechanism and a demonstration of how it works, I could grasp it.



Ryan

 

[nickleinonen]

That's part of what I find confusing: less brake pipe pressure = more braking force. It's backward!



I've played around a bit with a train simulator, and I can't seem to operate very smoothly (bring the locomotive to a stop exactly where I want it). The freight brakes always screw me up because you have to apply full pressure to get them to release.



I think if I had the chance to see the system in person, both the mechanism and a demonstration of how it works, I could grasp it.



Ryan

in the game, try using the independent brake [i know it is variable in MSTS, i don't know if it is in the one you have (trainz?)] to stop the locomotive or brake and throttle at the same time. . in real life it isn't all that easy to park it exactally where you want it [to park units on our drop tables for traction motor change outs, we need to be within 1" on our sd70/75/70m-2's. not too bad driving the one being spotted, but from 3-4 units back over the radio communitating, it is a PITA (slack action in the draft gear) tying down a handbrake slightly helps a bit if i get stuck working with someone who 1: can't give directions, 2: can't take directions]



driving light power around the shop, all i use is independent brake. . the rare time i use autobrake is when i need a snowbrake [light brake application to keep wheels/brakeshoes cleared of snow] of if i am actually moving some flat cars around with the brakes hooked up [very rare that one is]



to be dead honest, i still don't have a clue when it comes to air brake on the loco's [and i've been working on them for 4 years now] i know when something isn't working properly when i am testing them, but i don't know where to start looking for some of the non common problems. .



i don't know if you have read this article, it might explain a little better about the air brake stuff.

http://www.railroad.net/articles/railfanning/airbrakes/index.php



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