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MILW E-2

From Jerry Appleman, who provided this: In 'The Hiawatha Story' by Jim Scribbins (c) 1970 Jim Scribbins and Kalmbach Publishing Co.

        Milwaukee, Wisconsin
        Class:                  EP-2
        Number built:           5
        Builder and date:       General Electric, 1919-1920
        Road numbers:           E-1 to E-5
        Wheel arrangement:      1-B-D/D-B-1
        Number of Motors:       12 GE 100
        Total weight:           521,000 lbs.
        Weight on drivers:      458,000 lbs.
        Diameter of drivers:    44 in.
        Maximum sped:           70 mph
        Scrapped after 1960, E-2 donated to National Museum of Transport,
        St. Louis, Missouri.
 
Jawn Henry Norfolk & Western Builder and date: Baldwin, 1954 Road numbers: 2300 Wheel arrangement: C-C-C-C Number of Motors: 12 axle-mounted traction motors Total weight: 586 tons Length: 161 1/2' Maximum sped: 60 mph, 4500hp Carries 20 tons of coal with a 600-pound pressure Babcock & Wilcox water tube boiler


PRR L6 According to Alvin Stafer, the L6 was a very light and the box cabs were unsafe. Although 31 bodies were built, only three were finished. This includes L6's #5938 and 5939, and L6a (Lima - 1933) #5950. - Allen P. Underkofler


EBT M1 From "The Shortline DOODLEBUG -- Galloping Geese Other Railcritters" by Edmund Keilty (c) 1988: EAST BROAD TOP RR & COAL CO. Mt. Union to Alvan, PA. (Partly open as tourist attraction) ROAD NUMBER M-1 BUILDER Brill/Company Shops DATE 1926 BUILDER NUMBER 22416 ENGINE & DRIVE Brill gas-electric BODY TYPE 4 window baggage 12 passenger WEIGHT 46T DISPOSITION In service. NOTES & COMMENTS Car was assembled by the EBT shops from a Brill kit.

Iron Highway

This newly-developed intermodal freight-moving system, by CSX, is a series of flat railcars with an engine on each end. Hinged ramps at the middle of each train allow the trailers to be quickly driven on and off, which eliminates the need for specialized lifting equipment to remove the trucks. CP Rail operates an intermodal loading dock in Taylor, PA. Test runs begin in April, and the Iron Highway seems to be based in Morrison Knudsen's yard in Mountaintop.

Per Randy Buchter, conductor@worldnet.att.net: on 12/1/96
The Iron Highway platforms are 1200 feet long. That implies that they could haul 24 fifty foot trailers. If the trailers are shorter, the number goes up. Due to the unique drive-on-drive-off capability, the units are more flexible in trailer spacing than typical TOFC cars. While the Detroit-Chicago run has not been doing so well, I understand the units in Canada are booming, and it is possible the Detroit-Chicago units could wind up there. The Ministry of Transport in Canada is very impressed with the demo units and are trying to promote Iron Highway.

Per Jim Matthews jmatthew@wncwabash.com

The Iron Highway was supposed to have movable knock down hitches in its original design. The idea was that the movable hitches could be positioned anywhere on the platform to maximize train capacity no matter what trailer came through the gate. The trailers would end up close to each other which would also minimize gaps and improve fuel efficiency. The final product had fixed position knock down hitches, making it essentially the same as the circus loading 89' flats that were so common 20 years ago. Circus loading died for a reason, it is very inefficient, slow and expensive.


ECO8003

Per Marc Dufour, ECO-Rail operates ultralight road trailer trains between Toronto and Drummondville (Québec). Here is the tractor tied to a trailer and an engine.


ECO Trailer

Trailers are put between two free trucks.


ECO Truck

Closeup of a truck, with a trailer hitch and a railroad coupler (with SBU box).


TEBUC6

"TEBUC6's are built from SD9's and act as 'slugs'. TEBUC6 stands for Tractive Effort Booster Unit with C-type trucks and 6 axles or traction motors. They are a chopped and dropped SD-9. The prime mover is gone, but the traction motors and mu connections are preserved." They have cabs so they can lead, and some also have dynamic brakes per Charles H. Biel


PLW1500

Bill Kaufman provided this information from the Extra 2200 South Issue 96 page 25. "Peoria Locomotive Works built PL1500 in July 1992. It is equipped with a CAT 3512 engine rated at 1,500 HP, EPIC 3102 brake system, a Wabco Tracer Event Recorder, D78B1 Traction Motors (EMD), programmable control and wheel slip computer and a direct drive 3CDCLA air compressor. This unit was their demonstrator but I do not think it was very successful." Per Cletus Romano, The unit was sent to SEPTA when they were thinking of re-engining their almost new, never reliable RL-1s which came from Rebublic Locomotive."


UP Wreck of '94

Chris [JetExFirst@aol.com] reports this wreck happened in the summer of '94 at Mitchell, IN.

Both trains were indeed CSX trains, and the locomotives in question (UP C30-7, and 2 UP SD40-2's) were leased to CSX from UP. The northbound train on the MONON sub. was CSX R686, from Louisville to E. St. Louis. The only CSX traffic on the Monon sub goes north to Mitchell from Louisville, then goes through an interchange track to the INDIANA sub, where it heads west.

As I understand it, the engineer on the eastbound train saw the approach signal at the end of Mitchell Siding and thought he would have a red signal at the other end of the siding, not at the crossing. When he rounded the curve, he saw the red signal at the siding and put the train in emergency. The northbound MONON train saw the signal go red in front of him and locked his brakes up too. The UP C30-7 hit the GP40-2 you see on the right side of the photo. About 11,000 gallons of diesel fuel leaked and caught fire, but the crews amazingly made it out okay.


ICG's Commuter Wreck 10/30/72@ 27th St, Chicago

Two electric commuter trains had slammed together near Soldier Field, many were injured and 45 were dead. The Highliner train set was blamed for overshooting the station and then backing up to make the stop. The standard train set, apparently passed a yellow signal which turned red at that same instant, indicating the block was now filled and the train should stop. Instead, it shot forward and encountered the Highliner backing up on the same track. The steel riveted-construction cars telescoped inside the newer Highliner cars.


SR1401

Southern Railway steam locomotive 1401, circa 1926, in the Railway Transportation Hall of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History in Washington. The 1401 is so large it was put into position prior to the completion of the building and the museum was finished around it. Smithsonian Photo #84-11399 by Dane A. Penland. Copyright 1993 Smithsonian Institution.


NW7 Transfer Car

The NW#7 is an electric transfer car at one of N&W's Coal transfer piers in Norfolk VA. The coal hoppers were dumped into a stock pile and the coal transferred to these cars, which would travel out onto the pier and dump into waiting ships. - From John McCluskey


Amtrak 27

The Roger Williams, named after the founder of Rhode Island, was a special Cab control Budd Liner built specially built as a demo Train. It did not sell, and the NH bought it for about 60 cents on the Dollar. - per Bob Redden


American Orient Express

From : John Raina, Jr. Email: jraina@lanminds.com

The American Orient Express runs in the United States are operated by Amtrak operating crews and engines. On the most recent run through Oakland, California on October 30, 1997 the power was P40 AMTK 815 and P42 AMTK 20, with 15 American Orient Express cars. When AOEX first started and they were operating out of Chicago they had 2 ex CSX GP40's 1 and 2 which were rebuilt and painted by National Rwy Equipment.

Per Nicholas L. Pitsch at pitschni@erols.com

 
    American European Express 1 
    model: GP40 
    bld number: 38504 
    order number: 7340-25 
    bld date:  between Aug and Nov 1971 
    blt as B&O 4024, to CSXT 6599, to AEE 1 
    sold to ISRR 6599 (Indiana Southern) 
    
    American European Express 2 
    model: GP40-2 
    bld number: 72715-3 
    order number: 72715-3 
    bld date: Dec 1972 
    blt as DRGW 3108, to AEE 2 
    sold to NRE 2, resold to KCS 4764 


BM196

From: James VanBokkelen

I have the B&MRRHS's reprint of "Diagrams - Rail Motor Cars" as of 1955, and that shows 196 as the former 1196, an Electro-Motive Corp. double-end gas-electric with a 120 HP Winton engine, and seating for 64 coach/20 smoker built by Osgood-Bradley Car Co. It had cab signalling equipment, so its normal assignment would have been on the Fitchburg Division. The diagram is too smudged to read the built date, but I'd guess 1928 - 1930.

All the gas-electrics were re-numbered to the high 1100s in 1935, and the second re-numbering would have been sometime around 1947, when the later Alco S1s started getting into the former gas-electric series. The car was made obsolete by the big 1955 order of Budd RDCs, and likely scrapped by 1956.


AMTK Self-Propelled Vehicle

From: Bob LaMay

During the April - July 1980 time frame thirteen SPV2000's (Self Propelled Vehicle that would go into the year 2000) were manufactured and delivered to the Connecticut Department of Transportation for use in Amtrak and local shuttle service. Most of the SPV's were destined for use on Amtrak's "Inland Route" from New Haven, Conn. To Springfield, Mass. Via Hartford, Conn. Others would cover the shuttle service on both the Danbury Line from Danbury to South Norwalk, Conn., and the Waterbury Line from Waterbury to Bridgeport, Conn. This was Budd"s last gasp to bring back the "old" Budd Car in a modern new model.

Bud's idea that the RDC would return once again, didn't pan out. The harsh New England weather raised havoc with various systems. The Self Propelled Vehicle came to be known as the Seldom Powered Vehicle. Numerous breakdowns occurred thus necessitating calling a diesel out to rescue the train. Other cars caught fire causing other problems. After just over five years in service all were withdrawn from service.

Most of the dead SPV's were stored in New Haven, Conn., while others were stored in Wilmington, DE. The Connecticut Department of Transportation facing some expansion problems needed some more passenger equipment to cover and protect routes. However, the funds just didn't exist to purchase new. Arrangements were made with Amtrak's Wilmington Shops to rebuild the remaining fleet into modern coaches and cab cars. Out of the original thirteen car fleet would emerge four cab cars and seven coaches.


MILW SkyTop Observation Car

From: Jerry Appleman jerryapp@ix.netcom.com

That is one of Milwaukee Road's Drawing Room - Parlor SkyTop Observation Cars that were built in 1948 for the Morning and Afternoon Hiawathas between Chicago and the Twin Cities (St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota). The four cars were named "Cedar Rapids." "Coon Rapids," "Dell Rapids' and 'Priest Rapids" These cars were withdrawn from revenue service in 1970.

There were six similar cars built in 1948 and 1949 for the Olympian Hiawatha between Chicago and Tacoma, Washington. These cars were Eight Bedroom - SkyTop Observation Cars. The six cars were named "Adler Creek," "Arrow Creek," "Coffee Creek," "Gold Creek," "Marble Creek" and "Spanish Creek." These six cars were sold to the Canadian National in 1964 and were re numbered and renamed.

These were the only ten cars built to this unique Brooks Stevens design.


Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee "Electroliner

Built in 1941, this 4-car articulated trainset had to run on Chicago's elevated railway, with 90' curves, as well as the North Shore tracks at 85 mph. They were built by St. Louis Car Co, using Westinghouse direct current 125hp traction motors fed via trolly wire. Their overall length was 155'.


Amtrak 4935

Repainted PRR Brunswick green w/ pin stripes while in service on Amtrak in 1977. This repaint was paid for by a group of commuters who called themselves "The Friends of the GG1"
Richard Duley richduley@REMOVExxTHISnc.rr.com


CBQ dynamometer car

A dynamometer car is used to measure locomotive performance over the road. I suspect that similar cars (with updated instrumentation, of course) are still used today. It is usually coupled between the locomotive and train, and carries measuring instruments to measure draw bar pull, train weight, calculate tractive effort, etc. It can monitor steam pressure in the locomotive (if steam), air pressure in the brake lines, calculate braking force, and determine through all of these and other measurements the efficiency of the locomotive. This type of car would be found behind demonstrator units while being tested on a prospective buyer's road. The cupola is used to observe smoke/exhaust levels under load. This particular car carries a maximum crew of seven, as well as a cook.
"Gary M. Collins" gcollins@sound.net


B&O #50

Electro-Motive Corp. model AA passenger locomotive. It was a very historic diesel locomotive, the first passenger road locomotive not articulated to its train. Placed in Royal Blue service (Jersey City - Washington DC.) on 8/22/35, it was transferred to Abraham Lincoln service (Chicago - St. Louis) on B&O subsidiary Alton in 4/36. Following the B&O-Alton breakup, Alton bought it in 5/43. Following WWII, it became GM&O #1200 and served in local freight service and on the Joliet commuter train. Retired in 1956, {it was} donated by the scrapper to St. Louis in late 1958. - James Mischke


BTTX Articulated Auto Rack

The reporting marks are "BTTX" their number series is 880000 to at least 880419. They are being built by Thrall and first appeared late last year. They are bi levels and are 143' 10" long. Early ones had UP shields on them but later ones have only TTX identification.
markbau1@aol.com


B&O Edwards Gas Motor Car & Trailer

Manufactured by Edwards Motor Car Co, Sanford, NC for B&O Green Springs branchline, W.VA. Contains a 9x7 baggage compartment with seating for 56. Total weight is 26,550lbs, ave speed is 30mph, max 40 mph. Both Motor car and trailer are carried on two 4-wheel trucks. The rear truck of the motor car has fixed axles and drives through 3 chains, two of the chains transmitting power from the differential shaft, the 3rd chain carrying the drive from the front to the rear axle. The air brake system is a standard Westinghouse traction brake, except that the compressor are of special design made by Edwards. There are 2 compressor, one driven from the line shaft, and one from the axle. The compressor driven from the line shaft is used before the car is in motion. It is then cut out and the compressor driven from the axle is used. The equipment includes a hot air heating system by Peter Smith Heater Co, and 12V lighting. The power unit is a Kelly-Springfield motor with 4 cyl, which develops 60hp at 1600 rpm


PLE #500 Wason MFG CO Gas-Electric Car & Trailer #700

The first gas-electric car employed on a main line for a distance of 49 miles, 45 stops, in 2 1/2 hours was between McKeesport, PA and Beaver Falls 1912. It was manufactured by WASON MFG CO, SPRINGFIELD, MA in 1912 as 42' 36 tons with seating for 42 and a 6' baggage section. The engine is twin GE-2905, 600V, 100hp.


Maryland & Pennsylvania Gas Motor Car and Trailer #61

Russell Co Gas Motor Car and Trailer with seating capacity of 28 plus 40 in the trailer, 1922. The coach is 37ft with a 5ft baggage compartment, driven by a 6-cyl 120hp Wisconsin gas engine.


CR Trencher/Cable Laying Machine #MPCX2001

This line is the former B&O Camden line from DC to Baltimore. The finished cable trench is only evident by a narrow line (+/- 6" wide) of darker ballast and occasional cable ends above grade and near bridges. The consist is Conrail #6449, the trenching/cable laying machine, flatcar with spools of cable, second flatcar with spools of cable, gondola with spare spools, gondola with spare spools, boxcar, caboose. - albabe@mindspring.com


NYC X Train

The "X"plorer, a name given by New York Central, was built by Pullman-Standard and called Train X. It was an articulated train but did not use Talgo's very unique suspension and axle system. As far as I know only two were built. The other was at the New Haven and christened the "Dan'l Webster". The loco is a Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton diesel-hydraulic. NYC used one loco, NH used two, one on each end. The loco's at each line look slightly different but if you didn't see them side by side you wouldn't notice it. - Rich Warner


PRR Clearance Car

The car is a clearance car, for checking the tunnels along the port road, and other places, by use of the "fingers" attached to the car which could be extended outward. It was kept in Baltimore for awhile, beside the old round house.


CP 1104 Car Cab

CP 1104 is a cab car converted from C-424 4226. It does nothing except ride around providing the crew with a place to sit instead of running the mother SD40-2 5592 backwards or turning it. There are four (1100,1102-1104) C-424 conversions and two (1116,1117) RS-18 conversions. They are not slugs, and do nothing whatsoever. They are dead weight. CP 1104 was mated to GP9 8234 until mid-1998 when CP decided to put it with 5592 to free up a badly needed 4-axle unit.
Bill Miller bmiller@mgl.ca


B&O RDC 9910

Built in 5/50 for the Chicago & North Western as their #9934, it then went to C&O as 9062. B&O then numbered it 1912, and later 9910. It finally ended up on MBTA as their #10. (Data from Crouse's book on RDC's.) - taken at College Park, MD, on one of the evening commuter trains to Baltimore from Washington, May 1996. William Hakkarinen


Croft BLW Steam #4

They offered six classes of these locomotives with weights ranging from 45 tons to 125 tons - cylinders from 10x14 to 18x18 and drivers from 30" to 42". Tractive efforts were given as 2210T to 6170T (on the level) with 110T to 310T on a 6% grade. From : J.A. McCulloch


Plasser Butt Welder K355-SSW

I think the equipment in question is a Flash Butt Welder. The thing out the back has got me stumped, but down here in Australia my company is using one to weld up a line down to the beach side resort. The unit puts a massive electrical charge through the ends of the rails and then pulls them into themselves, thus fusing the rail in what is known as a flash butt weld. This process is far superior to the Aluminothermic process used to field weld rail. As I reflect on my opening line the thing out the back could be the cover for the welding head (the thing that clamps over the rail), ours retracts into the inside of the unit (making it look like a track recorder car). From: Stephen Devenish JohnnyR@bigpond.com


Conrail Inspection Car

The inspection car rides over the rails and sends an ultrasonic sound wave that bounces back or rings when it finds a hole in side the rail, like pin holes that can't be seen by the eye. It then it sprays a round dot of paint in that area as to where the bad spot is so that a crew can come and replace that section of rail. If not found, the pin hole rusts with the water it collects. This is called Shelling, when the track rusts from the inside out and makes the track easy to snap or brake under pressure. From: Brendan Kelly


Am Cast Iron Pipe ALCO High Hood HH900 #1

This unit was originally purchased from Alco in 1937 and was numbered 81. It was sold to American Cast Iron Pipe ( Acipco) in 1963.This was the first of 10 Alco HH's that the BS RR purchased from Alco. BS #82 (1937) also was sold to Acipco in 1963. The BS did maintenance on two other Alco HH's, the 50 & 51 Warrior River Terminal Co. locos. They later purchased these units and the RR to Birmingham Port on the Warrior River.

From Bill Battle bull-june@mindspring.com, ex-Assistant Field Engineering Manager for ALCO


Mt Penn Gravity Railroad, in Reading PA

It pushed open air passenger cars to the top of Mt Penn, where they unloaded passengers at resort hotels along the line. The passenger cars then drifted down grade to the station at the bottom of Mt. Penn. The shays after pushing the cars to the top, backed down to the station
per JonWrap@aol.com


B&O Experimental Loco Tender

According to "B&O Power" by Sagle and Staufer, Vanderbilt-type canteen was constructed at Mount Clare in 1929 to the following specifications: No. 18d tank on a No. 27d frame, three four-wheel bogies with the centre one having some unknown sort of suspension system, 53 feet and 1 inch in length, a coal and water capacity of 28 tonnes and 20,000 US gallons respectively, and a gross weight of 170 tonnes. This unique tender was first attached to a Class Q-4 2-8-2 loco. Later on, it was mated to Class EL-1 2-8-8-0 7109 and finally, Class EL-3a 2-8-8-0 7120. Most likely, this car had difficulty with tracking on tight curvature and across low spots, resulting in its design not being repeated.
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