List:
Visiting new member here, in search of assistance regarding the operation of
CB&Q rail motor cars.
As I research the development and deployment of gas-electric motor car
technology on American railroads, I have stumbled across what appears to be a
significant, yet little documented fact: The greater usage of
distillate-burning internal combustion engines in EMC-built cars than the
record would lead one to believe. In fact, it would appear that the distillate
engine is almost absent from the historical record.
Granted that Ed Keilty was not a paragon of accuracy in his first two doodlebug
books, we are still highly dependent on these volumes, and we owe Ed a debt of
gratitude for his signifcant work. Still, Ed does not even try to deal with
the distillate engine--indeed seems to be relatively oblivious to its existence.
In "Doodlebug Country," Ed reports a total of 17 CB&Q EMC-built cars which
apparently were equipped with distillate-burning engines, yet incorrectly
suggests they were diesel-electric: these cars were numbered 9734-35, 9765-70,
and 9841-49. Ed indicates these cars as being equipped with Winton 8-cylinder
Model 148D engines, the suffix "D" almost certainly indicating configured for
distillate use. Can anyone corroborate that?
Many of the cars purchased by the CB&Q prior to 1928 apparently were equipped
with 6-cylinder 275-hp Model 120 engines. Were any of these engines equipped
to burn distillate?
And does anyone know whether the cars so-equipped continued to burn distillate
until they were retired or re-engined, or were some or all converted to
gasoline operation?
EMC pursued this type of engine in an effort to mitigate the rising cost of
gasoline in the mid-1920s, and was building cars equipped with
distillate-burning Model 120s as early as 1926 (the Boston & Maine received 10
that year).
I deeply apologize for intruding this way, and for the imposition, but I am in
great need of assistance in pinning down just how widespread the use of
distillate was, versus the traditional concept of gasoline engine equipped
railcars. Any assistance will be gratefully appreciated.
Richard Wallis
Wheaton, IL
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