Not exactly CB&Q but since the subject has already been started please permit
me to ramble on a while...
I hired out as an engineer at Alliance in 1974. Of course at that time the
Belmont (Crawford Hill) tunnel was still in use and CTC from Ravenna ended at
3rd Street in Alliance with dark territory from there west to Huntley, MT.
Worked Alliance for a year then moved to Sheridan in late 1975 for 34 years.
While at Alliance I worked the extra board mostly and ran most jobs. Alliance
to Ravenna, to Edgemont, to Guernsey. to Sterling. Also the Deadwood branch and
Crawford helpers which were at that time ran light from Alliance to Crawford to
shove trains back to Alliance. The coal trains were 100% GE U30C powered using
Locotrol. Usually 4 on the point and either 3 or 4 placed 65 cars deep
depending upon what train and its route. The slaves were put into the empty
trains and taken out of the loaded trains at Alliance yard. We had outside
hostlers to do that. The U30Cs were mostly built 1973-1974 if I recall
correctly. The 5800s were the Locotrol masters and the 5900s were the Locotrol
slaves. The 5300s were plain U30Cs.
In late Summer or Fall of '75 I had a coal train that had all SD40-2 power, the
first I'd ever seen on a coal train. It was a test train with 5 SD40-2s
(6700-6704 or 6701-6705, without checking my records I can't be sure) and a
dynamometer car right behind the power. We had manned helpers on the rear out
of Crawford.
When I moved to Sheridan all coal trains there were also GE. The eastbound coal
trains had U30Cs like Alliance but the westbound coal trains had older
U25C/U28C. Those were TERRIBLE. They were the ones with the 16 notch long
handled throttle. They had very poor wheelslip control and were prone to spin
in place and burn the rail. Everything in the cab rattled loudly and with those
drop equalizer trucks they rode even rougher than the U30Cs. Every system on
them was unreliable from the electrical to the cooling to the engines. The
reason I had any good feelings at all towards them was because I had a
"childhood connection" with them, and they sounded terrific when 4 or 5 of them
were phasing in and out of sync! I used to open the cab window on nice days and
hang my head out of it just to listen to them chugging.
By 1976 we were getting more and more SD40-2s on coal trains and by 1981 they
were as frequent or more so than the U30Cs. As was stated earlier the BN had
600 SD40-2; the 6700-6900s, 7000-7200s, 7800-8100s. Plus the older 6300s. Not
all all of the above numbers were completely filled.
Ten or so brand new SD40-2s were assigned to Sheridan helper service, usually
7200s. I had worked for the Penn Central and for it ran on the L&N, C&O, SOU,
DT&I, and E-L and in all of my RR experiences had never seen any RR use brand
new units in helper service but the BN did.
Thoughts on GEs.
Most engineers hated them, I didn't mind the U30C and C30-7s. Yes they were
much harder to get on and off of with those almost vertical steps and the
catwalks and doors were narrow. Most things in the cabs rattled but even so
there was much less engine noise so they were far quieter than the EMDs. The U
boat engine noise that was heard was of a lower pitch than the EMDs and not as
annoying to me. An SD40/45 in number 8 for a few hours can really wear you down
just from the noise. The GEs did not have that effect on me. The SDs were
definitely easier riders than the U boats. I never understood how 420,000 lbs
of iron slamming violently from side to side like the GEs did could stay on the
rail or not turn rails over but they did. However the EMD SD45s (and F45s)
always seemed top heavy to me and rolled to the outside of curves and when
diverging thru switches. Often it felt as if they would just roll right on over
on its side. Never did of course. Some SD45s had problems where they would sort
of "back fire" which would somehow almost stall the turbo. That was accompanied
by a severe body roll to the side as the turbo's torque was arrested and a loud
WHOOMP! and nasty noises as the overrunning clutch grabbed. EMDs were not
perfect by any means. They had their share of water and ground relay problems.
Our freights in the '70s were powered mostly by the older lighter SD40s, SD45s,
U33Cs, and 4 axle GEs. Many still in predecessor colors including a lot of
Chinese Red. To be fair we had our share of problems with SD40s (not -2s),
SD45s, and SD9s. GE haters seem to overlook those problems. Still I did have
several GEs gutted by fire and I never had an EMD do that.
As for the GP20CATs, I had several of them. One blew up on me on a freight
climbing Parkman Hill. We got alarm bells at the east switch and looked back to
see roiling black smoke and flames shooting 15-20 feet into the air. It was
only about 3/4ths mile to the top of the hill, we were barely moving and if I
stopped would probably have to double the hill. So I decided to heck with it
let it burn and I'll check it over the hill. But rounding the curve I saw and
was reminded of the old Q wooden county road overpass and decided it probably
would not be a good idea to take a flame thrower GP20CAT under that. So I
stopped short of the bridge. I walked alongside the flaming CAT loco and pulled
the emergency fuel cutoff ring. The fire went out but oil flowed down the
sides of the hood from the roof and smoke continued for quite some time. I
definitely was NOT pleased with Cat engined locos that day.
I also several times had the Cat engined SD40, the BN 6330 or 6333 whatever it
was. I called it Ol' Buzz Butt because in number 8 it had a nasty high
frequency buzz vibration that made it thru the cab seats and numbed your butt
and back. I hated it. The only good thing about that unit was the sound you
could make by goosing the throttle from idle or number one to number 4 or so.
That Cat engine really grumbled and rumbled as it revved up.
Wyhog
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