HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Electro-Motive Corporation (later Electro-Motive Division, General Motors) produced five 1800 hp B-B experimental
passenger train A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line, as opposed to a freight train that carries goods. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) push-pull train, ...
-hauling
diesel locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover (locomotive), power source is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is con ...
s in 1935; two company-owned demonstrators, #511 and #512, the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the oldest railroads in North America, oldest railroad in the United States and the first steam engine, steam-operated common carrier. Construction of the line began in 1828, and it operated as B&O from 1830 ...
's #50, and two units for the
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the largest Class 1 railroads in the United States between 1859 and 1996. The Santa Fe was a pioneer in intermodal freight transport; at vario ...
, Diesel Locomotive #1. The twin engine power unit layout and multiple unit control systems developed with the B-B locomotives were soon adopted for other locomotives such as the
Burlington Route The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwest, Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, CB&Q, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of ...
's ''
Zephyr In European tradition, a zephyr is a light wind or a west wind, named after Zephyrus, the Greek god or personification of the west wind. Zephyr may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional characters * Zephyr (comics), in the Marvel Comics univers ...
'' locomotives built by the
Budd Company The Budd Company was a 20th-century metal fabricator, a major supplier of body components to the automobile industry, and a manufacturer of stainless steel passenger rail cars, airframes, missile and space vehicles, and various defense produ ...
in 1936 and EMC's own
EMD E-unit EMD E-units were a line of passenger train streamliner diesel locomotives built by the Electro-Motive Diesel, General Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD) and its predecessor the Electro-Motive Corporation (EMC). Final assembly for all E-units ...
s introduced in 1937. The B-B locomotives worked as proof-of-concept demonstrators for diesel power with the service loads of full size trains, breaking out of its niche powering the smaller custom
Streamliner A streamliner is a vehicle incorporating streamlining in a shape providing reduced air resistance. The term is applied to high-speed railway trainsets of the 1930s to 1950s, and to their successor " bullet trains". Less commonly, the term i ...
s. In 1935 EMC was starting its transition from a design and marketing company to a locomotive building company; development of regular production model locomotives was occurring before they had the capability to build locomotives. Construction of carbodies for EMC demonstrators #511 and #512, and B&O #50 was contracted to
General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...
's
Erie, Pennsylvania Erie is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, fifth-most populous city in Pennsylvania and the most populous in Northwestern Pen ...
works, and AT&SF #1 was contracted to St. Louis Car Company. Like most
boxcab A boxcab, in railroad terminology, is a term for an electric locomotive in which the machinery and cab (locomotive), crew areas were enclosed in a box-like superstructure. Deriving from "boxcar", the term mainly occurs in North America. The ter ...
s, they initially had control cabs at both ends, a feature that would only rarely be repeated in future North American locomotives, although it would become common elsewhere. Power was provided by twin 12 cylinder Winton 201-A
diesel engine The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...
s in each power unit, exceeding by 50% the most power that could be attained with a single engine at that time. The added "headroom" in power extended the life of mechanical parts, which was a critical issue with early diesel engines in locomotives. The units were built with AAR type B two-axle
trucks A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport freight, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...
. As development design locomotives, modifications were frequently made to them to overcome various teething problems; the EMC demonstrators spent considerable time in aluminum paint substituting for the units under modification.


EMC demonstrators 511 and 512

The two EMC demonstrators, numbered 511 and 512, were built in August 1935 to demonstrate the future of passenger diesel power to potential customers. The boxy bodywork was not what EMC intended to sell, but it was an easy way to demonstrate the power units and hauling capacity, which would not be changed in the future E-units. They were demonstrated both together and singly; the latter for shorter trains for local and less busy services, the former to replace larger steam locomotives on heavier trains. These units were highly significant in pioneering multiple unit connections which could be quickly connected and disconnected in the field, allowing units to be "lashed up" into more powerful combinations (operated by a single crew) at will, and allowing malfunctioning units to be replaced with fresh units with ease. EMC #512, painted silver, was added to the ATSF locomotive #1 cab/booster pair to help pull the first regular run of the streamlined,
Budd Company The Budd Company was a 20th-century metal fabricator, a major supplier of body components to the automobile industry, and a manufacturer of stainless steel passenger rail cars, airframes, missile and space vehicles, and various defense produ ...
-built ''Super Chief'' on May 18, 1937, after the EMC E1 pair 2/2A built for the train burned out some of their traction motors on a record-breaking exhibition run days before. In 1938, having outlived their usefulness, the two demonstrators were scrapped. Trucks and some other components were re-used for the two EMC NW4
switcher A switcher locomotive (American English), shunter locomotive (British English), station pilot (British English), or shifter locomotive (Pennsylvania Railroad terminology) is a locomotive used for maneuvering railway vehicles over short distanc ...
s built for the
Missouri Pacific Railroad The Missouri Pacific Railroad , commonly abbreviated as MoPac, was one of the first railroads in the United States west of the Mississippi River. MoPac was a Class I railroad growing from dozens of predecessors and mergers. In 1967, the railroad o ...
.


Baltimore & Ohio 50

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the oldest railroads in North America, oldest railroad in the United States and the first steam engine, steam-operated common carrier. Construction of the line began in 1828, and it operated as B&O from 1830 ...
#50 was fundamentally identical to demonstrators 511 and 512 when delivered. In this form, it hauled the first Diesel-powered ''
Royal Blue Royal blue is a deep and vivid shade of blue. It is said to have been created by a consortium of mills in Rode, Wiltshire (in Somerset as of 1937), which won a competition to make a robe for Queen Charlotte, consort of King George III. I ...
'' until the introduction of the EMC EA/EB units in 1937. Following that, it had a semi-streamlined "shovel nose" applied to one end, and transferred to the B&O-owned
Chicago and Alton Railroad The Alton Railroad was the final name of a railroad linking Chicago to Alton, Illinois; St. Louis, Missouri; and Kansas City, Missouri. Its predecessor, the Chicago and Alton Railroad , was purchased by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1931 an ...
to haul the ''
Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...
''. When the Alton left B&O control in the merger that created the
Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad The Gulf, Mobile and Ohio was a Class I railroad in the central United States whose primary routes extended from Mobile, Alabama, and New Orleans, Louisiana, to St. Louis, Missouri, St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri, as well as Chicago, Illin ...
, #50 entered the GM&O roster as #1200. After the Second World War, the shovel-nose treatment was removed, restoring the unit to its prior boxcab appearance. The locomotive was placed into local freight and passenger service until it was retired, upon which it was donated to the National Museum of Transportation,
St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...
, where it remains.


Santa Fe 1

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the largest Class 1 railroads in the United States between 1859 and 1996. The Santa Fe was a pioneer in intermodal freight transport; at vario ...
#1 was a twin-unit set built by St. Louis Car Company in August 1935 to haul the Santa Fe's new train, the ''
Super Chief The ''Super Chief'' was one of the List of named passenger trains, named train, passenger trains and the flagship of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. The then-modern streamliner was touted in its heyday as "The Train of the Stars" b ...
'', for its first year of operation from May 12, 1936, until May 18 of the following year. The Santa Fe Railway was an ideal railroad to be a
dieselization Dieselisation (US: dieselization) is the process of equipping vehicles with a diesel engine or diesel engines. It can involve replacing an internal combustion engine powered by petrol (US: gasoline) fuel with an engine powered by diesel fuel, ...
pioneer; its long desert runs in the Southwest made the provision of water supplies for steam locomotives problematic. Santa Fe saw the potential for rapid dieselization of its southwestern passenger service so the railroad asked for two locomotives like the EMC demonstrators as proof of concept, letting the railroad gain some experience with diesel operation before production model diesel locomotives and the lightweight, streamlined trains they would haul were ready. The 2226.6 mile route that these units were intended to run, covering mountain and desert, was completely unprecedented, and exposed weaknesses in the design. Their working up period extended for about eight months before they were introduced into service, during which time modifications were continually made to them. Santa Fe asked for some cosmetic "dressing up" of the locomotives, since they would be hauling a prestige passenger train, and EMC obliged with a treatment by Sterling McDonald's GM styling department, which included large hooded air intakes at the front of the units and a striking paint scheme: Olive Green with Cobalt Blue and Sarasota Blue stripes separated by pinstripes of Crimson and Tuscan Red. This livery reduced the boxiness of the locomotives and gave them more of a look of speed. The units were delivered with shrouding around their trucks, which was soon removed because the bearings on the trucks tended to run hot. Engine cooling was another problem that needed to be addressed during the testing period. The second unit in particular had trouble getting enough air to cool the radiators; likely the stylish hood over the air intake contributed to this problem. A number of vents were added to the roofs in their first year of existence. Both units required larger steam generators, and a greater fuel and water supply. Because they were always run coupled together, Santa Fe employees nicknamed the two units the "One Spot Twins" and " Amos & Andy" (after the popular radio
situation comedy A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...
). Both units shared a common road number and the operating department considered them a single locomotive. The mechanical department referred to them as "Unit A" (lead unit) and "Unit B" (trailing unit). While the pair substituted for a Super Chief E1 set with burned-out traction motors in 1937, the company leased EMC demonstrator #512 as a third unit called "Unit C". After new EMC E1s replaced the proof-of-concept #1 in 1937, the Santa Fe began to further modify the two locomotive units. The two units were rebuilt as single-ended locomotives in 1938 with a "bulldog" front end — a very high, raised cab above a rounded snub nose. The locomotives were painted in the ''Warbonnet'' paint scheme similar to the E1s. The trucks were replaced with three axle drop-equalizer trucks of unusual
AAR wheel arrangement The AAR wheel arrangement system is a method of classifying locomotive A locomotive is a rail transport, rail vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front. However, Push–pu ...
1B configuration; the lead axle was unpowered, while the two rear axles were powered. The three-axle trucks were more stable at speed and lighter on the track with a lower
axle load The axle load of a wheeled vehicle is the total weight bearing on the roadway for all wheels connected to a given axle. Axle load is an important design consideration in the engineering of roadways and railways, as both are designed to tolerate a m ...
ing. Roller bearings on the new trucks alleviated the overheating problem. "Unit A" retained road number 1 and "Unit B" was renumbered number 10, since it was now regarded as a separate locomotive. The revamped locomotives pulled the new Chicagoan (ATSF train) and Kansas Cityan named trainsets between Chicago and Wichita, KS, with the run soon extended to Oklahoma City. In 1941, No. 10 had its cab removed, and became a booster unit numbered 1A. In 1948, AT&SF rebuilt unit 1A into freight transfer locomotive No. 2611 running on EMD Blomberg B trucks; locomotive 1 remained unmodified from its 1938 rebuild as a passenger unit. Both 1 and 2611 went to
Electro-Motive Division Electro-Motive Diesel (abbreviated EMD) is a brand of diesel-electric locomotives, locomotive products and diesel engines for the rail industry. Formerly a division of General Motors, EMD has been owned by Progress Rail since 2010. Electro-Motiv ...
as trade-ins on
EMD E8 The EMD E8 is a , A1A-A1A passenger-train locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division (EMD) of La Grange, Illinois. A total of 450 cab versions, or E8As, were built from January 1950 to January 1954, 447 for the U.S. and 3 fo ...
locomotives in 1953. Both emerged as booster units, numbered 83A and 84A, respectively.


Notes


References

* * * *


External links

* {{EMD misc Diesel–electric locomotives of the United States B-B locomotives 1800hp B-B Experimental locomotives Passenger locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1935 Standard-gauge locomotives of the United States