Nostalgia & History > EMD's aerodynamic styling test model?

Took this at North Platte, NE on Aug. 11, 1979 .... care to cast your vote? :-)

---

Looks like a plain old DD35 to me. Since it would never be in the lead, being a "B Unit", what would be the need for aerodynamic styling?

HotWater Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Looks like a plain old DD35 to me. Since it would
> never be in the lead, being a "B Unit", what would
> be the need for aerodynamic styling?

just a little fun early this AM ....

It was a joke, but that got me to thinking if there ever were a situation where a B unit was in the lead. Anybody know? I realize it would have to be a unique story, but this site is full of those. 

A B unit would never leave a terminal as a lead unit. Something might happen to the original lead unit on the road causing it to be set out leaving the B to become the point loco. It could never be the controlling unit since it only had hostling control if that.

Posted from iPhone

Check out the red roller bearing caps!

Cheers, Jim Fitch

Notice the nicely rounded corners of the carbody, the sleek taper of the dynamic brake housing, the center mounted body opening for cross flow ventilation and tapers on the sandboxes for added down force at high speeds.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/24/16 08:04 by SP4360.

I always thought one of the best ideas and neatest units around. Perfect for so many multiple unit consists that are common.  Wish one had been saved along with an A unit.
Brian Stevens

Looks like the test bed for the styling of today's passenger locos.

Only case of a B unit leading I know of is the Haysi Railroad in Clinchfield Country. Only loco they roster end was a B F unit. It was modified with a window and contols

Jay

All of what SP4360 had to say along with that long narrow shape to split through the air before the first blunt end of a boxcar.

Posted from iPhone

The Penn Central power book has a picture of a GP9B leading another unit on a Northeast Corridor train, but since they had no cab to
obscure the view it wasn't that big of a deal.  

Disclaimer: The statement 'in the lead' is what I based this on, not to be mis-construed as being the
controlling lead unit.

garr Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Looks like the test bed for the styling of today's
> passenger locos.
>
> Only case of a B unit leading I know of is the
> Haysi Railroad in Clinchfield Country. Only loco
> they roster end was a B F unit. It was modified
> with a window and contols
>
> Jay

here's the Haysi 'A', er B?  by Alan Miller @ Haysi, VA on 12/1/79

---

Only time I ever saw it was the westbound returning UP Anaheim Local approaching Basta in Fullerton, CA '83.
JB

---

Hmm, curious... I always thought that, when UP ran B's in the lead, they placed a snow plow in front to cut wind, so to speak.

EO

The RI had something like that with their factory built E6AB (not EMDs designation) for their Colorado Springs passenger train. The cab and headlight were built into a B unit which was second in the consist until Limon, Co. There the lead unit cut away, the AB unit pulled out leading the Colorado Springs section and the original A unit coupled to the remaining cars to take that train to Denver.

Posted from iPhone

GP30Bs would lead on the short distance locals out of Pocatello back in the late 70s also. I saw the Borah local which had about a 25 mile radius that it worked with a B in the lead a couple of times. We had GP7 and GP30B combos in the Pocatello yard for a short while with the B unit leading away from the bowl tracks. Needless to say that was a bit of a cluster so it didn't last long. 

Manny, many years ago, when I was still a switchman, I was working the daylight hump job at East L.A. One Sunday morning a train had died in the siding at Spadra (CA.) and we were instructed to take our hump set all the way out there (a little over 20 miles east of the yard)  to dogcatch the train. At the time our 2 hump sets each consisted of a SD24 and GP9 slug. I don't remember which set we had, it was either the 402 or 446 set, but we ran backwards (GP9 slug on the point) out to Spadra at a maxed out speed of about 20mph. It was a painfully slow ride but it got us out of the yard for several hours which was always a nice change from humping cuts of cars all day.-BMT



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/24/16 14:35 by UPNW2-1083.

valmont Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> garr Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Looks like the test bed for the styling of
> today's
> > passenger locos.
> >
> > Only case of a B unit leading I know of is the
> > Haysi Railroad in Clinchfield Country. Only
> loco
> > they roster end was a B F unit. It was modified
> > with a window and contols
> >
> > Jay
>
> here's the Haysi 'A', er B?  by Alan Miller @
> Haysi, VA on 12/1/79

Funny, until now I never noticed the bell on that unit, which I shot a couple of times. Deep in a holler so never got it in the sun.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/25/16 05:15 by masterphots.

76B does have headlights.
Go