Nostalgia & History > Remaining ALCO PB units

Does anyone know if there are any existing PB units left?  The Rio Grande had a unit for the Rio Grande Zephyr to supply steam and was retrucked with EMD Bloomberg trucks.  What happened to that unit?

I think the ex-Rio Grande unit you mention ended up on the Algoma Central when they bought the Ski Train equipment.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/25/16 08:31 by CPR_4000.

The Rio Grande PB unit that was not converted, was scrapped.

​I made a follow up with the scrap dealer, for possible purchase to go to Mexico to team up with one of the rebuilt PA units.
​Gal in office rememberd that it had been scrapped.

Sad thing was, #252, the D&RGW steam generator that was not converted to HEP, lasted until the early 90s, including its original A-1-A trucks, before it was finally scrapped.

saw it get delivered to the scrap dealer, probably with the  steam tenders and a few cabooses, it went quick

This looks like an exPB. This is not my photo, I found it quick on google. 

Alec

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dh1205 Wrote:
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> This looks like an exPB. This is not my photo, I
> found it quick on google. 
>
> Alec

Too short to be a PB, more likely an FB.

dh1205 Wrote:
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> This looks like an exPB. This is not my photo, I
> found it quick on google. 

Yes, that's it on the Algoma Central.

Hard to believe that something as significant as an Alco PB could get cut up right under our noses so recently. The grapevine must have been asleep that week. I bet Doyle McCormack would have liked to have had its trucks, not to mentiion the entire unit.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/25/16 16:46 by CPR_4000.

Some one must have the trucks, for those are not Alco trucks.

I believe that the HEP PB's Alco trucks had many unrepairable defects, and no spare parts availability.  It could not legally be used in train service.  Thus, the Rio Grande converted it to EMD Blomberg trucks.

The HEP PB above was converted to EMD Blomberg trucks in the early '80s by D&RGW. The original trucks are long gone. There was a spare set of A-1-A trucks acquired from Canada in the early 2000s when Doyle McCormack brought the two PAs back from Mexico, but that set has been scrapped also. It's fairly certain there are no PA trucks left in North America.

davew833 Wrote:
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> The HEP PB above was converted to EMD Blomberg
> trucks in the early '80s by D&RGW. The original
> trucks are long gone. There was a spare set of
> A-1-A trucks acquired from Canada in the early
> 2000s when Doyle McCormack brought the two PAs
> back from Mexico, but that set has been scrapped
> also.

Not really. Doyle purchased the TWO pair of A-1-A trucks, i.e. total of four trucks. Each pair of trucks went under the two PA "hulks" that had been transported out of Mexico on RR flat cars. Doyle's PA unit, now NKP #190, is virtually complete. The second PA "hulk", sitting on the second pair of A-1-A trucks from Canada, was originally "owned" by the Smithsonian in Washington D.C., but has since been given to, and transported to, the museum in Frisco, Texas.

It's fairly certain there are no PA trucks
> left in North America.

THAT statement is indeed true!

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,4126792%3E


this thread shows bcr b units one of which may have been doyles donor for an engine, forget which unit he got

The trucks that Doyle got for the PA's are from Fairbanks-Morse Erie built B units that were part of a "portable" Canadian Pacific rail welding plant. They are very similar to the original Alco trucks, but not identical. Considering that there was no other choice, they're better than Blomberg B's!