Nostalgia & History > Those First Slides, 1969 (1 of 2)

At the Bull Ring in LA, and yes, that ’64 VW was my ride.

Corrected: "At the Links in LA…"

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Gas stop on the way to San Francisco, and a C628 at Tracy. Now on to the Upper Haight and Golden Gate Park...the Dead’s playing for free and it’s the Summer of Love.

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hey MB, a SP dayight or MOW orange Bug - not bad!

Is that an SD-7? The light package has an integrated red light instead of it being seperate.

Nice "Wayback machine" ya got there Sherman!

Africansteam

Steam2k Wrote:
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> Is that an SD-7?

Yes, the first one purchased by SP, or at least the lowest numbered. There are far more knowledgeable SP diesel fans on TO than I and maybe one of them will be kind enough to detail the history of the light packages, for I believe this was two of three and had something to do with it being a dual service unit, but like I said, it will take TonyJ or someone of his ilk to explain it correctly.

MacBeau Wrote:
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> Steam2k Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Is that an SD-7?
>
> Yes, the first one purchased by SP, or at least
> the lowest numbered.

This is indeed SP's first purchased SD7, originally numbered 5279. Became the 2700 in 1965, then the 1400 in 1973, and finally the 1539 in 1980.

As built, the unit did not have a signal light. SP applied a Mars "barrel" signal light, which was eventually replaced by the twin sealed-beam Pyle Gyralight shown in the photo.

What I vividly remember about this particular locomotive when I had it on a work train circa 1975 is that the throttle did not have a ratchet. Thus, there were no throttle "notches". Charlie Wherry or Steamjocky, were all the early ones like that, or did this one just lose its ratchet somewhere? The three that were assigned to the Western Division during the Seventies all had ratchets.

topper Wrote:
> What I vividly remember about this particular
> locomotive when I had it on a work train circa
> 1975 is that the throttle did not have a ratchet.
> Thus, there were no throttle "notches". Charlie
> Wherry or Steamjocky, were all the early ones like
> that, or did this one just lose its ratchet
> somewhere? The three that were assigned to the
> Western Division during the Seventies all had
> ratchets.
>
When they were built, I believe all SD-7's and 9's had notches which was made possible by the ratcheting mechanism you describe. This mechanism was housed in the upper 'canister' where the throttle and dynamic brake lever resided. Over time these mechanism's wore out and were replaced or over a longer time, sometimes they were not replaced giving us the 'notchless' throttles. We still had the eight, or more precisely seven, RPM changes along with the appropriate increases of amperage. All the above could be true also for the GP-7 and 9's that had the 'barrel' style throttle/reverser housings.

Another vexing throttle I ran into was one that could not be opened more than one notch at a time without pausing and allowing it to move slightly toward the last position before advancing to the next higher one. I believe it was to prevent rapid throttle changes, which it did very nicely. It also made kicking cars a real challenge!

Charlie
>

cewherry Wrote:
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> Another vexing throttle I ran into was one that
> could not be opened more than one notch at a time
> without pausing and allowing it to move slightly
> toward the last position before advancing to the
> next higher one. I believe it was to prevent rapid
> throttle changes, which it did very nicely. It
> also made kicking cars a real challenge!


Yeah. I remember that with the F7s and E9s. And I'm sure you're correct about the reason.

MacBeau Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Steam2k Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Is that an SD-7?
>
> Yes, the first one purchased by SP, or at least
> the lowest numbered. There are far more
> knowledgeable SP diesel fans on TO than I and
> maybe one of them will be kind enough to detail
> the history of the light packages, for I believe
> this was two of three and had something to do with
> it being a dual service unit, but like I said, it
> will take TonyJ or someone of his ilk to explain
> it correctly.


Thanks for the Info. I didn't know the SD-7s came that way. I personally prefer the SP SD-9 look. Besides knowing the number and light variations, was there any visual difference between the SD-7 and SD-9?
Gotta love SP units...

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Steam2k Wrote:
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> Thanks for the Info. I didn't know the SD-7s came
> that way.

Just for clarity, the Pyle Gyralight on the 2700 isn't what the unit was delivered with.

> I personally prefer the SP SD-9 look.
> Besides knowing the number and light variations,
> was there any visual difference between the SD-7
> and SD-9?

Note the photo of the 2700. The class lights are more-or-less centered above the number boards and have a hinged access door.

Now look at the class lights on the 5472. They're at the edge of the hood and don't have any access from outside.

Those are the most visible differences between SD7s and SD9s.

topper Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
>
> What I vividly remember about this particular
> locomotive when I had it on a work train circa
> 1975 is that the throttle did not have a ratchet.
> Thus, there were no throttle "notches". Charlie
> Wherry or Steamjocky, were all the early ones like
> that, or did this one just lose its ratchet
> somewhere? The three that were assigned to the
> Western Division during the Seventies all had
> ratchets.


>Not the few SD-7s that I ran. But in 1971 when I was firing the East Pool (Indio to Yuma) I had a Rock Island 203 (a U25B I believe) on the point going to Yuma that didn't have any notches on the throttle. And, as some that know how rough riding those engines were, the throttle would keep vibrating out of run 8 so you had to keep an eye on the throttle. You could literally move the throttle, regardless if you were in power or dynamic, with one finger which was not normal for this kind of control stand.

steamjocky