Railroaders' Nostalgia > Loud cabs.

My engineer and I were talking about how the current day pre-iso cab SD70M-2 and SD70ACe are excessively loud in the cab. Well in the conversation he brought up how some of the "old heads" said the really old engines were so loud inside that you couldn't talk inside. Neither of us have been in anything older than a Dash 8 GE (which are fairly tame). And while the carrier we work for did have some SD9M for a time, they were fairly quiet inside. Other than the SD9M the oldest EMDs I have been on was some un-rebuilt GP35s at a regional railroad.

So I ask the oldheads here, what were the loud old engines. How were the GE Dash 7 and the old U-boats?, ALCO Centuries?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/24/15 00:27 by BelltuckyFoamductor.

I can tell you, on the Alcos and old GE's, there wasn't a turbo screaming behind you...

The loudest engines that I have ever operated were the SP SD39's..  (SP 5300 through the SP5325)  I startedwearing ear plugs when operating these engines long before we were mandated..

SanJoaquinEngr Wrote:
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> The loudest engines that I have ever operated were
> the SP SD39's..  (SP 5300 through the SP5325)  I
> startedwearing ear plugs when operating these
> engines long before we were mandated..

Same here, Jim.

V

SLOCONDR

on Amtrak the E-60 electrics which were basically glorified (equipped with diesel control stand)freight engines were
extremely loud for not having a fossil fueled prime mover however on the other hand the GG1s were very quiet when
at speed albeit with a steady hummm altho they did have a high pitch whine when loading and starting a pull ...

in contrast the E-60s were like an open whse comapared to the confines of the Gs ...

Posted from Android

I felt the noisiest horses I ran for the NS were the accursed 4100 series GP38's, followed closely by the 1580 SD40 series, assigned long hood forward, in hump service at Bellevue.  When the 1580's were in hump mode they operated at a designated high RPM, This made for long periods of 2.0 MPH operation shoving cars up the hump, often times between other A yard tracks occupied by other yarded trains.  The roar was reflected back into the cab by the other trains compounding the noise and vibrations. Some engineers wore protective ear muffs, myself occasionally, or the little foam plugs, when working in this service, long before the RR began to issue same for our protection.

The ALCO's had a different type of noise pattern and were nowhere close to the torture of the EMD units.   Duane 

My vote was the older GEs. Everything rattled and banged. Also the old Fs or car body type units if you had to go back thru the power when the engine was in run 8.

About ear plugs,

It was in the 70s when a friend of mine that worked  heavy equipment, told me about their ear plugs. It was in their union contract that the companies had to provide them for free. He gave me two paks that had 5 pairs each. (no string, just the plugs) Wow, the difference between night and day. These were foam plugs, little cylindrical things that were about the length of a cigarette butt. You would roll them between your fingers to get them small enough and then put them in your ear. You would hold them there for a second and hey would start to expand and it was like someone turning down a  loud stereo until it was just a very quiet back ground noise.

A lot of guys liked them so I would order a case at a time from a medical supply in Fresno. Then I would sell them by the bag, I think $1 to $2 bucks and add on 50 cents I had paid for postage. But, good old SOB the Trainmaster in SLO, told me I ..."had to stop selling them. on the property. Someone on the ground would not hear a car rolling if they had them in.". Well, I told everyone not to use them off the engine, duh !  SOB was still on his high horse so I called the Superintendent of the Western / Coast Division and asked him why I was not allowed to protect peoples hearing, the carrier wasn't and I wasn't making any money on it. He mulled it over and told me he would get back to me. The next day his office called and said go ahead with the plugs.  Next time I saw old SOB, he would look the other way but you could see his neck getting red.

Years later, there was an outfit out of Canada that stopped in Dunsmuir. They were selling better plugs that were made of rubber and that were molded to your ear canal. They cost around $65 and they took a mold of your ear canal right there. They sent the finished product about 3 weeks later to your home. They came in a little pouch that snapped shut by itself. They also had a string between them so you could pull just one out  if needed. I used that pair for over 20 years and still have them. If I had to fly anywhere, they were great. 

Nudge

I am surprised no one mentioned GP-60's.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/24/15 14:35 by tomstp.

I used to think sitting in the cab of a SD40-2 grinding up Cajon Pass was loud, especially when seated in the second unit. But today I would have to give the "loud award" to our two ex-Amtrak F40PH "cab cars" on the Alaska Railroad. Interestingly, they have no actual prime mover and no tractive effort, but they each have a Cummins powered 800kW HEP power plants that run at some crazy high (relatively speaking) RPM.

I often have to walk into or through the carbody to get to the cab, or to the handbrake, and it's a hot, and incredibly noisy place. When I'm on the job that yards the passenger trains for the night, the first thing I do when I get on this noisebox is shut the HEP unit down so I can have a peaceful ride on the shove back from the depot. The only place I voluntarily wear hearing protection is when I'm on one of these things.

SanJoaquinEngr Wrote:
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> The loudest engines that I have ever operated were
> the SP SD39's..  (SP 5300 through the SP5325)
I used to live in northwest Covina, California  near San Dimas. When I would be outside washing my car I could hear  those 4 unit SD 39 haulers climbing up through Walnut on thier way east from City of Industry to West Colton. Those V 12s had a distinctive sound,unlike anything else,and were very loud and unmistakeable. That was six or seven miles away with large hills between the SP Alhambra Sub and where I lived which was about 300 yards north of the SP Baldwin Park Branch.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

Here are a few notes from my own experiences with 25 years on UP. EMD's louder than GE's.
SD40-2's, while I liked the sound, were fairly loud, especially earlier built units. The proximity of engine exhaust with turbo whine so close to the cab in most 645 locomotives make it generally noisy.
SD50's were a bit quieter, but the variant of 645 engine inside gave them a deep powerful rumble I have not heard on any other EMD  with 645 engines. A unique sound. 
When I first had to run the SD70ACe, I remember one time stopping for trains ahead to clear up. To save fuel, after a time interval, the engine would shut down. When we were ready to go, with cab windows and the rear door open on a nice day,  the new air start engine fireup nearly scared me right out of the cab! 
The worst offender for noise was an EMD with a roof mounted air conditioner. The already loud and hot environment, since you were going to use the air conditioner, became audible agony with the blower air noise and compressor chugging away. "What did you say? What was that again?"  Turn up the radio and yell across the cab. Today I ran an ex-SP GP38-2 and when we fire up the AC, every throttle notch increase gives more power to the AC and revs up the compressor and blower making it even louder!
C30-7's were quieter than SD40-2's. Early manufacture C44AC's, the UP and SP units I have run,  set up a powerful electrical howl probably from the inverters at speed in Run 8 maybe 45 MPH or above.  I had to close the window on these units. Interesting side note, while running GE's GEVOs up Cajon Pass, I walked back along the engine in Run 8 and stopped under the air intake grille for the air to air intercooler radiators. The intercooler fans were screaming away up there drawing cool air across the intercooler parts, very much like the jet turbine - like sound from the dynamic brake fan motors on GE engines. Hard to pick out from the engine noise, radiator noise, and wheel squeal on a moving engine, but up close it was very clear. The cabs are nicely quiet on new engines. 

Simply to continue the subject, can anybody comment on the noise levels in the GenSets
either new or old, from any of the many GenSet builders?

Larry Dodgion
Wilsonville, OR

GP59s, kind of like riding in a paint shaker, Noise and vibration.

My least liked engine to run for cab noise was the GP20 (Santa Fe), nice to look at but IMHO the loudest cabs around.
JB

Genset noise. Quieter than a GP38-2. From the UPY 2700 class of Gensets, the engines are fairly quiet and with just one engine running it is very quiet. You can hear the radiator fan kick in when cooling is required. Idle is the quietest, Run 1 and 2 is louder with more RPM's and Run 3 is the loudest. More than Run 3 and the second engine fires until all 3 are loading at Runs 6, 7, and 8. Most of the noise does not come from the engines, but from the traction motor blower located behind the cab. 

NSDTK Wrote:
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> GP59s, kind of like riding in a paint shaker,
> Noise and vibration.
I seconded that!!!

PCCRNSEngr Wrote:
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> NSDTK Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > GP59s, kind of like riding in a paint shaker,
> > Noise and vibration.
> I seconded that!!!

We have a oldhead in this terminal that loves them for some reason, but most of the rest of us generally hate them. I will say this much, they do load fast. The GP59E dont seem to vibrate as bad, but are still loud.

The loudest engines I ever worked on were four F-40PHs that Caltrain has been using since about 1985.  Nos. 902, 907, 910, and 914.  The HEP runs off the main engine and it's like being in Run 8 all the time.  When I was working, many engineers referred to them as "growlers", but I always preferred the term "screamers".  Perhaps separate HEP engines have been installed on these beasts since I retired, but I seriously doubt it. 

Motor wise? F40ph. The U boats and B/C series GE's were decent in terms of sound but would beat you to death with their side to side motion.  EMD's with turbos all seem to whine in your ear. For me, the air exhausting in the cab or the horn on top of the cab are what still hurt my ears when I randomly catch those motors. The loudest horns I've ever heard are on the SD70AC CSX 48XX's.

Joe



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/25/15 19:17 by joeygooganelli.

Loudest engines I've encountered were the SOO SD-60s, much worse noise levels than an SD-40. Could not hold a conversation in the cab with these engines while under load.