Western Railroad Discussion > Not your usual EMD chant, Sounds more like a GE or Alco!

Short clip of the burbling idle of a new UP Tier 4. It was on a coal train in siding at Lowden Ia this summer. Saw a pair on a coal train top the grade at Mt Vernon, and I think they are louder at idle than notch 8. Hard to believe they are already stored!

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Did you stick around to see him leave?  Would love to hear what one of those things sounds like throttling up, and a single unit DPU is ideal for that.

Sound just does not remind you of an  EMD engine.

Evan_Werkema Wrote:
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> Did you stick around to see him leave?  Would
> love to hear what one of those things sounds like
> throttling up, and a single unit DPU is ideal for
> that.

I heard one last summer as the single rear end DPU climbing Oregon's Blue Mountains.  I think someone else once used this analogy, and I think it works, sounded like a giant vacuum cleaner.  In run 8, I could hardly hear the prime mover, mostly could just hear the whining of the cooling fans (probably where that "vacuum" sound comes from).  I was able to hear this in a couple places, at track side, and above the train on an over pass.

Gonna miss the powerful sounds/ground pounding of EMD 2-cycle locomotives.

tomstp Wrote:
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> Sound just does not remind you of an  EMD engine.

Well duh!  2 cycle vs 4 cycle. Of course it's going to sound different!

spwolfmtn Wrote:

> I think someone else once used this analogy, and I think
> it works, sounded like a giant vacuum cleaner. 

One could argue that the smooth, percussionless whine of a turbocharged 2-stroke-cycle EMD sounds like a giant vacuum cleaner, too.  It's just a giant vacuum cleaner we're used to.  I recall Greg McDonnell's Power Desk column back in the October 1999 issue of Trains declaring the drone of the EMD 710 to be "one of the least exciting sounds in railroading." 

> Gonna miss the powerful sounds/ground pounding of
> EMD 2-cycle locomotives.

Given current trends, I don't think you'll have to worry about that for a while.  It's not like the railroads are falling all over themselves to order SD70ACe-T4's.  Indeed, with the only large fleet now in storage, the sound we're missing is the sound of these guys.

Evan_Werkema Wrote:
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> Greg McDonnell's Power Desk column back in the
> October 1999 issue of Trains declaring the drone
> of the EMD 710 to be "one of the least exciting
> sounds in railroading." 

I'll second that! I remember being completely underwhelmed by the sound of a pair of SOO SD60's climbing up to Tunnel, NY one night. There was no "there" there.

Lets all remember that ever since about 1972, ALL domestic EMD turbocharged locomotive engines have large exhaust silencers mounted on top of the turbo exhaust. Thus, the cooling system tends to produce more "noise". If you want to hear the loudest turbocharged EMD locomotive, then the UP DDA40X takes the record. The DDA40X units with the twin 16-645F diesels, operating at almost 950 RPM, with NO EXHAUST SILENCERS, are music to my ears!

HotWater Wrote:
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> Lets all remember that ever since about 1972, ALL
> domestic EMD turbocharged locomotive engines have
> large exhaust silencers mounted on top of the
> turbo exhaust. Thus, the cooling system tends to
> produce more "noise". If you want to hear the
> loudest turbocharged EMD locomotive, then the UP
> DDA40X takes the record. The DDA40X units with the
> twin 16-645F diesels, operating at almost 950 RPM,
> with NO EXHAUST SILENCERS, are music to my ears!

Exhaust silencers and the Q-fans came about in 1980.

CPR_4000 Wrote:
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> Evan_Werkema Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
> > Greg McDonnell's Power Desk column back in the
> > October 1999 issue of Trains declaring the
> drone
> > of the EMD 710 to be "one of the least exciting
> > sounds in railroading." 
>
> I'll second that! I remember being completely
> underwhelmed by the sound of a pair of SOO SD60's
> climbing up to Tunnel, NY one night. There was no
> "there" there.

I don't know, I always thought that 710's sound quite high tech. To each their own. Frankly, I never much cared for Greg McDonnell's writing either.

My favorite were CSX's AC6000's at high speed on the former NYC main back when they had HDL's and were very quite common.

Posted from Android

NYSWSD70M Wrote:
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> CPR_4000 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Evan_Werkema Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> >
> > > Greg McDonnell's Power Desk column back in
> the
> > > October 1999 issue of Trains declaring the
> > drone
> > > of the EMD 710 to be "one of the least
> exciting
> > > sounds in railroading." 
> >
> > I'll second that! I remember being completely
> > underwhelmed by the sound of a pair of SOO
> SD60's
> > climbing up to Tunnel, NY one night. There was
> no
> > "there" there.
>
> I don't know, I always thought that 710's sound
> quite high tech. To each their own. Frankly, I
> never much cared for Greg McDonnell's writing
> either.
>
> My favorite were CSX's AC6000's at high speed on
> the former NYC main back when they had HDL's and
> were very quite common.
>
> Posted from Android

I heard a pair of those with a manifest going up the old main (wrong way) in the late 90's. They were chugging like crazy along with a jet-engine-like compressor sound. Amazing stuff.

I also caught a very rare thing - two H-engine 90macs leaving Rosevilly northbound once with a heavy freight. Just unholy sound, absolutely loved it.

slacks Wrote:
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> Short clip of the burbling idle of a new UP Tier
> 4. It was on a coal train in siding at Lowden Ia
> this summer. Saw a pair on a coal train top the
> grade at Mt Vernon, and I think they are louder at
> idle than notch 8. Hard to believe they are
> already stored!

Thanks for posting - been trying to get this sound!

Someone said these T-4 EMD's had a CAT engine, but others have said it's basically EMD's "H" engine, modified.  Does anyone know which is correct?  I can almost hear an ALCO S-2 idling there, with a little bit more muscle behind it...

coach Wrote:
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> Someone said these T-4 EMD's had a CAT engine, but
> others have said it's basically EMD's "H" engine,
> modified.  Does anyone know which is correct?  I
> can almost hear an ALCO S-2 idling there, with a
> little bit more muscle behind it...

It's a new engine which is supposed to be a modified version of the H-engine. It's been developed by EMD but as Caterpillar is the parent compnay there may well have been some Caterpillar assistance in the modification. So on balance probably more correct to call it an EMD/Progress Rail engine than a caterpillar one...

Evan_Werkema Wrote:
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> spwolfmtn Wrote:
>
> > I think someone else once used this analogy, and
> I think
> > it works, sounded like a giant vacuum
> cleaner. 

I was referring to the new SD70ace 4-cycle, tier 4 locomotives, like the one's in the video, that sound like a giant vacuum cleaner, not the traditional 2-cycle EMD's of the past.  That "vacuum cleaner" sound came from the cooling fans when the engine was in Run 8; the prime mover its self was very quiet, even in Run 8.