Nostalgia & History > EMD Electric Demo

Way back when Electric Overhead Current powered some of Conrails early trains, EMD produced 2 Demo's. Here is the EMD GM6C 1975 sitting in Harrisburg back in October of 1977. The other was the the GM10B 1976. Both were later renumbered to 4975/4976 repsectively. I always thought these were some of the ugliest units that I had ever seen at the time. But then again, it ain't looks that pull the frieght or pay the bills.EMD of course made NO sales in regards to either of these units and they weren't around very long, but they did add some variety to the RR scene back then, not that it needed it. Ben

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IIRC, the BC Rail GF6Cs were developed from the GM6C. So, at least one of these demo unit did result in at least some sales of a related model.

Z

Z, That's right. I forgot about BC Rails Electric Operation. It wold make sense that this unit did perhaps lead to orders. Those unit's, the BC Rail ones, tho IMHO weren't as "ugly" as the 1975 or the 1976 tho. Ben

Couple of BCR electric units, Tumbler 1985. Ugly, but not as ugly!!! Doug

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Some more shots of the EMD electric's.
Ed K. cp Laurel Run

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I have long since lost track; were the units scraped by EMD when returned?

mopacrr Wrote:
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> I have long since lost track; were the units
> scraped by EMD when returned?

They sat around the EMD back lot for a couple of years and were then scrapped.

Yeah, I am sure glad the GF6Cs got the cowl body. As mentioned above: ugly, but not as ugly! Still, I recall the internals were very similar to the GM6Cs, so the evolutionary line did continue.

That GM10 was truly a bizarre beast. Still, I have always found those trucks fascinating. Anyone know the minimum radii those things would take? What was the story behind those eird trucks. I've never seen anything like them.

Z

The electrical components in the BCR units where made in Sweden, operated at 50kv, whereas the norm was 25kv. I found the units were noisy in the cab, blowers etc and not very comfortable. Doug

The B-B-B wheel arrangement and the design of the trucks on EMD 1976 is very European.

The trucks on the BCR GF6C's appear to have been standard C-C trucks.

I heard there was one component (a rectifyer?) on the BCR electrics which needed constant attention, enough that a GM techician lived at Tumbler Ridge for months at a time replacing them. It was a roof mounted component and required the use of the two track shop near Tumbler Ridge which had an overhead crane to replace.

eminence_grise Wrote:
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> The B-B-B wheel arrangement and the design of the
> trucks on EMD 1976 is very European.
>
> The trucks on the BCR GF6C's appear to have been
> standard C-C trucks.
>
> I heard there was one component (a rectifyer?) on
> the BCR electrics which needed constant attention,
> enough that a GM techician lived at Tumbler Ridge
> for months at a time replacing them. It was a roof
> mounted component and required the use of the two
> track shop near Tumbler Ridge which had an
> overhead crane to replace.

Perhaps what you mention was the "thyistor" and it was not mounted on the roof. The really high maintenance item on the roof were the pantograph(s) and the insulators, a lot of general cleaning and maintenance required on the insulators to keep them from arcing and shorting out. The carbon bars on the pantograph also had to be cleaned and replaced regularly. I don't recall much "heavy" repairs at the Murray Shop, most repairs requiring heavy lift or extensive work were done at Prince George. Doug

zephyrus Wrote:
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> That GM10 was truly a bizarre beast. Still, I
> have always found those trucks fascinating.
> Anyone know the minimum radii those things would
> take? What was the story behind those eird
> trucks. I've never seen anything like them.
>
> Z

The reason behind the B-B-B configuration is this:
The GM10 used the larger ASEA traction motors, as EMD did not have TMs that would take that much power. At that time, a 3-axle truck did not exist that would take those massive motors. Rather than design a new truck, they used the 2-axle European design that had already been proven. This truck was similar to that later used on the AEM-7 passenger locomotives delivered to Amtrak in the 1980s.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/04/12 16:23 by All_Axles_Powered.

Some images of the mechanical and electrical specs of the BCR GF6C. Doug

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and more

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last two, explains some of the electrical stuff, transformer and traction motor connection. Doug

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