Nostalgia & History > Questions about carbody diesels

Why didn't Southern Pacific or Pennsylvania Railroad order the F9 or FP9 locomotives?

How many heavyweight passenger cars can be pulled by one F9?

When did the last F Unit pull a freight train on a Class 1 railroad?



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 01/20/22 21:15 by Sp1110.

The F9 overlapped with the GP9, and SP bought a lot of the latter.  That's when a many railroads began to see the wisdom of the road switcher.  Besides, they also had a pile of F7 units.

Trying to switch with a carbody type diesel is a pain.  Switching with a GEEP is done all day.

The minor advantage of walking between units at high speeds in carbody units is more than offset by the difficulty in getting on and off them.

Then comes the difficulty in working on the engine in a carbody.
G

Function beats form.

Weren't GP-9's less expensive to purchase than an F9?   think I read somewhere that the F-unit carbody was more expensive to  fabricate / form and that the equipment layout of the Geeps took less labor to assemble on teh shop floor.  Is this right?

So initial cost could also be a factor in addition to the operational ease of using Geeps to switch and the easier maintenance with Geeps vs. wrestling with repairs and parts within the confines of the F-unit carbody.

- Norm

Why was there no F unit carbody version of the GP40-2 or GP38-2?

Whats an F40PH?

In my previous post, I failed to ask about the speed restriction when running a carbody unit backwards.
G

On the Santa Fe of the 1970-1990s a car body ,  or a comfort design cab when backing maximum speed is 45 mph

Coast Wrote:
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> On the Santa Fe of the 1970-1990s a car body , 
> or a comfort design cab when backing maximum speed
> is 45 mph

Do you mean a cowl unit?

This is not railroaders nostalgia.

Posted from iPhone

On the Santa fe cowl unit is a car body  .The Special Instructions in the timetable reads when the controlling locomotive of a train is a car body type or a comfort design cab and it is in the backing position max speed is 45 mph

So you are saying that a non-comfort cab unit like a GP50 can go in reverse faster than 45 mph?

The rule says when either a car body type locomotive or a locomotive that has a desktop control stand is being operate long hood forward it is restricted to 45 mph.

Sp1110 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So you are saying that a non-comfort cab unit like
> a GP50 can go in reverse faster than 45 mph?

Posted from iPhone

splitreduction Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The rule says when either a car body type
> locomotive or a locomotive that has a desktop
> control stand is being operate long hood forward
> it is restricted to 45 mph.
>
> Sp1110 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > So you are saying that a non-comfort cab unit
> like
> > a GP50 can go in reverse faster than 45 mph?
>
> Posted from iPhone

Do the BNSF GP60Ms have desktop control stands?

Sp1110 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> splitreduction Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > The rule says when either a car body type
> > locomotive or a locomotive that has a desktop
> > control stand is being operate long hood
> forward
> > it is restricted to 45 mph.
> >
> > Sp1110 Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
> Do the BNSF GP60Ms have desktop control stands?

I belive they got retrofitted with conventional control stands.
JC

Posted from Android

Jason CNW is correct, replaced with conventional control stands.  Even in their final days before refurbished they ran like EMD's should run.  The refurbished engines run like crap.  Worse yet are the refurbished 500 class GE's.  Used on locals and yard service; they aren't much better than Gensets.