Nostalgia & History > Forty or More Years Ago - Rock Island 1353

Rock Island 1353 is in Silvis, Illinois on March 1, 1983. She is an EMD GP18.
Bob

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Nice shot, Bob!

texchief1

That is one well used GP. Thanks for the look.
—Mac

These GP18's were  used on Rock Trustee specials 1980-84 in the Chicago-Council Bluffs part of the system. Notice freshly washed 1337. Class one does not see on today's RR's.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/28/24 11:18 by brc600.

Still wearing it's original paint scheme given by EMD in 1961.   I believe it is still in good shape running as Florida Central RR's 59.   



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/28/24 11:36 by Milwaukee.

What's the wording of the white-letters in 
the stancil undsr the cab?

​W.


 

MacBeau Wrote:
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> That is one well used GP. Thanks for the look.
> —Mac

I'll second that!

Larry

The words in white look like "cab heater drain inside."
Bob

Wow, that would make sense!

The Rock, near the end ( during winters) ha a lot of incidents of
main line trains getting stuck
by traffic problems—— often
hitting the 12-hour limit of hours-
of~service law.

Early diesel locos had engine coolant
hot water radiators for heat in
loco cabs….

Most locos came from the factory
witout valves in the cab heater lines.
Away from the heat of the
engine block, the copper lines in the cab often froze—- if an idling engine
ran out of fuel.

It became common , about 1970
that manufacturers supplied locos with electric cab heaters and
water temperature ‘dump valves’,
that opened to drain the engine
coolant, when the coolant reached
40~degrees. The only time such
conditions occurred was during
shut-downs, mostly because of
running out of fuel…

So, this label indicates locos
fitted with shut-off valves
in cab heater supply lines.

Many crews, when leaving locos
idling, when they ‘outlawed’ and were taxied to relief points or
motels, etc. They left engines running, to keep warm —- too often
standing locos ran out of fuel….

Cab heater drains were added, account of the supply pipes
retaining coolant, even though
the “blocks” and radiators
might get drained, automatically.

And, most RRs did NOT use engine
anti-freeze, although they always added coolant treated with anti-corrosion coolant additives:
yellow for chromate, purple for
bromate-based additives.

Engine coolant capacity was several
hundred gallons, abd anti.freeze in
large loco fleets were too expensive, in the quantities needed, and first generation
EMD’s became notorious for power
assemblies leaking water.

Earlier EMD’s had lower cylinder
large diameter water seals. The
entire cylinder assembly, including
the pistons is called the “power
assembly” —- an engine might
have 16 to 20 power assemblies.

Later EMD power assemblies were cooled by a direct pipe connection, eliminating lower, large diameter
0-rings.

Also, electric cab heaters became
a factory option RRs could elect with
new orders.

Crews were not often requested to
protect locos, left running, so the
cab heater valves were not on
every loco, so the signs were added,
late in the game. Crews were often
given written rules about leaving
abandoned locos and opening the
cab heater drain valves, when
shutting-down standing & idling
engines. That’s why the stencil…

More recent locos are all fitted
with ‘electric’ cab heaters; no
water lines .., and they’re fitted
with the temperature sensitive
“cold-water dump valves”

Cabooses often also had manual
drain valves, also..

W.

Posted from iPhone



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/29/24 00:48 by wcamp1472.

Thank you, wcamp, for such a thorough explanation of that little white stencil. This information is fascinating.
Bob