Canadian Railroads > I Know CN Doesn't Wash Their Engines, But...

On the 9th of June my wife and I headed to Edmonton to see our brand new baby grand daughter. We
stopped at the Via Rail station in Kamloops for a few minutes to see what was happening and while
there a westbound freight pulled into the yard with CN 2161 as the second unit in the consist. As
you can see the prime mover had suffered a catastrophic failure and showered the engine--and the car
immediately behind it--with a bath of thick black oil.

A trainmaster who was surveying the damage and said that when these GE engines suffer a crankcase
explosion they tend to burp the oil out the stack which explains why the whole thing is "completely"
covered. I've seen dirty engines before; some with pretty large patches of oil but nothing as
extensive as this. You can't see it in the pictures but while the train was stopped in front of the
station oil was dripping everywhere...

Keith Robertson
Langley, BC

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Wow. I've never seen anything like that before. I suppose it helps a bit that the lumber was wrapped.

KG

It looks like someone pulled back on the paint control too much when using a double action airbrush loaded with gloss black.

Rick

I think the load of lumber is contaminated and not for sale. Claims department??? Doug

Seen more a few GE's and a few EMD's do that. Next stop is the shop for an engine replacement and a good through cleaning!

hoggerdoug Wrote:
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> I think the load of lumber is contaminated and not
> for sale. Claims department??? Doug


They could sell it as "treated" lumber.😊

Not just GE's. The ill fated SD9043 model did this at least once on CP.

cp1400

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In both situations it's more than likely the loco next to it that blew up and vomited all over the next loco. I bet the dirty one runs fine! Just needs a bath...

sp8192 Wrote:
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> In both situations it's more than likely the loco
> next to it that blew up and vomited all over the
> next loco. I bet the dirty one runs fine! Just
> needs a bath...

If for nothing else, all of that oil is a real fire and slipping hazard.

Like that time i picked up the can of flat black spray paint instead of the dullcote.... Sigh. Yup, it happened.

Michael

Another warbonnet died:)

sp8192 Wrote:
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> In both situations it's more than likely the loco
> next to it that blew up and vomited all over the
> next loco. I bet the dirty one runs fine! Just
> needs a bath...

I don't know about the SD90 but the engine I posted the picture of was the
one that blew up. Some of the oil ended up on the engine ahead and the car
behind but it received the bulk of the oil bath itself. Clean up will be
a fun job for somebody--not a good time to be low man on the totem pole in the
shop that gets the job.

I'm sure there will be an insurance claim for the lumber but, considering that
it was wrapped, there may not be all that much damage. The insurance co. will
probably make a payout and then sell the lumber to recover as much as possible.
Someone could get a nice deal...

Keith Robertson
Langley, BC