Eastern Railroad Discussion > CCTC's New Genset

Yesterday while going to a Therapy Session at Butler, Pa. as I was passing the Buffalo & Pittsburgh Engine Facility something Red caught my attention. It turned out to be Central California Traction Company 2101, a new GenSet built by Brookville that is beginning it's trip to them. Keep a eye out for it along the way.

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That Brookville builds a good-looking EMD :-)

Tom Y

no horn?

That's the former Brookville demonstrator BMEX 259, rebuilt from the Maine Central GP38 of the same number.

Great looking GenSet - send her west to California. Routing info - BNSF by chance?!?

If it had a trolley pole it would be a zero emissions engine.
Gonut

I always wondered why the gen sets where always built a new cab and nose? I don't see it for crash worthiness because its based off of the EMD design. It sure is nice to see one with an EMD cab and nose on it still.

KV1guy Wrote:
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> no horn?

Probably stowed for shipping, no sense in making
it a theft target en route!
Mike



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/04/11 11:26 by 2720.

Really like how CCT adapted their classic paint scheme. Wish the logo was a bit more prominent, but I love the fact that they are still using it. Bravo! Pretty good looking unit, IMHO.

Z

That is a very nice paint scheme!

Ahhh...my kind of genset. Bravo, Brookville!

KV1guy Wrote:
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> no horn?

They used a transparent paint.
"Out of sight, out of mind."
cf7

I like how the Fans are standards EMD items.

One heck of a nice looking loci...if the new gensets all looked this nice I might be able to get used to them and their sound!

Dick Samuels

6ET Wrote:

> I always wondered why the gen sets where always
> built a new cab and nose?

The most prolific genset maker, NRE, generally doesn't use old locomotive hulks to begin with, so it follows that the superstructure is all new. They did build some 3GS21C's for BNSF recently that used old SD40's as their starting point, and in that case they did reuse the SD40 cab and nose in addition to the frame and everything below it:

http://www.trainorders.com/images2/view.php?513982

Brookville likewise has generally used new frames for the handful of gensets it has built - this ex-demonstrator being an exception.

I don't know why Railpower, who generally does start with hulks, doesn't reuse much of the sheetmetal above the frame.

> It sure is nice to see one with an EMD cab and nose on it still.

Dunno about that. The EMD spartan cab adorned a mind-numbing quantity of locomotives built from the 1960's through the 1990's - something on the order of 15,000 units for US customers alone. With the retirement of most 4-axle GE U-boats and Dash-7's and the ever shrinking numbers of end-cab switchers, spartan cab EMD's dominate the ranks of 4-axle motive power more than ever. Nowadays, I hear a lot of whining about how monotonous modern railroading is - too many cookie cutter GE's and EMD's, etc. So here's a new model by a relatively obscure builder, a chance to inject some variety into the scene. Instead it recycles the look of nearly every 4-axle EMD roadswitcher built in the last 50 years, a look that still dominates the 4-axle landscape, and people are cheering??? Would you folks look ahead eagerly to a future that promised another 50 years and 15,000 copies of the same-old, same-old?

Evan_Werkema Wrote:
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> Instead it recycles the look of
> nearly every 4-axle EMD roadswitcher built in the
> last 50 years, a look that still dominates the
> 4-axle landscape, and people are cheering???
> Would you folks look ahead eagerly to a future
> that promised another 50 years and 15,000 copies
> of the same-old, same-old?


Familiarity is comforting.

As a designer, I would love to see some variety and new thinking. But, I must confess, I have been underwhelmed with most of the genset offerings from the aesthetic POV. Not because I want to see a recycled GP look, just because they seem off. Weird proportions, hard angles, uninspired shapes. I do like the switcher style units that I think NRE did for the G&W roads and the GS7s, but those still look a lot like classic switchers.

The new CCT unit is, yes, a classic GP look. But I do like the adaptation of the classic CCT paint. I'm glad they didn't go for something gaudy and fussy.

Keep hoping someone will rethink the design of these things in a ground up kind of way. The MP36 / MPExpress series tried, I think, but it always looked to me like a radical try on the front end forced to match a typical F40 style rear. The new Brookville passenger units, from the renderings I've seen, look very "me too" with the ALP electrics and that style is not something I enjoy.

It doesn't have to be an E-unit. Someone can do something better (yes, heresy, I know), but I think it will take a company making the design a real priority and keeping at least some eye and understanding to the past.

Z