Eastern Railroad Discussion > CSX units with white cab roofs???

Caught Q690 coming into Parsons Yard in Columbus yesterday. Units were as follows; CSXT 7511, 8343 and the 1127 (SW1001). The SW was a nice surprise in itself, but the 8343 was in fresh CSX paint but with the cab roof painted white! Not only was the GPS/Computer antenna white but the angled portions of the cab roof as well. Made for quite an odd appearance.

Obviously a white cab roof would be much cooler in the summer, but I imagine the unit is equipped with some special equipment. Any ideas on this????

I dont know anything about that but I do know that CSX 8000 which is assigned to FBU service also has its roof painted white over the cab.

Troy

I have also seen 8351 with white cab roof. New trend ala Florida East Coast?

Former CR B-40 #5952 was spotted in Chicago also sporting a new paint job with the white roof!

I have some friends that drive school buses in my area and notice that the roofs where being painted white, so I asked what the purpose was. They said that it lowers the temperature as much as 15 degrees inside the bus. So I take it the railroad is following suit, but when I go into work again I'll ask the roadforman if he has heard anything.

Hey PW,
I also seen this lashup including the X-CR switcher and the 8343 with the wite roof.
Maybe it's a new paint scheme,it did look like somebody just waxed the SD40.
I hope to hear some reason soon as I think this would make an interesting model.
MetallicA

i havent seen any like this, how bout some pics

I have seen CSXT units 8054 and 8107 with the white cab roofs. A friend of mine which has a friend who has a connection inside Dupont paints said CSX is planning on painting units like this from now on. I am not sure if this means only repaints or if it means new units also. I don't know the reasoning behind it.

I don't know the reason behind the white roofs, but I suspect like everone else, it's for cooler temperatures in the cabs. I do know that it started with Florida assigned units that were painted at the Waycross, GA facility. Units receiving the white roofs were only the FBU assigned units which included the 4300-4319 GP39-2s and the 8000-8019 SD40-2s. Not all of them received the white roof either. Now it seems like a handful of others are running around, and many no where near Florida.

Dean J. Heacock
CSX Photo Archives
<http:www.trainweb.org/csxphotos>

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I noticed some of the engine numbers given, and was wondering if they have been repainted into the YN-2 paint?
8343,8351,5952,8054,8107. Thanks for any feedback. Tim

oh my god, thats ugly. They should have used grey, would have had a similiar heat reduction and wouldnt clash like that

I think I understand the idea of keeping the cabs cooler by using light colors, but if they don't keep them clean it's all for nothing.
A/C with a light color roof would make sense....those cabs are like ovens without A/C in hot weather.

It would brighten up those NS units

Pretty ugly. I usually champion function over form, but in this case I'm not too sure. If anyone should worry about hot cabs, you'd think it would be NS. Hopefully they'd find a more tasteful way to do it. Might actually work better with their paint scheme anyway. Anyone have any "official" info on this?

OK. As it turns out, there was an LMOA paper on the topic presented at the last RSA meeting in Chicago.

The white roof is just a part of the overall plan for CSX to apply a new, cost-reduced air conditioning system to the locomotive cabs (paper covered EMD units, only.)

The white paint covers an R-10 foam that is used to insulate the cab roof from heat transfer. And yes, it is for heat reflection, too. As it turns out, the air conditioners do not have huge BTU capacity, and the power supply that runs 'em can be smaller. Put all of these factors together, and CSX has a low-cost climate control system that they believe is adequate for the service that these locomotives see.

So are we getting AC put in the standard cab EMDs then.
I hope so!!!!
Next they can work on the door seals for winter.
MetallicA