About the Author J. D. Santucci (a.k.a. "Tuch") began his railroading career in 1978 as a trainman on the Missouri Pacific. After a round of lay-offs in 1985, Tuch embarked on a railroad odyssey, working in many different situations for different roads. This column tries to explain some of the nuts and bolts of the job and also demonstrates what we have to deal with on a regular basis within and without the industry. Tuch currently works through freights out of Chicago for Canadian National/Illinois Central. ©1999, 2003-2007 JD Santucci. Logo ©2002 The Railroad Network. By J.D. Santucci

August 30, 2004
I’m sure that many of you will agree there’s nothing like that new car smell; that combination of all new materials strategically enhanced with that fragrant aroma that plays upon the conscious and subconscious. This is indeed quite the marketing tool. I have had people tell me they were not necessarily intending to purchase a new car, but after sitting in one and getting overwhelmed by that smell they then struck a deal and signed the papers to buy one.

Brand new locomotives also have a “new car” smell as well. However, it is not quite the same as your car, truck or SUV. Instead it is more the aroma of brand new materials combined with fresh paint. Being that as Engineers we don’t get much, if any say at all in the purchase of new motive power, there is no requirement for the use of fragrant aromas to encourage us to buy. I have yet to meet up with an Engineer that told of being taken along for a look at the new models. Couple this with the fact that the manufacturers do not sell locomotives “off the lot,” you’ll understand there is no necessity or requirement for the added fragrance as a marketing tool.

For those of you unaware of the methods of new locomotive purchasing, the locomotive builders do not generally construct a quantity of locomotives and then park them on lots awaiting customers. Locomotives are generally built to the specification of each railroad ordering them. While there are certain components that are standard with all units, each railroad purchasing them will add or delete certain features. In some cases, the railroads will put out requests for the locomotive builders to bid on locomotive orders. They will list the requirements for such new power and EMD and GE will respond with their products and prices.

In a sense, the railroads and the builders are haggling over the price, but in this case, they are talking about locomotives that go for $1.5 million or more a piece. So when they haggle, they are talking about tens of thousands of dollars as opposed to say several hundred or perhaps a thousand dollars on price. And oh yes, there are trade in’s and trade in allowances used to reduce the costs of a new locomotive.

One thing you won’t see are TV commercials for new locomotives being aired. There won’t be some guy wearing a loud sport coat screaming of “monster deals” or “practically giving them away.” You won’t see used locomotive lots either with big signs up with “today’s special” or the “deal of the week.” The locomotive manufacturers do appear at industry trade shows, take out ads in trade publications and send out their sales people to the railroads though. This can be quite the formidable task as there are less major railroads around since they have all merged into a just a few mega-monsters. Many short lines do not purchase new power opting instead to go the used market for much of their needs.

But I digress.

New locomotives do have that freshly built smell and even though it isn’t quite as aromatic, it is far better than what they smell like after just a few years of service; mold, mildew, stale smoke, dirt, dust and of course, the toilet.

Why all this new car smell talk you might ask? Good question with a good answer. CN is currently taking delivery of thirty-one new Dash 9-44C locomotives from General Electric. For those not familiar with locomotives, the Dash 9 is a 4400 horsepower, six axle locomotive and is equipped with a direct current traction system. So today we will take a look at one of them.

This group of locomotives is assigned to US operations and carry small “IC” sub lettering under the road numbers at the base of the cab. They have been assigned road numbers 2697-2726 with an additional unit tacked onto this order which will be the 2727. This particular unit was ordered as a wreck replacement for the 2667 that was wrecked earlier this year in Alberta. With the completion of the delivery of this order, CN will operate a fleet of two hundred twenty-six of the Dash 9 units.

The unit we will concentrate on in this lesson is the 2705, although I also had the 2704 this day as my tailing unit. Constructed in July, this engine was released for service from GE’s Erie, PA plant on 12 August, 2004. It carries serial number 55125. I discovered a couple of sets of numbers on the right front side of the fuel tank. On this unit they were 84X 277 22 G3 on the top line and 04 06 2777 INA below it. On the other unit mated with it, the 2704, the top line was the same number with the bottom number 04 06 2796 INA. For those keeping track of frame or serial numbers, this set I discovered here on the fuel tank is yet another way to keep track of these units should they get repainted (likely losing their builder decal) or change hands over the years. Also for those keeping track, I figure I should mention the 2704 carries a serial number of 55124 with a July 2004 construction date as well.

For years new locomotives carried metal builder plates. Being they have a tendency to be removed without authorization, first GE and then more recently, EMD switched to a decal type of builder plate. These units are no exception. The builder plates and now decals have evolved considerably over the years. Today with the stricter emissions controls in place, additional information has been added to them with regards to the new laws.

Aside from the usual information such as model designation, serial number and build date, there is information about the prime mover including the drawing number in this case, 41A11329366 and engine family information, 46ET60668EFB as well as information about the Tier 1 compliance for emissions. Tier 1 is the second phase of the laws enacted a couple of years ago dealing the emissions from diesel locomotives. Tier 1 applies to prime movers built between 2002 and 2004.

In performing my walk around inspection on this unit I observed flange lubricators mounted next to the number three and number four wheels on both side of the locomotive. These are not the automatic type such as those produced by KLS in which grease is pumped under pressure from a holding tank to applicators at the wheel, but instead are a version that uses grease sticks mounted directly into the hardware.

There is a mount on the left rear side of the fuel tank for stowing an end of train device. Instead of sticking the FRED on the catwalk where it could possibly fall off or in the nose where it might become a potential tripping hazard, it can be mounted in this storage space instead. It is safe and secure in this mount.

Even though the units in this order are designated primarily for operation in the US, this power will be working system wide during their service life. They have been equipped with all the requirements for service as international leaders. Our Canadian brethren have succeeded in getting far better creature comforts as well as some logical features.

The hot plate, electric refrigerator and microwave oven are three great features. The microwave is a collective bargaining agreement item. Crews operating in interdivisional service (running through one or more crew change points without stopping to change crews) are entitled to a microwave oven on their lead unit. Instead of trying to apply and remove this appliance on a per trip basis, all road power is equipped with one. This is an incredibly handy item to have on board. You can reheat a sandwich, make popcorn or even heat up a microwave meal, in years past known as a “TV Dinner.” And as it would happen, the owner’s manual/instruction book and the new product warrantee and registration card were still inside the microwave itself when I took charge of this power.

The fridge is great as it sure beats the ice chest style of cooler used on some locomotives. The hot plate is quite handy as it comes with a percolator type coffee pot. You can brew up a pot of coffee (if you bring some along with you). Or you can make tea if you like. I’ve used the hot plate to heat up cans of soup and even toast the bread on my sandwiches. Now in the case of today’s host locomotives, the coffee pots were missing from both this and the trailing 2704.

Also required in Canada are first aid kits (which most US roads have finally picked up on) and a stretcher.

Canadian units were some of the first to have a radio speaker on the Fireman’s side so that the rest of the crew can easily hear what instructions are being given to their train. This feature has been improved upon over the years with a volume control added for the additional speaker as well. And a handset has been added to allow other members of the crew easier access to the radio without having to come over to the Engineer’s side. Most US roads have adopted the additional speaker and some sort of microphone, be it mounted on the desk top or in a handset as well. And again, both units were missing the handsets on the Fireman’s side.

Cloth seats are also required in Canada. The cloth is much cooler in the summer than the vinyl used on most other seats. The Baultar brand of seats applied to these engines has various adjustments making them far more comfortable thus helping to reduce fatigue. These seats include a foot rest that is adjustable in height and also swivels. If you spin your seat around to face the other direction, you can move the foot rest with you if you should desire.

Another feature includes an opening desktop for the Conductor to store paperwork. On units designated for service in Canada, there is usually an issue of the Canadian Railway Operating Rules stored in this drawer as well.

As we scan the cab there are two “IC” decals attached to the front bulkhead. There is one next to the illuminated road number in the center and another next to the decal version above the desk. Being that these are designated as IC units, they are supposed to be identified as such on the radio and with track warrants and the like. Here is an issue I have with this concept; the IC sub lettering is so small that it can next to impossible to see at night. And even in bright daylight, it is quite possible to miss it. Quite often when we pass track maintenance crews working along the track, they don’t see the sublettering on the locomotive. They see the big CN “crooked noodle” and the engine number.

A Q-Tron Speed Control II Model Q-88200 is mounted above the Engineer on the front bulkhead. This device is used to control speed in applications where very slow and steady speed is required such as when loading unit coal or rock trains. The speed can be controlled from as low as 0.1, through and up to 10 MPH.

In the recent past, Motorola brand radios were applied to many new CN units. With the order received earlier this year a change was made. On that order and the current order, General Electric 12R Series II radios are being installed. The sound quality seems to be better, but the read out screen is positioned in such a way that makes it very hard to see in daylight.

A Q-Tron brand Datacord model 5100 event recorder is mounted on the wall in the vestibule across from the microwave oven. As I’ve written about in the past, this device would be akin to the “black box” as used on air planes. To retrieve information from this device, a laptop computer is plugged into the system and all the information is downloaded into a disk. The disk can then be played back to print out all the information stored there.

A Pulse fuel monitor is mounted directly below the illuminated road number. This device monitors the fuel in the tank of this and any trailing units likewise equipped. The readout is in gallons as opposed to the sight glasses on the fuel tank themselves which measure in liters. These fuel monitors have become quite common and are a standard feature on all new CN motive power. What I wonder though, is why they are still labeled with the Pulse name as Pulse merged with Wabco a couple of years ago and the name of the merged operation became Wabtec. I was surprised to not see the Wabtec name.

The end of train system applied is the Wabtec (it said Wabtec and not Pulse on this one, go figure) TrainLink ES head of train device. This system, when coupled with an ES end of train device and having the system properly activated, allows for a mirror reduction of brake pipe air in service and emergency applications. The ES EOT on the tail end of the train will actually reduce brake pipe pressure from the train in correspondence with what the Engineer does on the head end. This system helps reduce in train forces during braking and also reduces braking distance as well. This is a great system that works quite well.

This locomotive order are the very first units purchased new by CN that include air conditioning. It took a side bar letter in the collective bargaining agreement on the properties of the former IC and CCP to bring this about. Now unlike previously constructed Dash 9’s equipped with air conditioning for other roads, this group of units has the air conditioner mounted under the cab instead of outside. In the past, the unit was mounted immediately behind the left rear side of the cab on the catwalk. There are louvers under cab for air intake and exhaust. Even though it was not particularly hot this day, I did run the air for awhile. Had to make certain it was going to work alright.

It appears that the new mounting location has proven somewhat beneficial. There seems to be somewhat less vibration in the cab than our previous orders. GE locomotives tend to have far more vibration in the cab than do EMD units, particularly when the air compressor is running. Sometimes it is so bad that even when sitting and idling, the control stand will actually shake. The vibration is so bad when you are moving that you cannot leave anything, like a cup of coffee or a bottle of water on the control stand as it will walk right off. And over time, various components tend to break lose in the cabs from all the vibration.

I’m betting the weight of the air conditioning unit is dampening some of that vibration as opposed to GE finding another way to dampen engine vibration.

From an operating standpoint, GE units always tend to be sluggish on throttle response. It is an ongoing problem that many an Engineer has complained about. Unfortunately, nobody seems to be listening. This latest order is no exception and actually seems to be even more sluggish than the previous order we received earlier this year. And like GE units in the past, the wheel slip system on these units is less than desirable. When you get a wheel slip with these units, they tend to drop the load all the way back to 0 amps. Then you have to wait for them to slowly begin to load again. This can really be a pain when trying to start a heavy train on a grade.

Let’s check out the blue card (FRA form 6188-49A, revised 5/93). On the back side we see the notation “Date of shipment 8/12/2004, passed calibration.” Included is the name and address of GE Transportation Systems. There is also the statement “Engine conforms to 40 CFR Part 92 Tier 1.” This is the law governing emissions compliance.

On the front side of the blue card it is shown that the engine is operated by Illinois Central and owned by Canadian National. There is a box checked to designate this as being a brand new locomotive. The date of the very first inspection is shown as 8/12/2004 along with the numbers of tests performed and the names of the employees performing these tests.

Everything is very clean and unfortunately, will never be this clean again. It doesn’t take long for everything to get dirty and the new car smell to go away. Cigar and cigarette smoke, spilled beverages, food heated up in the microwave (and sometimes burned in there), coffee brewed, toilets that will get used and abused, hot sweaty humans and dirt, dust, mold and mildew will all contribute to the loss of the fresh clean smell and within a year, this locomotive cab will smell like all the rest of the fleet. And GE insists on using plastic with a textured surface for much of the trim work inside the cab. This stuff traps dirt, grease and grime that cannot be cleaned up with any ease, if at all. It gets and stays dirty which also contributes to the “stink” that develops in the cab.

I would bet that if this very same material was used within the interior of the GE design Engineers, they would quickly try to eliminate this material from use. As usual, this is a design from somebody that will never be subjected to having to use it.

But at least for this day, it was fresh and new and clean, and fun to run a brand spanking new locomotive again. It has been quite a few years since I have been the first Engineer to operate a brand new locomotive in its first revenue service.

And so it goes.

Tuch