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

May 22, 2007
Diesel-Electric locomotives are incredible pieces of machinery. They create their own mechanical force that is converted into electrical energy. This energy is converted to amperage that is used to propel the locomotive and the cars they pull. Locomotives have even been used to provide electrical energy to communities in the aftermath of storms or natural disasters. Some locomotives, after retirement from the rail industry have found an afterlife as permanent power plants. There is a great deal of energy being produced here and it is measured in kilowatt hours, the same kilowatt hours your electric company bills you for on your light bill. In the case of power by the hour lease locomotives, they payment is based upon the kilowatt hours produced by that locomotive. Oh yes, there are meters and they are within the on board computers. On those units so equipped, one can pull up this information quite easily on the screen to see exactly how much energy a locomotive has produced.

Now with all the mechanization and electronics involved with the locomotive there is a tremendous potential for things to seize, break, fall off, burn up or just cease to function. Today’s lesson will look at some of the strange and bizarre events that occur when the railroad gods decide your day is rolling along far too smoothly. And we’ll start with the little things.

Bells have been part of locomotives going back seemingly forever; well back into the early days of railroading. At one time the bells were operated by hand pulling a cord. We’ve advance a bit since then and today the bell is operated with air pressure or electrically. In fact the newest engines have an electronic bell that produces a synthesized bell sound without any moving parts. Many older locomotives, those built with standard control stands prior to 2000 have a brass knob that serves as the bell ringer. You pull it out and the bell rings. You push it back in and the bell shuts off. I have operated a few that were the opposite; you push in to turn the bell on and pull it out to turn it off. Some locomotives have a toggle switch that operates the bell. It still uses air pressure to make it work only there is an electric switch opening and closing a valve to make to engage to make the bell ring or stop ringing. The newer and newest locomotives have a button that is pushed to activate or shut off the bell.

Twice in my career I’ve had major bell problems, well actually, bell ringer problems with the brass knobs. The knob is held into place using a cotter pin at the very back of the stem on the ringer knob. One evening in my Wisconsin Central days while heading to Chicago on a train I had a former Soo Line GP30 in the lead, unusual for this particular train. As we approached a road crossing I pulled the bell ringer knob to begin to operate the bell which is required to be sounded at all crossings along with the whistle. I pulled and the ringer knob came right out of its housing. There I was holding the ringer knob in my hand with air now blowing all over the place. It was blasting out big time right through the little hole where the ringer knob stem fits so nicely.

So here we are zooming along at 50 MPH with air blasting us inside the cab and we’re trying to fix it. On the back of most standard control stands of EMD locomotives are removable panels to access the components within. They normally use quick release snap latches to secure them. This style of latching device makes access quick and easy. However, on occasion when these latches wear out, instead of replacing them the mechanical department may opt for the easy method of drilling holes in the panels and control stand itself and using bolts to secure these panels instead. As it would happen, that was what we had this particular day, bolts. Access would not be quick nor easy.

My Conductor was Brian Kruger and he quickly took a pair of pliers (cannot recall if they were mine or his, but I digress) and began undoing all the bolts to get the panel off. This took time and in the meantime we were still motoring along with the air blowing like crazy. Aside from the fact that it stinks, it is extremely noisy in the cab as a result of all the air being unleashed in this manner. Finally after undoing six bolts he is able to get the panel off and finds the bell cut out valve and closes it. No more noise. Of course, no more bell either. Oh well. I reported this to the Dispatcher and he made a note of it. To cover ourselves in make some attempt of compliance with the bell rule, Brian went back to the second unit and turned the bell on. It rang continuously for miles and hours, but we had a bell ringing and were in compliance.

Several months later, again on a former Soo Line GP30 I had the exact same problem, only this time the panel had the quick release latches instead of bolts, but the end result was still the same, after the air was cut out we had no more bell on the lead unit.

The Grand Trunk Western began retrofitting some of their GP38-2 locomotives with an electric bell ringer control. This was tied in with ditch lights being applied to their locomotives. When you sounded the whistle, the bell would automatically ring and simultaneously, the ditch lights would begin to flash. The bell would turn off automatically and the ditch lights would stop flashing several seconds after you complete the whistling sequence. The bell ringer knob on these units is larger and made of plastic. Like the brass models, you pull to turn on the bell and push it in to turn off the bell.

One afternoon I had a GTW unit equipped with this feature. I had to use the bell for some reason without the whistle. When I went to shut off the bell, the portion of the ringer unit mounted inside the control stand broke from the ringer knob and fell inside the control stand. While there was no air blowing, the bell would not shut off. So once again it was remove the panel on the back of the control stand and now, try to figure a cure. There was no cut out valve as this was electronic, so now it is find a breaker or something. Of course there was none to be found. What’s the next best thing? How about pulling a wire? I was able to finally yank a couple of wires from the bell ringer control unit dangling inside the control stand to finally turn the bell off. And once again, now there was no working bell.

“It just goes to show you it’s always something.”

Whistles can also become a problem, particularly in heavy snow conditions. But not all whistle ailments are weather related and sometimes problems can occur when it is warm and toasty on the great out of doors. There is piping for the whistle to provide it with that precious air that it needs to work. Just like the plumbing in your house, sometimes this piping will fail and either crack or totally break. On two different occasions I have had this occur. When it does, the whistle will get stuck in the sounding mode. It will blow continuously no matter what you do to attempt to stop it. When this happens you have to find the main cut out for the whistle, not the one for the whistle valve in the cab but the principal cut out valve. Once you find it you have to close it and stop the flow of air. Of course you lose that whistle in the process.

One afternoon several years ago I had the whistle get stuck on an SD75I. Unlike older locomotives, the whistle valves on these units are not really a valve but rather, an electronic switch with a small lever attached. The whistle got stuck at the road crossing at Del Ray, IL, milepost 87.6 on the Chicago Subdivision. I searched high and low for a breaker to cut the power to the switch to no avail. I also sought out a cut out valve for the whistle air line. Again, I had no luck. So a call was made to Mechanical Services in Edmonton, Alberta for advice and assistance. The “Diesel Doctor” guided me to the cut out valve located inside the engine room in a place I would never have even considered looking. As it would happen, there was a crack in the piping just ahead of the cut out valve. That crack is what caused the whistle to stick on.

Now during the course of all of this, we are still peddling down the pike with our train. That whistle sounded continuously for over fifteen miles until we stopped in the siding at Paxton where the Diesel Doc was able to advise me on how to correct the problem. Of course once corrected, we no longer had a whistle on the lead unit. The second unit was a “covered wagon” or cowl bodied unit. That means the car body on this locomotive is as wide as the cab. It was also facing the opposite direction so we could not switch out the power and make this one the new leader as I would have no visibility in front of me. So the Conductor had to ride this unit and sound the whistle for all the crossings whenever I cued him on the radio. Isn’t railroading in the new millennium great?

Another situation in which my whistle stuck was when the electric switch broke. It got stuck in the on position and nothing I attempted would free it up. Our train was entering the siding at Rantoul, IL to meet a couple of trains when this problem reared its ugly head. That whistle blew constantly all through town and where we stopped at the south end of the siding, right where a bunch of houses are located. As it would happen, this was a Union Pacific Dash 8 series locomotive. I don’t know if it is GE or the UP but the whistle cut out was nowhere to be found. Another call to the medics in Edmonton but they too were stumped. The cut out valve wasn’t where it was supposed to be according to the diagrams they had of our Dash 8 models. So the good doctor contacted somebody at the UP mechanical department for a consultation.

A second opinion is often required before certain procedures.

According to this guy at the UP, the cut out was supposed to be located behind the high voltage cabinet inside the little room there. I searched high and low based on the instructions given, getting filthy in the process but could not locate the valve anywhere. The search went on for over half an hour looking for this valve, the whistle sounding at full blast the entire time. I’m sure we made lots of new friends that day as were just sitting there with the whistle blowing constantly. It was also quite hot that day and this particular locomotive did not have an air conditioner. This whistle was mounted back around the middle of the car body instead of above the cab which reduces both cab noise and the likelihood of plugging up with snow in the winter from plowing through snow drifts. Unfortunately this means we are sitting directly in front of the path of the sound at its origin. The only way to escape the greatest volume of sound was to close the cab windows. So instead of going deaf we would slow roast. I could afford to shed a few pounds so I guess I should have looked at the positive side of this situation.

Finally, it was decided that I should cut out a main air valve known as the control air. Closing this valve stops several key functions that are critical to the operation of the locomotive, but it was the only choice. Once closed, the whistle immediately ceased blowing. Now this unit could no longer function as a lead unit or a working locomotive as a result.

“The sounds of silence.”

Sometimes the whistle valve itself develops problems. On the older units that use the air powered valve, I’ve had this little device fail. There is a little plunger that is depressed when the lever on the valve is pulled. This allows air to pass and is essentially what makes the whistle operate. I have had this little plunger fall out on more than one occasion. Without it, there is no whistle. I’ve had them break in two and part of it fall out. Again, without it the entire plunger, there is no way to work the whistle, or at least work it properly unless you compromise or innovate. I’ve used screws, small bolts or something else small and reasonably solid enough to stand up to getting smashed and pushed repeatedly.

I’ve also had this little plunger get stuck inside and cause the whistle to stick. In some cases this has required taking the handle off the valve and using a pair of pliers to grab the plunger and pull it out. Sometimes cleaning it up or spraying a little lubricant in there will fix the problem, other times it won’t.

More than once I have had the whistle handle come off in my hand. It is mounted on a little shaft that fits in between holes on either side of the handle, oftentimes held in place with cotter pins. If one of both of these pins breaks or falls out, the shaft will work its way out and off comes the handle. Again, you need a little ingenuity to correct this problem. I’ve even used duct tape a time or two to hold things in place although this is merely a very short term solution that often won’t last too long.

Now what inspired this topic is a locomotive I boarded a couple of months ago. It came as the lead unit on our train, 399. The inbound power was going to be swapped out for different power at Markham. Before we could put our outbound train together with the new power, we had to break up the inbound train first setting out several blocks of cars. We would use the inbound power to make these moves setting it out when these moves were completed. As it would happen, the inbound power would require a daily inspection before I could use it. As part of this inspection is a test of the whistle. When I went to pull the handle, there was none. There was a spot where one used to be but the handle was completely gone, I noticed on the table in front of me a large chunk of metal with a rubber grip on it; the whistle handle. However, it was totally unusable. It had not fallen off; the entire works had broken off completely. There was absolutely no way to fix this problem; the entire base would have to be replaced. I don’t carry one of those in my trusty bag of tricks. And being we were going to turn this power in for servicing as soon as we completed the switching moves I didn’t request the boys from Woodcrest to come out and take all sorts of time to remove what was left of the old valve and replace it with a new one.

From the looks of things, the inbound Engineer had made attempts to repair the problem or work around it but it appears to no avail. When I checked the trailing unit which also happened to be a covered wagon, I saw what were signs that the Conductor was back there working the whistle for the Engineer. Ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

Another item that can go haywire without warning is the dynamic brake. They might give you an indication of things going wrong such as too much amperage or current in the system when the brake warning indicator light comes on or flashes intermittently. Other times you have no warning. One afternoon while coming north on a train through Gilman, IL, we had one of those situations that from nowhere. I was in full dynamic, the most effort that can be produced in the dynamic braking mode. We were slowing down for the 30 MPH speed restriction over the TP&W crossing and things were proceeding quite nicely. The train was slowing down according to my desires and the system was working as designed by the folks at General Electric. Without any kind of warning there was a huge BOOM! Then the alarm bell started ringing. Immediately after the boom the Conductor jumped as some sort of fiery ball blew past his window. I looked back to see smoke coming from the dynamic brake resistor grid. I lost all of my dynamic braking amperage on the lead unit which means it is no longer making any effort to slow the train. I quickly cut out the dynamic brake on this unit using the appropriate switch on the control stand.

After clearing all the crossings in Gilman and bringing the train to a stop using the air brake system, I went to ascertain the problem. It seems that the dynamic brake grid overheated and blew up. Parts of it shot out through the air intake vents and what my Conductor observed shooting past him was indeed part of the grid that had come apart. The grid is similar to what you might see when you look inside your toaster as it is operating, only on a much grander scale and using cooling fans to draw air through the grid to cool it. Needless to say, the dynamic brake on this unit was now indeed, toast.

What was later determined to have happened was the motor on the cooling fan failed. For whatever reason, what was supposed to then occur didn’t. You are supposed to get a brake warning indication when the fan fails as the grid will rapidly overheat. On the newer units with computers the system is also supposed to shut down to prevent what happened from happening in the first place. We received no brake warning indication and the system never ceased to operate. The grid quickly overheated and burned up. I am guessing that all that hot air built up to incredible temperatures in there. It had been raining and it is possible there was some water inside there or right below as well and when the grid began to melt down and that superheated material dripped onto the water it exploded, just like when molten iron or steel do when they come into contact with water.

A friend recounted a story to me about a dynamic brake episode. He had been using the dynamic brake for an extended period of time as he was bringing a big heavy train down a long descending grade. Apparently one or both of the cooling fans on his SD45 failed and again, he received no warning. Like mine, his dynamic brake grid began to overheat and melted down. The superheated material wound up dripping into the “V” in the block of the engine. There was some oil that had accumulated there (a Federal violation by the way) and when the drippings landed in it, the oil caught fire. They were unaware of the problem at first until the Conductor happened to look back and saw all kind of smoke coming through the engine room doors. He said he could also see some fire through the cracks in the doors. The train was brought to a stop and the fire department summoned. They responded and after some effort were finally able to get the fire struck.

On two separate occasions I’ve witnessed locomotives actually catch on fire; out and out fire, not just a little flame up. In the first instance I was working as the afternoon hostler on evening at Yard Center on the MoPac. I was bringing out some L&N power for their 721 train. There was a MoPac GP9, the 1822 sitting on the south leg of the wye where we turned locomotives. It was snowing like crazy that night. In those days the railroads used smudge pots; pots filled with kerosene and equipped with wicks and lighted, to melt snow from the switches. These pots were placed underneath the switch points of the switch in between the ties and ignited. The heat from them helped melt snow from the area around the switch points. These pots worked halfway decent but it was not exactly the safest method in the world. These days that practice is prohibited, and not missed either.

Anyway, the 1822 was parked right on top of one of the burning smudge pots. As it would happen, there was a small fuel leak on that locomotive. And as luck would have it, the leak, actually a small steady stream of fuel coming out was pouring directly into the flame of the burning smudge pot. I know this for a fact as I was the first one up to the locomotive and saw it for myself.

As I was pulling out 721’s power I could clearly see the 1822, sitting at about a 45° or so angle in front of me. I could see the fire burning underneath the frame and starting to work its way up. I contacted the Yard Center Operator on the radio and reported the 1822 was burning and that we needed the fire department ASAP. Once I parked 721’s power I grabbed a fire extinguisher from the cab and ran over to the 1822. I hit the fire with the chemical from the extinguisher and doused it right at that spot although it was already burning pretty well above it in the engine room. There was some fire on the trucks that lit up the underside of the locomotive and I could see the fuel pouring out again and as soon as it hit the area on the ground that was on fire from the fuel that had been leaking, it started up again. After emptying the entire extinguisher to no avail, I tried to hit the emergency fuel cut off switch on the side sill of the locomotive. On these old Geeps the emergency fuel cut off was a ring that you pulled. It was located inside a little box with a sliding panel on it. The box is painted red and stenciled or has a decal with the words “Emergency Fuel Cut-Off” marking it. This unit had been recently repainted. As luck would have it, when they repainted the emergency fuel cut off box, they painted the little sliding panel door closed and it would not open.

By now though, word had spread about the fire and the Engineer assigned to this power, who had been in the office, came running out. He boarded the engine and shut it down from inside the cab using one of the methods available to us there. The fire was contained to the engine room and the underside of the locomotive at this point, so he was not exactly risking his life at that moment. Once the locomotive was shut down, the fuel stopped flowing. I’m certain there was a fair amount of fuel that had accumulated in the engine room though as the fire continued to burn inside there when the fire department arrived. They had the fire extinguished shortly thereafter. However, the 1822 did have some fire issues and had to go to the house for repairs. It was out of service for several days to effect those repairs before returning to service. And when it did, it had burn marks, bubbled and badly discolored paint and the decals used for the road numbers on sides of the car body were seriously discolored and peeling off. What it didn’t have when it returned to service though, was a fuel leak. They got that fixed along with all the other piping that was destroyed or damaged by the fire.

“That’ll fix ‘er.”

And finally, a real gem. I was coming north on a train through Gilman. Again with that town of Gilman. We had just cleared the 30 MPH restriction at the TP&W crossing and I began to accelerate the train. I was up to about 38 MPH when there was a huge BOOM from engine room. The locomotive shook pretty good, puffed out a huge cloud of smoke and then died. I did not get the usual response of alarm bells that should be now ringing in such situations. I looked at the computer screen behind me to see if it indicated what the problem might be but there was no message at all; not even one that tells me the locomotive is dead. I even went into the faults category on the computer to see if showed any kind of problems but came up empty. The engine is dead with a seemingly serious failure and the computer doesn’t even know about it. Of course it is a Windows based system so need I say more?

This cannot be good, no sure, not good at all.

I brought the train to a safe stop and went back to trouble shoot. None of the protection devices (low water or crankcase protection buttons) had been tripped. None of the breakers in the high voltage cabinet had tripped either. This was strange and unusual. Normally you’ll get some indication from somewhere. So then I began to check out both sides of the prime mover (diesel engine) for any appearance of damage. It was very possible we had broken a crankshaft or connecting rod which could (and does) push a piston or pistons out through the side of the engine block. No signs of physical damage so it wasn’t likely the case. I was 0 for 4 in the trouble shooting game that night. So I contacted those medics of motive power in Edmonton for consultation. I had already done all the checks he had suggested before I even called him so there was no help there. Finally he suggested that I attempt to restart the locomotive. I guess when all else fails, fire it up to see if you can render even more damage.

So I complied and went back and made the attempt. When I hit the starter switch, there was a loud, very loud scream emitted from the engine room; almost blood curdling. The prime mover didn’t even attempt to turn over when this occurred. I know without a doubt, this is really bad. I did not make a second attempt; I just reported my results to the Diesel Doc. He told me not to make any further attempts as it was highly likely there was internal damage of some type. My guess and his was that the horrible scream was actually from the starter motor. So we headed on out with one dead lead locomotive. Fortunately, it was not cold that night but that now failed unit made for a much slower trip home.

I learned several days later what the problem actually was; the shaft that connects from the prime mover to the main generator had broken. This is a major failure and requires heavy duty work to replace. This particular unit was out of service for several weeks as a result of this failure. When I blow them up, I blow them up quite nicely. Reminds me of those two characters on that great old TV show SCTV; in one recurring skit they (being John Candy and Harold Ramis) used to close it out by saying; “May the Lord take a liking to you and blow you up, real good.”

And so it goes.

Tuch

Hot Times on the High Iron and the HTOTHI initials, ©2005 by JD Santucci.