B36-7 5884 lives!

Caught her on a siding on the Lexington Industrial sub on the brick factory's siding with a bunch of coal cars in the back. Dunno why, but as we were leaving the road (which was kinda private ) the crew van came, probably bringing a new crew on duty, so if those guys saw a gold car leaving, sorry Haha.

Anyone got any history or seen this unit? I didn't get pics because all I had was my phone and it was 9:30 at night.

It was a Seaboard unit. Lots of pictures of it in a google search -

lvrr325 wrote:It was a Seaboard unit. Lots of pictures of it in a google search -

Yeah. I noticed that after I posted this topic.

I just found it interesting to see it here, when I'm used to GP's, some SD's, and mostly GE units around here, and just RDMT pairs on that particular set of track. I don't know why they had 5884 down there, and I didn't know they used hoppers down there, for whatever reason. o_O

the remaining 5800's have become fodder for work trains and fillin power. When the work train season is slow, they are used as needed for whatever needs power. Trust me, they are not popular with the crews. I'd just as happy to see them all retired.

At one point Conrail tried to push theirs down into local service to try to replace pairs of B23-7s and the crews I spoke with didn't care for them - one unit couldnt do the work of two. I'm sure another 10 years of wear and tear hasn't helped any.

Yeah, I'd say not. I'll go down later today (possibly on the way to football banquet) and see what's still there. I just didn't expect a Dash 7 down there.

roadster wrote:the remaining 5800's have become fodder for work trains and fillin power. When the work train season is slow, they are used as needed for whatever needs power. Trust me, they are not popular with the crews. I'd just as happy to see them all retired.

Sardines in a can seems like an appropriate expression...seeing some bigger engineers trying to get in the cab and then sitting crammed in the seat, well...

5885 was up here on an empty rail train earlier this last Sunday... Really surprised me!

>>MC

AND I SUPPOSE THAT REMARK ISN'T AIMED AT ME? cONRIAL4EVER? hhhhmmmm. Yeah, that works LOL. There's a 5885 on a work train in Syracuse parked on the west end of tk 8. Problem with those engines in local service was there was too much hp for just 4 axles. You'd start pulling cuts of cars up a industrial track on a grade and if you had nay kinda weight and wet rails, your there for a while. Not to mention when you adjust the throttle setting there's a 5+ seconds turbo lag. About 5 years ago, working the Lyons local, we had one and after hitting the mains going west it drop it's generator load and we couldn't get past 15 mph. While discussing the problem with Jacksonville mech. desk, the mechanic said,"well, those engines weren't meant for that kinda of service.". REALLY? I told him I can only work with what the give me. On a side note, these monsters are also known as flamers. When criusing along, you back off the throttle, a couple seconds, then pull it out 4 notches and watch as a 10 ft flame and deep black smoke pours outa the stack. Nope doesn't pass tier 0 standards.

roadster wrote:AND I SUPPOSE THAT REMARK ISN'T AIMED AT ME? cONRIAL4EVER? hhhhmmmm. Yeah, that works LOL. There's a 5885 on a work train in Syracuse parked on the west end of tk 8. Problem with those engines in local service was there was too much hp for just 4 axles. You'd start pulling cuts of cars up a industrial track on a grade and if you had nay kinda weight and wet rails, your there for a while. Not to mention when you adjust the throttle setting there's a 5+ seconds turbo lag. About 5 years ago, working the Lyons local, we had one and after hitting the mains going west it drop it's generator load and we couldn't get past 15 mph. While discussing the problem with Jacksonville mech. desk, the mechanic said,"well, those engines weren't meant for that kinda of service.". REALLY? I told him I can only work with what the give me. On a side note, these monsters are also known as flamers. When criusing along, you back off the throttle, a couple seconds, then pull it out 4 notches and watch as a 10 ft flame and deep black smoke pours outa the stack. Nope doesn't pass tier 0 standards.

Regarding bigger guys in the B36-7s...
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.p ... 413&nseq=2

And, of course, regarding the smoke...
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.p ... 7&nseq=434

And Roadster...I wasn't aiming that remark at you, though I'm sure you know what I mean

LOL, you really need to get a shot of one of us, "large frame guys" manipulating ourselves into one. Love the smoke shot! Brings back memories.

Haha. That'd be a sight to see. :D

I've been seeing more of them moving in with the layoffs and "shutdown" of AK Steel. Saw one sitting up in the S. Charleston Yard on the way to Pennsylvania with an MP15, I guess for switching. Also, caught a short local last night on the way home from skating down the Kanawha sub with a pair of SD60s or SD70's (couldnt tell really), an MP15, B36-7, and another SD50 and about 10 or 15 cars. I'll put the video up tonight.