by KSmitty
I was reading through the forums and i just realized that the U-18-B's were riding on EMD trucks. Were they delivered this way and if they were what trade in power donated the trucks to the new locomotives?
Railroad Forums
Moderators: MEC407, AMTK84
KSmitty wrote:Were the U18's the only GE locos on GRS with Blombergs? the D&H u23b's had the standard GE truck, and i think the alcos all had alco trucks, am i missing anything?The U18Bs were the only EMD-trucked GEs that made it to Guilford. They also had a trio of ex-Conrail U33Bs, but those had regular GE trucks.
MEC407 wrote:The Conrail U-33b's (junkers in this case) that were sold to Guilford had the standard GE trucks. The only GE's that ConrailKSmitty wrote:Were the U18's the only GE locos on GRS with Blombergs? the D&H u23b's had the standard GE truck, and i think the alcos all had alco trucks, am i missing anything?The U18Bs were the only EMD-trucked GEs that made it to Guilford. They also had a trio of ex-Conrail U33Bs, but those had regular GE trucks.
Yes, Maine Central's U18Bs were delivered with rebuilt EMD Blomberg trucks. The majority of SCL's U18Bs were delivered with Blombergs as well.If I recall correctly, MEC's U18Bs were not manufactured for MEC, but SCL. They cancelled the order on those units and MEC scooped 'em up. That said, I don't think their trucks were from traded-in MEC units. I was thinking that MEC's GP-38s had the trucks from their traded-in F-units.
Cowford wrote:Yes, Maine Central's U18Bs were delivered with rebuilt EMD Blomberg trucks. The majority of SCL's U18Bs were delivered with Blombergs as well.If I recall correctly, MEC's U18Bs were not manufactured for MEC, but SCL. They cancelled the order on those units and MEC scooped 'em up. That said, I don't think their trucks were from traded-in MEC units. I was thinking that MEC's GP-38s had the trucks from their traded-in F-units.
Cowford wrote:oh, the crap I used to fill my brain with...
Allen Hazen wrote:I have certainly read somewhere that MEC's U18B were from a cancelled SCL order: perhaps the cancellation was early enough in the process to allow changes to the headlight specs? (But since I can't remember where I read it....)That is entirely plausible. The Erie Lackawanna cancelled an order for U23B’s that wound up going to the L&N. Those units don’t fit the EL profile. Other differences between MEC and SCL: the box just above the rear headlight on SCL, the bell on the hood just behind the fireman’s side of the cab on MEC vs. under the frame just ahead of the fuel tank on the engineer’s side for SCL.
Allen Hazen wrote:Conrail's four U36B were originally built (for Auto-Train) with Blombergs, but I think CR insisted that GE re-truck them before delivery: I don't think they ever operated on Conrail with Blombergs.You've heard the analogy that a camel is a horse designed by committee? ConRail's early mechanical days follow this analogy. Since there were perceived problems with Amtrak's SDP40F's that centered on the HTC trucks CR ordered their SD40-2's and first SD50's with the older Flexcoil trucks. When GE offered the orphaned U36B's CR insisted they replace the Blomberg trucks with what's colloquially known as the ARR type B truck. I'm sure GE was well paid to make the modifications.
Cowford wrote:oh, the crap I used to fill my brain with...What do you mean 'used to'?