oibu wrote: SMALL DIESEL ENGINES? What do they do, extend the long hood like on a HEP-generator commuter unit?
Wouldn't it make more sense to just use a Kim Hotstart or similar system (you, know- liek everyone else does???) else that just fires the unit up automatically when temp drops below a certain point, idles it until it warms up, then shuts 'er down again? Seems like a cheaper, more efficient, lower-maintenance system...
The small layover diesel systems have gotten so small they can fit on a walkway (on 6 axle units) in it's own enclosure or it fits at the rear of the locomotive under the frame. It's not a big engine. Just big enough to run a generator.
The Kim Hotstart systems are worthless for freight units. They are 100% electric units. They require 440VAC at a minimum. Great for Passenger equipment that is normally plugged into ground power at a facility. But completely impractical for freight units. Which is why they are virtually unheard of on real freight railroads.
Many railroads have gone to an Autostart system that automatically start and stops the locomotives prime mover as needed to maintain water tempature and air pressure. They also monitor battery volatge and will not shut the prime mover down if the batteries are low. The ZTR Smart Start system is one of the better known versions. While these systems are cheaper then layover type genset diesel systems, the downside is the wear and tear on the locomotive's prime mover. And you are relying on the locomotive batteries. But because of the lower initial cost both to buy and install, they are the most popular systems out there for freight units.
Pan Am's loco's are in such bad shape, an Auto Start system would never work. Most PAR loco's cannot even be shut down because the batteries are dead. This includes the ones that have the layover systems. Those diesel genset units are not powerful enough to "jumpstart" a locomotive. They are only designed to maintain a charge. But to maintain a charge, you need to have good batteries. Which is why the vast majority of PAR units with the genset's are not even using the gensets. The other issues lies is PAR did not get the gensets that monitor air pressure. So if you leave a train unnatended with a Genset, it will shut the loco down and will not restart it when air pressure gets low. So the trains often lose the brake test. the way PAR parks trains for sometimes days on end, this is yet another reason why they gensets are not used. I know at least one of the genets is blown. Ran out of oil. PAR got them for free so they installed them. But they are barely utilized.
The next issue is the 500 series PAR units. They cannot get gensets because there is no place to mount them. The design of them has the batteries mounted under the radiators where the genset would normally go. So they would need some specialized type. Specialized = expensive. So do not expect any 500's to get gensets any time soon.
