PRR Gas-Electric OEG 350 - Questions ...

Hi, folks!

I found this picture on Railpitures.net :
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=169572

And a floorplan of the Gas-Electric on prr.railfan.net :
http://prr.railfan.net/diagrams/gaselec ... 87498d.gif

My questions are:

Is the second car on the picture a normal Baggage/Mail car or
do it had have a cab for pull/push operations ??

Were these motors installed on the same level like the passenger and baggage compartments or were they installed underfloor ??

In the floorplan the cab is missing, right? Comparative to the Railpictures pic the cab must be on the right site of the floorplan. Was the engineer siting beside the engines ? A very loud workplace or ?
The OEG350 was a single direction railcar right ?

Greets
Andre

.Taurus. wrote:Hi, folks!

I found this picture on Railpitures.net :
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=169572

And a floorplan of the Gas-Electric on prr.railfan.net :
http://prr.railfan.net/diagrams/gaselec ... 87498d.gif

My questions are:

Is the second car on the picture a normal Baggage/Mail car or
do it had have a cab for pull/push operations ??

Were these motors installed on the same level like the passenger and baggage compartments or were they installed underfloor ??

In the floorplan the cab is missing, right? Comparative to the Railpictures pic the cab must be on the right site of the floorplan. Was the engineer siting beside the engines ? A very loud workplace or ?
The OEG350 was a single direction railcar right ?

Greets
Andre

Andre, you may want to contact either the PRR Tech & Historical Society, or the RR Museum of PA.

Here are some helpful links:

http://www.prrths.com/

http://www.rrmuseumpa.org/

Hope this information is helpful for you.

Taurus, I was in an ex PRR gas electric located on the Wilmington & Western Railroad. The Cummins Diesel engines are mounted to the floor right behind the controls for the engineer, no seperate cab for the engineer. The engines were shut down when I was in the engine compartment but I have driven and operated old AUTOCAR Trucks with all different model Cummins Diesels in them they are loud with just 1 engine and in the winter you did'nt need the heat on in the cab if you were really working the engine.
I can't answer the question about the baggage car.

Here is a link to pictures of ex PRR 4662 on the W&W RR.
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plai ... r4662.html

In all the Pennsy books that I have w/pics of the Doodlebugs, Ive never run across 1 pushing the baggage mail car push pull style. I recall reading some where that the Doodlebug woud be turned around via wye or turntable for a run back. I dont think the push pull concept was even thought about when those cars were running.

My guess would be that it was a standard baggage car - a certainly looks like one. Having a doodle bug pull a baggage car or a combination baggage-mail car was standard practice for many railroads. Some of the bigger ones, like the Erie 5000-series could haul one of those and a half-a-dozen milk cars. Ted

Hi-a late reply... The "baggage" car is a PRR class MPBM 54 which was based on the P54 coach. It served as a "live" RPO til the early 50's all over New Jersey and other parts of the PRR. ConCor make the identical car in HO-but the only accurate Brill car is an old Gem release in brass. The Bachmann doodlebug(in HO) has a convincing enough appearance, but resembles nothing on the PRR. But hey its YOUR railroad, hmm? The PRR gas electrics all had contol stands at both ends.I checked a bunch of pix and there is an airhorn, headlight and control stand at both ends...BUT there was no "push-pull" provision to go with the trailing cars. The engineman "changed ends" ro had it wyed where one was available. The held down Baltimore-Parkton MD, Camden-Trenton via Bordentown (NJ), Camden-Toms River (NJ), Trenton-Phillipsburg NJ), Trenton-Freehold-(NJ) til the late 50's/early 60's, amongst other PRR assignments. The picture you posted is on the run to TOms River NJ, about 55 miles or so from Camden. This was cut back to Pemberton NJ after passenger svc to TOms River ended some tie in the 50's. Interestingly enough, the replacement for the gas electric was a PRR P70 coach equipped with a spartan control stand, headlight and airhorn , and ran as a one-car Push Pull with a PRR Baldwin road switcher (RS12/DRS 44 100) at the other end and this lasted til 1969. No state subsidy and it went to what was then the most sparsely populated piece of NJ imaginable! Here's a rgeat Dick Makse shot of that version..
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/pictur ... estown.jpg

Prr Didn't always turn the doodlebugs at the end of a run.

Case in point, in 1940, a PRR doodlebug, running with the cab in the rear, ran into a freight train killing 43 passengers.

http://mreddoodlebug.blogspot.com/

According to the ICC investigation reports, the train was running in reverse because there was no way to turn it at the final stop. The Conductor thus was standing on the "rear" (now front) platform relaying information back to the engineer who remained in the cab area but was forced to look out and back down the length of the car. Ultimately, the report found that he had become disoriented due to a number of factors, such as poor ventilation in the cab (made worse by running backward) and the orientation of the doodlebug.

It's entirely possible that after this accident, PRR put rules in place that required turning of the trains at the end of a run, though I can't say for certain.

The PRR doodlebugs certainly ran often with the engine compartment in the rear, but with the engineer in the "front" of the train. One explanation of why the engineeer was backing up from the engine compartment end is he didn't want to go the the trouble to change ends. I rode the Baltimore -Parkton local on two different Saturdays (the only day you could make a round-trip from the Baltimore end). On the first trip, the engineer changed ends in Parkton for the return trip and operated from the non-engine end. On my second trip, the car was turned on the wye, which took some time and required flagging road crossings etc. When I asked the conductor why they turned the car, he said that the engineer was off the extra board, was not particularly familiar with the controls, and did not know how to change ends!