On Track, with Deano

cn nutbar

Member
hi Deano---Nice to see that Gern Industries has expanded to Wisconsin---does that mean that the local cheese will be 3% cheesier---if so,ship some up north in that EG&E boxcar---Great thread,thanks for sharing---nutbar
 

steamhead

Active Member
Deano...!!! That GERN facility is really looking good..!!! Lots of action going on to get that flux out the door....:mrgreen:

Looking forward to seeing how it finishes up...:thumb:

BTW...What type diesel is that pushing the boxcar..?
 

NIevo

New Member
Keep up the good work, looks great:thumb: I love this thread for all the pictures, keep em coming:mrgreen:
 

UP SD40-2

Senior Member
Highs & Lows of the day...

Kurt, Herc, Wayne, Jim & NIevo:wav: , THANK YOU!, for the VERY KIND complements:mrgreen: , REALLY, THANKS GUYS!:smilie:

nutbar, THANKS!:smilie:
GERN of Southern Wisconsin circa 1969-79 was 100% into the Automotive Division of Flux products:winki: , the only thing 3% cheesier then, and now, is my humor and jokes:eeki::twisted::119: .

Gus, THANKS!:smilie:
The engine in the pics your asking about is a GP9:thumb::mrgreen:

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ON MY SIDE OF THE TRACKS...
I am re-thinking my weathering plans for my diesel fleet:eeki: . yesterday while it was snowing:madd: , i sat and watched ALL my steam vids:thumb: , and watched my "UP Vintage West" & "Union Pacific Odyssey" vids:mrgreen: , after watching the latter two vids, i noticed UP took EXCELLENT care of there diesels in the 60's/70's:thumb: , so i am going to barely go over MOST of them as far as weathering goes:winki: .

Today, as usual on Saturdays, i stopped by dads:mrgreen: . we are going to re-do a section of track on his layout, there is a section that has just been giving us a hard time:curse: , so its time to do something about it. we headed off to the hobby shop in Janesville, as we passed WSOR's roundhouse, i noticed EX-Milwaukee Road MP15AC #1502 outside & WSOR's SD20, so we stopped by so i could get some shots of them. i don't know if you folks know it, but the MP15AC's are replacing the SD20's:eeki::frowns: , thats right, those AWESOME SD20's will be no more:frowns: .

i popped off some shots of the MP15AC, sadly i was on the wrong side of the sun:roller: , so not one of the pics ended up turning outwall1 , ANYWAYS, as i was taking some shots of the SD20 i herd engines...ON UP's TRACKS!!!:mrgreen::mrgreen: sure as heck, two UP MP15DC's and a GP40 were headed to pick up some cars on the UP/ICE/WSOR interchange tracks:thumb: . CRIPES, I'm glad you folks didn't see me:eek:ops: , i was like a 6yr old kid as the ice cream truck was coming:119: , jumping up & down, holding my fist in the air going "YES!, YES!:headbang: " sign1 , keep in mind I'm 42:eeki: , I had to have looked like a total nut:eek:ops::119: .

What stinks is, i AGAIN, was on the wrong side of the sunwall1 , so the pics arnt good:curse: . i viewed them on dads computer and they looked dark:frowns: , seeing them on MY computer, they arnt real bad, but i have an AWESOME video card, so i think that helped:winki: . out of the 88 pics i took today, only one, the SD20 came out OK, i am posting the three UP engines too, if they are to dark for you to see them, my apologies go out to you:eek:ops: .

We took some vids of us running on dads layout:thumb: , they turned out pretty good i guess, i was going to post them on my Photo bucket Account and put a link to them HERE, but they were all close to 40megs big:eeki: , i ended up not doing it for fear no one would check out vids that big:eek:ops: .

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Fairbanks-Morse...
I mentioned last week dad had a book my Grandfather gave him that had the names and dates of everyone that worked at the Beloit FM Plant:mrgreen: , what i failed to realize was the book was the "Quarter Century Club" FM book, meaning your name was in the FM book if you had worked there for 25 or more years. All the members of my family that worked there are in it:mrgreen: , and i have underlined them in RED:thumb: . All of them are from my moms side of the family, and sadly all of them have passed on:frowns: , except my Great Uncle Richard:thumb: .

MY Family members in it are:
Chester Jero- my Grandfather
Howard Case- my Great Grandfather
George Case- my Great Uncle
Richard Case- my Great Uncle
AS you can see by the dates hired and retired, ALL of them worked at FM during the time Fairbanks-Morse was making Locomotives in the Beloit plant:thumb::mrgreen: .

To be honest, the only two i know what they did was my Grandpa and Great Grandpa:eek:ops: , neither of them were train nuts, but both loved their jobs and were considered GREAT craftsman:winki: . they built stuff like the pistons and camshafts that went into the Prime movers of those Locomotives:thumb: . my Grandpa REALLY loved his job, and after he retired was called back several times to train other people:smilie: .

I am posting the cover of the FM book, and the two pages my family members are on, they are the last 3 pics in this post:winki::smilie: .

**SIDE NOTE TO LYNN, i looked for your folks names in the book, i didn't find them, thus, i am guessing they hadn't worked there over 25yrs:confused: .

Till next time...Stay ON TRACK!:winki:

:deano: -Deano
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Sarge_7

Member
Deano them pics turned out fine for me:thumb: Wish I had that much action around me, but then I hardly ever leave post now a days, unless I'm going fishing:mrgreen:
 

steamhead

Active Member
Hey..!! Kurt..Thanks for that link...There's a world of info there that'll keep anyone busy for a long time...

Deano...One more ??...Would that GP9 be a late contemporary of an SD7....
 

DeckRoid

Member
That Gern preprocessing plant looks great. I bet the workers are 3% happier in their work!

In the UP yard at Nampa, Id, they have 2 of those 15s just rusting away on a siding. I have not seen them move in 5 years. I would take some pics, but I don't have a tele foe toe good enough to grab the shots.

George
 

UP SD40-2

Senior Member
Kurt, THANK YOU!, for posting the link to the "Yard limit":thumb: , what an AWESOME PLACE!:mrgreen: i got lost there for hours last night, its probably the best place on the net:thumb: ...well, besides HERE:winki::119: .

Jim, I'm GLAD the pics turned out for you:mrgreen: , after seeing them on dads computer, i was having doubts on even posting them:eek:ops: .
HEY, really, the action here isn't that great:cry: , i never mention all the times i go out and come back empty handed:eeki::119: .
TWO THINGS:
1- you make the best of the cards your dealt:winki:
2- you have to MAKE things happen, go out and live it!:winki: if you come back empty handed, well, there is always hope for the next time:thumb: .

Gus, the GP7's were built from 1949-54 and had the EMD 567 prime mover in them. the GP9's were built from 1954-63 and also had the 567 prime mover in them. there are subtle differences in the exterior appearance, on the inside the GP9's were updated, probably more "user friendly". I'm sorry, i really don't know much more about them:eek:ops: . below i have an example of the GP7(top) and the GP9(bottom), BOTH of these are "Phase 2's". bottom line, i guess your right, the GP9 was just an updated version of the GP7, they were real reliable engines, and most roads ran them up to the 80's:thumb: .

George, THANK YOU!:smilie: , and your right, the workers at GERN of Southern WI. ARE 3% happier in their work:thumb::mrgreen: .

UP, up here uses their MP15DC's all the time for yard work & locals:thumb: , they have 5-6 of them, ALL ex-CNW units:winki: . i would have loved to have seen pics of the MP's by you:winki: .

:deano: -Deano
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NIevo

New Member
I believe the GP9's were 1750hp and the GP7's were 1500hp. Only really noticeable difference is the location of the louvers. I wish I could find some inexpensive Proto 2k GP9's. All the UP one's I've been watching on Ebay are going for $70+:cry:
 

doctorwayne

Active Member
I think that one of the main differences between the GP7s and the GP9s was that the '7s were rated at 1500 HP, while the '9s were 1750 HP.
My favourite road had both, including the first Canadian-built geep, a GP7:
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They also had three GP9s, all equipped with steam generators for train heat, and the airtanks on the roof, torpedo-style - these were set-up to run long hood forward, while the '7s operated short hood first.
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Wayne
 
Fairbanks workers

Note to Deano: I had thought my dad worked at F-M after WW1,(he fought over in France) but it must have been 1930 when he started. His back was bad, but he stayed till WWll ended, so I reckon about 15 years there. My mother worked there only during part of the war years.

Lynn
 

steamhead

Active Member
Hey..!! The info on the GP-7's and 9's is much appreciated....But my question was in reference to the SD7's....:mrgreen:
 

Sarge_7

Member
Gus, I think this might help, if not someone will correct me if I am wrong. The SD7 and SD9 are basicly the six axle versions of the GP7 and GP9. Both have 1500hp and 1750hp perspectively. hope that helps and someone else will probably be able to add more to it than that:thumb:
 

steamhead

Active Member
Thanks Jim...Would it be prototypically "correct" (not that I'm a rivet-counter...) to use a GP7 or 9 together with my SD7..? I think that would be an awesome lash-up...
 

UP SD40-2

Senior Member
Doh!!!

Hey..!! The info on the GP-7's and 9's is much appreciated....But my question was in reference to the SD7's....:mrgreen:

DOH!!!:eeki::eeki::eeki: ...:119:
I'm sorry Gus:eek:ops: , funny how i messed that up:eek:ops: ...:119:

the SD7's were made from 1952-53, they had the SAME engine as the GP7, and ALSO as Jim said, they had 6 axles. they were longer, and the six axles gave the engine more even weight distribution, they probably had more tractive effort too:winki: .

Prototypically, you COULD run SD's with GP's:thumb: , i know for sure UP ran them together:winki::mrgreen: .

Gus, i didn't know you had DIESELS:eeki: , WELCOME to the modern world!:thumb::mrgreen: .

:deano: -Deano
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Sarge_7

Member
I don't see we not. I know some roads used what ever power was available to make up the necessary hp for the train. I know Rio Grande used GPs with SDs in consists all the time.
 

NIevo

New Member
As far as I know the SD version's of the GP7-9 were made for lines that had bridges and track that need more weight distribution across the axles. There are actually some still in use on class 1 railroads in the yards. One here in Spokane yard last I knew.
 

steamhead

Active Member
Hey guys...

Thanks for the info....Now I just gotta get me some $$ to buy me one of them....

Deano: Sure you do....Remember these..??
 

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UP SD40-2

Senior Member
Hey guys...

Thanks for the info....Now I just gotta get me some $$ to buy me one of them....

Deano: Sure you do....Remember these..??
DOUBLE DOH!!!:eeki::eeki: ...:eek:ops::eek:ops:

Well Gus, tonight has proven i have just slap LOST IT:eeki: ...:eek:ops: ...:119:

What really kills me is they are UP engines:thumb::mrgreen: , how could i have forgot?:confused: ...:confused: ...:eek:ops:

My GP7 & GP9 are both P2K engines:thumb: , the GP9 is hard to come by in UP, they have been out of production for some time, but the GP7's are out NOW:thumb: , and you can find them for a reasonable price if you shop around online:winki: .

Gus, the great thing about UP is(i am sure all roads really:winki: ), you can run ANYTHING with ANYTHING and still be prototypical:thumb: . i have TONS of UP vids, and you wouldn't believe some of the lash ups on them:winki: . i have seen stuff like a GP9 on the point, with a DD40AX and 2 GP30's in tow:eeki: . how about a GP20 with 2 U50B's in tow:eeki: , i could go on with neat lash-ups ONLY UP could do:mrgreen: . Jim was correct, ANY motive power at hand that could be lashed up together would work. REALLY, GP's & SD's together was/still is quite common:winki::mrgreen: .

NIevo, thats AWESOME to hear SD7/9's are STILL in use:eeki::thumb::mrgreen: .

:deano: -Deano
 
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