Confessions of an Engine Illitererate

MasonJar

It's not rocket surgery
zedob said:
Masonjar,

To think someone got paid to come up with that one. Probably the same dope who wrote the safety card on airplanes that starts off with, "If you can't read this, please hand it to someone who can".

My favourite has to be a TV commercial we see from time to time here in Canada. It basically says "if you have trouble reading, look us up under "Read" in the yellow pages..."

What are these people thinking? :confused: :D

Andrew
 

zedob

Member
MasonJar said:
My favourite has to be a TV commercial we see from time to time here in Canada. It basically says "if you have trouble reading, look us up under "Read" in the yellow pages..."

What are these people thinking? :confused: :D

Andrew

Come to think of it, wouldn't that sign make a great scale billboard? MRR's are pretty good at tongue-in-cheek signage, but to have a prototype blooper to model? What more could one ask for?:D
 

ezdays

Out AZ way
MasonJar said:
My favourite has to be a TV commercial we see from time to time here in Canada. It basically says "if you have trouble reading, look us up under "Read" in the yellow pages..."

What are these people thinking? :confused: :D

Andrew
Well, I have two favorites from our local TV broadcasters.

(1). "There is still a power outage in the (ABCD) area and they are working to restore it. If you live in that area and still haven't got power by 9 PM, please call the power company."

And (2). There is an accident on I-17 backing up traffic for at least three miles, if you're heading that way, take a different route. If you're stuck in traffic on I-17, now you know why."
 

grumbeast

Member
I grew up in the uk and was a super-train-recognising-nerd. I could tell identify everything with a 5 nanosecond glance from the top of a rainy bridge from 2000meters. Now, over the course of time I did two important things. 1. I got a life and 2. I moved to Canada.

All that hard earned knowledge was suddenly out of date and I'd lost my almost evangelical ability to absorb recognition trivia. However, some ability remained and I'm now "not bad" at recognising many north american locomotives. How do I do this?, well its all about osmosis. I love reading railway magazines, taking pictures, surfing websites and over time I've absorbed a lot of information without really knowing why. I just get a kick out of the pictures and don't set out to "spot" them. So while I don't know the difference between early and late build RS-18's (and lets face it, who cares!) I can get pretty close to most deisels.

So my advice is, go buy a bunch of 2nd hand magazines, and enjoy some wonderful photographs, just remember to read the captions.

Graham
 

babydot94513

Member in training
Trainworm, this has to be the best summation of engine types I have ever read. Thanks for taking the time to explain it to me (us)

JD

trainworm said:
a quick note:


modern EMD locos
GP: general purpose, 4 axles
SD: special duty, 6 axles
SW: switcher, 4 axles
MP: road switcher, 4 axles

the number in almost all newer EMD locos is just the model number. the -2 at the end means the locomotive has been upgraded with dash 2 electronics. if it has a T in it, like SD45T-2 or SD40T-2, it is a tunnel motor locomotive, the kind with the big air intake screens at walkway level on the rear. if it has AC in the name, like GP38AC, SD90MAC or MP15AC, it runs on AC power instead of DC. if the locomotive has a wide cab, it usually has the M letter in the name, like SD90MAC and SD70M.

so, a SD90MAC is a six axle, series 90 locomotive, with a wide cab, that works on AC power. and a GP39-2 is a 4 axel, 39 series locomotive with dash 2 electronics.

GE locomotives:
B: 4 axle
C: 6 axle

with GE locomotives, the number in the name is the horsepower rating. then they have the - numbers at the end, like B23-7, C40-8 and C44-9. those numbers deisgnate different upgrades in electronics and other things that were made through the years. GE uses the W designation for widecab locomotives, and the AC designation for AC powered locomotives. then there is the older U series locomotives. the best way to tell the difference between the U series and the dash series of locomotives is that the -7, -8, and -9 series and the newer stuff have a radiator on the rear that overhangs the walkway, kinda looks like wings.

so a C44-9W is a 6 axel locomotive, 4,400 horsepower, dash 9 components, with a wide cab. and a B23-7 is a 4 axel locomotive, 2300 horsepower, and dash 7 components, witrh a regular cab. a U23B is a U series, with 2300 hp, and 4 axles. then you have the really new stuff, like the ES44AC, it is an evolution series, 4400hp, ac power.

both makers stopped using the M designation because every new locomotives they make now have a wide cab (SD70ACe, C60AC, ES44DC)


and to confuse things even more, some railroads use different designations for the same GE locomotives. you might see a GE labled as a C40-8 or an 8-40C, or CW44AC as AC4400 (union Pacific also has a C44ACCTE the CTE is a special type of traction control electronics).

i really dont know anything about Alcos or Baldwin diesels, but most of them are gone anyway.

hope this didnt confuse y'all any more than necessary :D
 

ausien

Active Member
TW, I think its back to school for me, but thanks for the info. it helps a lot, I think!!!:confused::confused: :confused: :D have a good one..steve
 

Pitchwife

Dreamer
N Gauger said:
We the Unknowing, Led by the Undoing...
Have done so much, with so little for so long...
That we are now capable
OF doing Everything....with nothing!!!!

Here is where I go - to see what numbers mean what :) Click on Manufacturer names at left :)

http://paintshop.railfan.net/home.html

There are hundreds of engines here :) :)

Mikey, this is just the site that I've been looking for. :thumb: Now I can peruse at my leasure and get an idea of what to look for to tell one engine from another. This site is definately going on the Reference Page in my Railroad Links web page. :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb:
 

phoneguy

member
If you're looking at trains going by at a crossing the numbers under the cab will usually tell what type engine it is. I model the Reading Lines, went out of business in 1976, Conrail. The Reading used class numbers on their engines. A RSE-14 could be a GP30, GP35, or an SD45, the GPs would be 4 axle and the SD was a 6 axle all made by EMD. If you're modelling a particular railroad look at ther historical sight for information on types of engines and pictures.

Wayne
 

Pitchwife

Dreamer
I was just trying to figure out how to tell one kind of engine from another, like we used to be able to do with cars, until they started making them all look alike. :rolleyes: :D
 

MasonJar

It's not rocket surgery
Pitchwife said:
I was just trying to figure out how to tell one kind of engine from another, like we used to be able to do with cars, until they started making them all look alike. :rolleyes: :D

That's why I like to model the 1920s and 30s - everything was shipped in a box car... ;) :D

Andrew
 

Pitchwife

Dreamer
Engine Illiteracy updated

I've been cruzin' the thread's, enjoying the photos and the people talking about this engine and that engine, and it reminded me of this thread I started (My Gosh, could it have been 2 1/2 years ago! :eek: ) and I thought that it might be worth bumping it up to the top of the list again. So many new faces; Someone might at least get a chuckle out of it. You will find it at http://forum.zealot.com/t107168/

It goes a bit like this:

announce1
a quick note:

modern EMD locos
GP: general purpose, 4 axles
SD: special duty, 6 axles
SW: switcher, 4 axles
MP: road switcher, 4 axles

the number in almost all newer EMD locos is just the model number. the -2 at the end means the locomotive has been upgraded with dash 2 electronics. if it has a T in it, like SD45T-2 or SD40T-2, it is a tunnel motor locomotive, the kind with the big air intake screens at walkway level on the rear. if it has AC in the name, like GP38AC, SD90MAC or MP15AC, it runs on AC power instead of DC. if the locomotive has a wide cab, it usually has the M letter in the name, like SD90MAC and SD70M.

so, a SD90MAC is a six axle, series 90 locomotive, with a wide cab, that works on AC power. and a GP39-2 is a 4 axel, 39 series locomotive with dash 2 electronics.

GE locomotives:
B: 4 axle
C: 6 axle

with GE locomotives, the number in the name is the horsepower rating. then they have the - numbers at the end, like B23-7, C40-8 and C44-9. those numbers designate different upgrades in electronics and other things that were made through the years. GE uses the W designation for widecab locomotives, and the AC designation for AC powered locomotives. then there is the older U series locomotives. the best way to tell the difference between the U series and the dash series of locomotives is that the -7, -8, and -9 series and the newer stuff have a radiator on the rear that overhangs the walkway, kinda looks like wings.

so a C44-9W is a 6 axel locomotive, 4,400 horsepower, dash 9 components, with a wide cab. and a B23-7 is a 4 axel locomotive, 2300 horsepower, and dash 7 components, with a regular cab. a U23B is a U series, with 2300 hp, and 4 axles. then you have the really new stuff, like the ES44AC, it is an evolution series, 4400hp, ac power.

both makers stopped using the M designation because every new locomotives they make now have a wide cab (SD70ACe, C60AC, ES44DC)


and to confuse things even more, some railroads use different designations for the same GE locomotives. you might see a GE labeled as a C40-8 or an 8-40C, or CW44AC as AC4400 (union Pacific also has a C44ACCTE the CTE is a special type of traction control electronics).

i really don't know anything about Alcos or Baldwin diesels, but most of them are gone anyway.

hope this didn't confuse y'all any more than necessary :D

And my grateful reply.

Thanks TW. Your explanation is great, now all I have to do is decode it. :D :D
One thing about this thread that has amazed me is the number of Engine Illiterates coming out of the closet. :eek: :eek: Now I don't feel like such an outsider. :) :) I can hold my head up and proudly proclaim, "I don't have the faintest idea." :D :D
I understand now that you can't always ID an engine just by looking at it. Using TW's explanation I can say, "well, it looks like a __, but it could be an __." and not have to worry about my accuracy. :thumb: :thumb:
One thing I've done is to update the Reference page in my Link's Pages which you can access via the link in my my signature.

Plug,Plug. :rolleyes: Actually there in no money involved, no ads, no pop-ups, no spyware or any of the other c--p that you get on other sites.

You will find links to tons of pictures, railroad histories, along with the all the links on the other pages. I originally made it for myself, but then thought that it might be good enough to share it with everyone else. If the counter (and the SPAM emails :curse: ) are any indication, you are using it. :thumb: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Anyway, I hope that you use it and that it helps you. I'm still pretty engine illiterate, but I'm getting better. :thumb: :mrgreen:

Maybe it will shake a few more Illiterates out of the branches. They say that confession is good for the soul. :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
 

tetters

Rail Spiking Fool!
You will find that over time you will get to know the engines that are important or of interest to you.

I think that this sentence pretty much nailed this topic right on the head. Aside from my own roster, I know scant details about other engines.

On the topic of funny billboards here is a whole slew of them for the layout. I may just have to use a few of these.

I should add that some of these are of questionable taste and humour. View at your own risk.

Funny pictures and jokes, funny images, billboards, joke pictures, funny photos, more
 

RobertInOntario

Active Member
I just realized something that I think is related to this topic. My real "problem" is that I have a small 4x6 layout and a lot of locos and stock. I probably have enough locos, coaches and freight cars to populate a layout 4 to 5 times the size of mine! One day, I hope to have a much larger layout, but it won't be for several years. Rob
 

Pitchwife

Dreamer
I just realized something that I think is related to this topic. My real "problem" is that I have a small 4x6 layout and a lot of locos and stock. I probably have enough locos, coaches and freight cars to populate a layout 4 to 5 times the size of mine! One day, I hope to have a much larger layout, but it won't be for several years. Rob
I know what you mean. "But it was Sooooo Cool!" :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
 

Kanawha

Member
Nice thing about steam engines...as long as you can count you can sound like you know what you're talking about.:rolleyes: "Yeah Frank, that 2-10-2 is quite a puller." "I'm looking to buy a new 2-8-0." "Bob, your 4-8-2 just derailed." See? Easy. :thumb:
 

w8jy

Member
I don't know how I missed this thread earlier. I can identify with Clark - I can identify steamers, but diesels have always fallen into two categories for me - old ones and new ones. I never really worried about identifying diesels, because I model steam. I do have one VO-1000 switcher - I can identify that because that is what it said on the box!
I really never had much of an interest in diesels, but I am afraid that is about to change. Because my layout is more detailed than my grandson's, he thinks I should be an expert on everything involving trains. When asked what kind of engine that is (when he sees a real one), the answer - it's a blue one - just doesn't work any more.
So, like it or not, I am going to have to increase my knowledge base in this area (or, more truthfully, acquire a knowledge base).
Thanks to everyone for the information and the links.
So, will hit the books and hope there is still room in my mental filing system to fit this in.
 
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