Secret Cargo?

T

TomPM

Another Fried Egg Fan
Oct 15, 2002
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Drexel Hill, PA
www.trainweb.org
The other day on the way home I spotted this unusual load at Norfolk Southern’s Abrams Yard in King of Prussia.

Here is the single locomotive on the point of this train.
bda.jpg


I wonder what is under the blue covers labeled with GE?

bcz.jpg


bcy.jpg
 
If they are covered going east out of Erie then they are most likely for export. If they are covered going west they are probably going to Pueblo for testing.
 
babydot94513 said:
The obvious question is why would you even cover a locomotive in the first place especially with what appears to be very loose covering.
Click to expand...

I wonder if they are covered for the same reason new cars are shipped in trilevel auto racks, to keep them from being damaged in transit.
 
Good point, but I remember when the Alaska Railroad received another round of locomotive purchases and they went all the way across the country out in the open for all the world to see.

Call me suspicious, but whatever that is under the tarps could be a "camo" job to disguise what is really being moved.


Russ Bellinis said:
I wonder if they are covered for the same reason new cars are shipped in trilevel auto racks, to keep them from being damaged in transit.
Click to expand...
 
EMD used the same sort of cover on their overseas shipments. It is probably protection for the ocean voyage. The sagging is proabably a case of "one size doesn't fit anything very well."
Would make an interesting model.
 
They're just being covered to protect them from damage. The Alaska units, and others being sent to western railroads, are usually shipped uncovered because the delivering railroads are permitted to use the units at their own discretion. This past weekend I whitnessed two new UP AC45CTE's being sent west on their maiden voyage from Erie. The units were placed at the end of locomotive consist with the first running and the second unit not.
 
OK what was said about the sagging tarps. If you know the units well in design then you know that they have the large over hang at the rear where the radiators are. Well, in front of that on top is the exhaust stack and that is creating the affect that they are not complete. Now my theory could be right then again wrong but nothing over sea's has the same track gauge we do in the U.S. They are locomotive's no doubt but I don't think they would need to ship that many locomotives over sea's to do a demonstration that they don't even have the correct gauge track for. Now notice the truck and fuel tank color. BNSF silver? UP gray? Stop and think about it for a minute. Someone tell me if they maybe on the same track theory I am. Hey then again maybe they carry a new paint scheme for a railroad that hasn't been released yet. Kinda like BNSF's new logo except being kept under wrap's until a later date.
 
Maybe they have UP logos on them and they don't want to pay the royalty fees!!!

Since I know nothing about running a real engine I was wondering when transporting these would they be in a nuetral configuration like a stick shift car? and would there brakes work like those of a boxcar since the locos are what usually apply the brakes, Right??????????? Pat
 
KCS - are you telling me that USA DOESN't use 4' 8.5" like UK, Canada, Europe and many other places - Hell, that means I'm running my US kit on the wrong track! <LOL>
Shortliner(Jack)away up here in the Highlands
 
maybe the us goverment got some locos for the ( area 51) railroad that are marked area 51 and because the goverment tells us its not there the locos need to be coverd as to not give away the truth :eek:




yes its a joke ...............or is it :D
 
Hey I maybe wrong but I just said that because I remember hearing and seeing a few thing's on TV and book's about countries having different track gauge and why we have the gauge we do. It's said we have our standard gauge because it's a gauge that creates the least wear and tear on the rail after much study even though foreign railroad's still use wider or more narrower track than we do but doesn't last near as long plus cost's more to replace. But 4' 8.5" is U.S standard and most other railroad's on the North American continent. You get over sea's and some of those railroad's run 6' - 7' something gauge which is nowhere close to what we run. I'm sure about the railroads like in England and such have the same gauge or close to it.
 
Hey I maybe wrong but I just said that because I remember hearing and seeing a few thing's on TV and book's about countries having different track gauge and why we have the gauge we do. It's said we have our standard gauge because it's a gauge that creates the least wear and tear on the rail after much study even though foreign railroad's still use wider or more narrower track than we do but doesn't last near as long plus cost's more to replace. But 4' 8.5" is U.S standard and most other railroad's on the North American continent. You get over sea's and some of those railroad's run 6' - 7' something gauge which is nowhere close to what we run. I'm sure about the railroads like in England and such have the same gauge or close to it. Model railroading I believe is a whole other story.
 
Update:
Northeast Railpace Magazinehas a pic of the same train.(May 2005, Pg19)
According to the caption, they are GE units heading to a South American narrow gauge railroad. They are now riding on temporary standard gauge trucks.
 
Thanks for the update. That is a lot of big locomotive for a narrow-gauge railroad.

I sure would hate to know the rail weight they are using<g>

JD

eightyeightfan1 said:
Update:
Northeast Railpace Magazinehas a pic of the same train.(May 2005, Pg19)
According to the caption, they are GE units heading to a South American narrow gauge railroad. They are now riding on temporary standard gauge trucks.
Click to expand...
 
Hi Charles,

There is much speculation on the origins of "standard" gauge (4' 8 1/2"), it was introduced by George Stephenson in Britain and was adopted by many other countries. I don't think there was any particularly well though out reason for it (after all, Richard Trevithick who built the worlds first steam locomotive in 1804 used a 3' tramway and in my home country of Wales non the less!), and Isambard Kingdom Brunel (one of the most incredible Victorian engineers) was a proponent of broad gauge (7' wide))

So at least from what I know there isn't a well thought out reason for 4' 8 1/2"

Graham
 
KCS said:
But 4' 8.5" is U.S standard and most other railroad's on the North American continent. You get over sea's and some of those railroad's run 6' - 7' something gauge which is nowhere close to what we run. I'm sure about the railroads like in England and such have the same gauge or close to it.
Click to expand...

Err, no 4ft 8.5" is standard gauage, 75%+ of the worlds rail systems use it, hence why its called standard! The only thing thats different is the LOADING gauge - ie the physical clearances tolerable on the system.

99.9% of Europe is 4ft 8.5, the only major system to be different is Spain with a 5ft 6" (AFAIK) gauge.

And it doesnt have to be standard gauge, you can get things called accomodation bogies to allow vehicles of a different size to use a narrower gauge.

It just looks like a set of normal AC`s under tarps to me.
 
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