GP 9B control stand

[train18393]

Did the UP or Pennsy  GP 9Bs have a hostler control stand, and if so where would it be located so the hostler can see there they are going.

Thank you very much.

Paul

an NYC modeler

[ndbprr]

Yes. That is the reason for the porthole. Not the greatest but enough to move it around.

[ndbprr]

As an additional thought if you can find a copy of Pennsy Power 2 by Al Staufer there is a picture of the minimal control stand in the EMD section.

[train18393]

NDBPRR,

I have seen pictures of the control stand in the covered wagon B units, and I would guess that would be nearly the same. At least there was a way to move them if necessary. The view out the porthole must be worse than the limited vision out that tiny window on some of the covered wagons. I guess a spotter would come in handy in the rare incidence of a necessary move of the GP-B by itself.

Thanks for the timely response.

Paul

 

[pajrr]

I have seen old movie footage of B-units moving around a yard on their own. A spotter is standing in the side door so he could pass along info to the hostler who was actually running the unit. I don't know if they still do, but Amtrak P42s have (or had) a rear window where there was a hostler control stand so the unit could make moves in the yard since it is virtually impossible to see backwards out of the cab, unless Amtrak hires giraffes now.

[efftenxrfe]

PAJRR,

SP's F-unit B's had no hostler controls, but DRG&W's did but I never got to use them. We planned our switching moves without using them...

It seems certain that the DD35's had hostler's controls, I wonder about them.....

But, the question I've got for you, PAJRR, is "is it virtually impossible to see backwards out of the cab" when there is a rear view mirror on the exterior cab wall? 

[rcdrye]

pajrr

I don't know if they still do, but Amtrak P42s have (or had) a rear window where there was a hostler control stand so the unit could make moves in the yard since it is virtually impossible to see backwards out of the cab, unless Amtrak hires giraffes now.

The800 series P40s had (and may still have) the hostler controls.  The P42s didn't get them, so I'm guessing they weren't even used much on P40s.

[1oldgoat]

Cab or not, any time a locomotive is moved, there has to be a "ground man". Usually it was a brakeman on the road, a switchman the yards, or a hostler helper in an engine facility. A move without one all too often leads to unforeseen and unhappy consequences.

[ndbprr]

Didn't Rock Island have a b unit that had controls and would split off in Denver to pull a car or cars to Colorado Springs or Fort Collins?

[rcdrye]

SP's 3 DD35s (and maybe UP's) had a four-notch hostler control in the walk through space between the two hoods.  CRI&P's AB6's had a regular control stand in a modified B-Unit carbody, and operated in commuter service out of Chicago after Rocky Mountain Rocket service ended (as built they had 1 567A engine and a baggage compartment, but were later rebuilt with a second engine). The RI units had a lot of standard E6 parts, including the cab side windows with slanted vent windows.

[Deggesty]

ndbprr

Didn't Rock Island have a b unit that had controls and would split off in Denver to pull a car or cars to Colorado Springs or Fort Collins?

As I recall, the second unit took the cars to Colorado Springs, whereas the A took the Denver cars to their destination (they did not go to Fort Collins). xxx New Paragraph xxx I wonder if the Burlington had more traffic Chicago-Colorado Springs on the Denver Zephyr once it inaugurated this service in connection with the Rio Grande's Royal Gorge than the Rock had Chicago-Colorado Springs. (The Rock entered Denver on the UP from Limon.)

[carnej1]

There were some B units (EMD F's in particular) that ,once retired by their Class 1 owners,found their way into industrial switching service,mostly at coal tipples. Many of these were converted to radio remote control (which was used in industrial operations as early as the 1960's) but I have seen photos of B unit F's with an enlarged window so as to allow the engineer better visibility when used as a manned switcher....