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Is it a engine or a freight car?

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  • Member since
    December 2015
  • From: ROCK ISLAND IL
  • 221 posts
Is it a engine or a freight car?
Posted by fourt on Saturday, July 16, 2016 5:18 PM

Is it a engine or a freight car? So which is it?

Modeling on the cheap

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  • From: Nashville, TN area
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Posted by hardcoalcase on Saturday, July 16, 2016 5:31 PM

Looks like scrap to me, but then... I'm a steam fan! Smile, Wink & Grin

Jim

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    April 2015
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Posted by Mheetu on Saturday, July 16, 2016 5:44 PM

looks more like corperate budget cuts... Now if it scrap i wonder if the weight of the scrap chassis is worth enough to pay for it own ticket to the junkyard.. 

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  • From: Culpeper, Va
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Posted by IRONROOSTER on Saturday, July 16, 2016 6:23 PM

Obviously, it's neither one.  With no brakes or brakelines, it can't be anything more than scrap or a special device whose use is undetermined in the photo.

Interesting picture though.

Paul

If you're having fun, you're doing it the right way.
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  • From: Henrico, VA
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Posted by Firelock76 on Saturday, July 16, 2016 7:08 PM

Looks like a unit being cannabalized for parts, ultimate destination, the scrapper.

  • Member since
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  • From: ROCK ISLAND IL
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Posted by fourt on Saturday, July 16, 2016 7:56 PM

 Forget to mention it was taken at the NRE shop in Silvis Ill. So most likely used for parts etc. Thought it was weird seeing what was a engine sitting on freight car trucks.

Modeling on the cheap

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Posted by 1019x on Saturday, July 16, 2016 8:50 PM

What you are seeing was often refered to as "Shop Trucks". In this case I suspect that the locomotive is slowly being used for parts and these trucks will allow the shop to move the hulk underneath a crane when they want another piece of it. But some shops that did major rebuilds of locomotives would use shop trucks as well if the existing trucks needed heavy repairs that required removal and disassembly.

Also a lot of freight car shops that sandblasted the car bodies would use shop trucks while the car was in the sandblast booth as sand can get between the truck bolster and friction wedges in the side frames and cause problems. They would use old worn out trucks and cycle them between the cars being blasted.

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  • From: Canada, eh?
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Posted by doctorwayne on Saturday, July 16, 2016 9:26 PM

Here's another one on shop trucks (visible under the cab and partially hidden by the bin). 

This one was undergoing a rebuild, with the wiring and prime mover work being done in-house, and, I think, the traction motors sent out.
Here she is, back in service, although not, by the looks of the trucks, immediately after the rebuild:

Wayne

  • Member since
    August 2003
  • From: Collinwood, Ohio, USA
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Posted by gmpullman on Saturday, July 16, 2016 9:28 PM

Larry's Truck & Electric in McDonald, Ohio is one place where locomotives go to die. A few get a second lease on life but most are parted out.

http://www.flickriver.com/photos/fan-t/sets/72157624247059542/

There are several more storage areas around Youngstown for LTE as well. Probably 1500 locomotives or so in the area!

Here's another interesting look at locomotive overhauls:

Have Fun! Ed

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Posted by BATMAN on Sunday, July 17, 2016 12:04 PM

It reminds me of how they cut up the Loco's to do the filming in unstoppable.

Brent

"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."

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