What's a growler?

[Anonymous]

I was listening to a couple of old loco drivers talking about railroading in the '50s and '60s. They referred several times to "growlers". I got the impression they were talking about locomotives. Does anybody know what they were referring to? (I was too polite to interrupt them to ask)
Thanks y'all

[Anonymous]

A diesel locomotive.
Must have been a couple of steam fans.

[BRAKIE]

Growlers is any type of diesel locomotive..I believe this came about from EMDs 567 prime mover as those units would sound like they was growling under heavy tonnage.
Alcos was known as burpers and wheezes.FM was known as smokin' Joe's.Baldwin was known as shakers.l

[AntonioFP45]

Pretty cool, Brakie,

One more though; GEs, Old and New are known as "Chuggers!"

(Though the U-Boats were loud! At full throttle you could hear them miles away.)

[Anonymous]

Growlers is any type of diesel locomotive..I pretty sure this came about from EMDs 567 prime mover because those units would sound like they was growling under heavy loads

[AntonioFP45]

Athearns!

[:p][:p][:p][:p][:o)][D)][D)]


Sorry, couldn't help myself! [D)][(-D]

[Anonymous]

Thanks all. I appreciate your patience with a newbie.

[MudHen_462]

Which diesel do they call a "U-boat" ?

Thanks
IronGoat

[AggroJones]

Any in the GE Universal series.

[tutaenui]

Whata a growler?
I am if someone unautherized touches the Layout <G>

[Anonymous]

In Maine, a growler is also called an outhouse[:D], although , I can't vouch for it's definition in any other geographical location[:D]!

[AntonioFP45]

IronGoat,

The GE Universals (U-boats) were build in the 1960s and 70s. This was the era of the so called "Horsepower Wars" between General Motors-EMD and General Electric. I believe it was in 1977 when the "Dash 7" series took over the U-Boat line. Some will argue, but the Dash 7s were still basically the old U-Boats with refinements.

Many engineers and mechanics will tell you that they disliked U-Boats as they often had electrical problems, were not as mechanically reliable as EMDs and were slower in taking off than comparable EMDs. Pricewise, they were cheaper than EMD. Seaboard Coast Line, the road I model primarily, had "oooooodles" of them.

[lupo]

[:D][:D] I was married to one [:D][:D]

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by AntonioFP45

Athearns!

[:p][:p][:p][:p][:o)][D)][D)]


Sorry, couldn't help myself! [D)][(-D]

[#ditto]
Exactly what I thought when I 1st saw the topic!!!!!![(-D]

[METRO]

In Toronto on the GO Transit lines a growler is a F40PH.

This was because the HEP was generated directly by the prime mover, instead of a seperate engine like the F59s have. This wasn't a problem at all for lines like Amtrak and VIA who had units to spare and ran them below their operating capacity.

GO Transit usually runs set trainsets though, that are long by anyone's count. The standard commuter rake had ten double decker Bombardier commuter coaches (the kind that Athearn makes) with one single locomotive. This was far beyond the five coach rule employed by Amtrak that the F40s had to run at their operational limits whenever they ran.

As a result the F40s made such tremendous noise that they picked up a lot of nicknames such as growler, Thunderliner, Screamers and eventually Thunder Blunders. All of the F40s were sold to Amtrak and were used in the midwest. However, the 12 years of GO service (1978-1990) left quite a mark on the units and Amtrak's locomotive maintenance crews swore that the units experenced twice the wear that they would have in Amtrak service.

[AntonioFP45]

When Amtrak switched the long distance passenger trains here on the east coast to HEP (Head End Power) I remember that the noise from the F40s was "deafening" as these units were constantly in "notch 8" to run the ac/heating and electricity in the passenger cars. They were "screamers".

I saw more than one Amtrak F40 broken down on the tracks at Tampa Union Station. In the mid 90s, a locomotive engineer I met named Paul told me that a lot of Amtrak's F40s were in pretty bad shape due to the constant high revs.

Another employee told me that a lot of the east coast F40s were run thousands of miles past scheduled oil changes. These were well built units, but lack of adequete funding forced Amtrak to run a lot of equipment "into the ground". It's a consolation to know that a lot of AmtrakF40s have survived. A few commuter rail agencies made a smart move. They purchased the Amtrak F40s at cheap prices and have been rebuilding them for use on their lines. What made them jump on the F40s is that Amtrak had left the 800kw HEP generator in these locomotives which by itself cost as much as some new automobiles![;)][:D][:)][8D][8)]

[Anonymous]

EMD F40 a.k.a. Screaming Thunder Box![:D]

[MisterBeasley]

Nothing to do with trains, but a small rounded iceberg floating just at the surface of the ocean is called a growler, after the sound it makes when a ship strikes it and then the berg rolls under the keel of the ship.

[Anonymous]

I guess a growler is a hungry trucker.

Bring them steaks and taters and hurry! =)

Good thread, sorry my post did not have anything to do with trains.

[rtraincollector]

Come to my house and I'll introduce you to my 2 growlers sam and sally both weigh 85 LBs and both are 3/4 Rott 1/4 dobbie .

Sorry couldn't stop myself lol

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all your input folks. That's what I love about this forum... the way these threads take on a life of their own. And invariably I end up learning something I hadn't anticipated from the way it began.

[bgrossman]

Around Schenectady, NY, a growler is also a container, bucket, or such that is used to take out a large quantity of beer from a distributor or store. Typically sold to supply parties, etc.

Bernie

[bgrossman]

Around Schenectady, NY, a growler is a container filled with beer at a bar, store, or distributor. Typically bought for immediate consumption at a party, etc.

Bernie

[mrgstrain]

Here is another one for ya. A growler is an electronic testing device to check for shorts in things such as starter windings etc.