I was looking up railpictures the other day, and I came across these:viewphoto.php?id=409695&nseq=0
What exactly are they? what is the purpose of the strange cab?
Thanks
The Beaverton, Fanno Creek & Bull Mountain Railroad
"Ruby Line Service"
I think they are just what the caption with the picture says they are: GP39-2's. The "-2" indicates that there has been a modification, in this case a chopped short nose...not sure if they came in that way or that the railroad shops did it. But the idea is that it gave the crews visibiltiy to oversee loading and unloading, spotting and swithching better than with full hight short hood. YOu can probably find all the specifications in Kalmbach's Diesel Spotters Guide or in era issues of TRAINS>
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These KCC engines work copper mines. They were built with high clearance fuel tanks and that high clearance/high visibility cabs. Tfe 'dash -2 ' in the model number has got nothing to do with these features. That unit went to the DAIR railroad, and at least 2 others went to the SOO - all were rebuilt with normal cabs when sold.
The 'Dash-2' line of EMD locomotive replace the '40' line in 1972. They were an improvement over the previous line, and allowed EMD to price the units as a new model(Nixon era price controls were in effect back then).
Jim
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
The cabs are leftovers from MK Rail, designed for the MK1500 Ds and the Citi Corp lease fleet of the "New" GP 15 and GP20.
MK Rail, later Boise Locomotive, fabricated a lot of these cabs, they show up on Gensets, and others.
The reason the cabs are mounted so high is to allow the crew to see over the loaded cars.
Same basic cab as the above, just mounted higher.
23 17 46 11
One difference is that the KCC GP39-2's date from late 1978/ early 1979, per the caption to this photo: http://www.railpictures.net/images/d1/3/8/5/8385.1335708261.jpg
whereas most of the others didn't appear until the mid-1990's or so, as I recall.
- Paul North.
The then MK Rail company built our MK1500Ds and delivered the first one of our order in 1996, they are numbers for the year they were deliverd and then the order they showed up on property, hence the 9601 was delivered in 1996, and the first one deliverd to us.
The basic MK1500D had been around for 2 years while MK shopped it around for customers,
New Orleans Public Belt has the lease/test unit, the 1501, which we borrowed to try the design out in 1994/95.
If memory serves me, it tested on the Chicago Belt also...
The -2 changes by EMD in 1972 were also made to the GP/SD38, GP/SD39, and SD45.
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edblysard The then MK Rail company built our MK1500Ds and delivered the first one of our order in 1996, they are numbers for the year they were deliverd and then the order they showed up on property, hence the 9601 was delivered in 1996, and the first one deliverd to us. The basic MK1500D had been around for 2 years while MK shopped it around for customers, New Orleans Public Belt has the lease/test unit, the 1501, which we borrowed to try the design out in 1994/95. If memory serves me, it tested on the Chicago Belt also...
I do remember seeing a GP15D (next version of the MK1500D) on the BRC at Clearing in about about the timeframe that Ed suggests, so it may have been for testing.
The KCC GP39-2's were built with the high cabs for service at the Bingham mine, where they replaced electrics in the pit.
these were very interesting locomotives. Were the car-bodies lower to fit inside the loadouts? It seems like the cabs would get hung up?
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In pit service, the cars were loaded by individual power shovels, so clearances were not an issue.
IIRC most, if not all of the Kennecot copper GP39-2s were later sold off and rebuilt with conventional cabs. I believe some were bought by SOO line prior to their merger with their parent company:CP..
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Two of the GP39-2's went to SOO as 4598-4599, a bunch went to MKT as MKT 360-379 and went to UP when MKT was absorbed by UP. All were rebuilt with conventional cabs and noses.
Correction to the prior post, some of the KCC GP39-2's went to MKT as MKT 380-388 and went to UP when MKT was absorbed by UP.
henry6 The "-2" indicates that there has been a modification, in this case a chopped short nose...
The "-2" indicates that there has been a modification, in this case a chopped short nose...
The -2 means that it is a part of the 1972 Dash 2 line (GP38-2, GP40-2, SD40-2, SD45-2, etc.).
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CSSHEGEWISCH Two of the GP39-2's went to SOO as 4598-4599, a bunch went to MKT as MKT 360-379 and went to UP when MKT was absorbed by UP. All were rebuilt with conventional cabs and noses.
Sorry to bump this 7 year old thread; but I live in Utah and we have a few intact KCC high cabs running around.Three are used by Omaha Track at the Rio Tinto Kennecott Garfield Smelter. They are the last remaining highcabs on "home rails" although their connection to the pit has long been severed. All the ore is moved via a slurry pipe now, so the rail line between the smelter and pit is completely defunct. One is outside Ogden near Little Mountain used as a switcher for a local industry. The fifth recently returned to Utah being leased by SSRX to the Salt Lake Garfield and Western; where it became that road's DS-13. I have personally caught four of these units, the only one I have yet to see is the one near Ogden. All five still have their original high cabs and high fuel tanks as built.
Thanks for the update! Interesting they still survive unaltered. These engines have always captured my attention, from the first picture I saw of them in the Diesel Spotters Guide as a kid. The CP 4598 and 4599 that predecessor SOO got from MKT in a junky orange patch job paint, still sport the high tanks, but thats it. 4598 is still in SOO Candy Apple Red paint and needs a paint job badly. The 4599 is in CP red and looks good. Both run around WI frequently, often together, and I enjoy seeing them in person even now knowing their history.
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