mvlandswThe cab heaters in the slugs never worked very well.
I've heard that, too...
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
The relative silence was nice, but the relative cold in the winter was not. The cab heaters in the slugs never worked very well.
Mark
tree68 BaltACD caldreamer Why would you need PTC equipment in a road slug since they are controlled and draw power from the lead unit which would have PTC installed? PTC displays need to be visible and functional for the Engineer when operating from the slug. Road slugs are generally set up so the set can be operated from either cab. I understand that's actually pretty nice, since you're sitting in relative silence while operating. No big Diesel roaring right behind you...
BaltACD caldreamer Why would you need PTC equipment in a road slug since they are controlled and draw power from the lead unit which would have PTC installed? PTC displays need to be visible and functional for the Engineer when operating from the slug.
Why would you need PTC equipment in a road slug since they are controlled and draw power from the lead unit which would have PTC installed?
PTC displays need to be visible and functional for the Engineer when operating from the slug.
Road slugs are generally set up so the set can be operated from either cab. I understand that's actually pretty nice, since you're sitting in relative silence while operating. No big Diesel roaring right behind you...
BaltACDcaldreamer Why would you need PTC equipment in a road slug since they are controlled and draw power from the lead unit which would have PTC installed? PTC displays need to be visible and functional for the Engineer when operating from the slug.
caldreamerWhy would you need PTC equipment in a road slug since they are controlled and draw power from the lead unit which would have PTC installed?
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
From what I've read, road slug use is greatly reduced or even completely eliminated. PSR cutbacks and the need to install PTC in their aged cabs apparently were responsible.
Tough to find an accurate roster to confirm the totality of these cutbacks. For instance the BullSheet still shows many of the road slugs as rostered, but looking up pictures of random units fails to reveal any recent pictures since 2018 or so (and no signs on the cab roof of any PTC installation). So I suspect few if any are still active, even if dozens are officially still on the books.
I wonder if the roster overview for Class 1's in the annual Locomotives issue from Kalmbach includes road slugs (I don't have any of my issues handy to check). Might be the best way to gauge what if any are left as of when the roster was prepared last year.
Over the past couple of weeks, there have been several GP40-2s in the 64xx and 69xx number range moving west from Huntington (West Virginia) dead-in-tow, possibly heading in the Avon, Indiana direction. Are these being sold or scrapped? Have the old GP30/GP35 road slugs been scrapped as well?
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