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Shark infested rails

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Shark infested rails
Posted by SD70Dude on Friday, December 3, 2021 12:16 AM

For the first time in decades a Baldwin cab unit is on the roll.  RF-16 1216 was moved out of the Escabana, MI shops the other day.  No word yet on 1205.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dsqYL3Gxe34

1205 and 1216 are the last two Baldwin 'Sharknose' units left in North America.  

Greetings from Alberta

-an Articulate Malcontent

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Friday, December 3, 2021 7:41 AM

EEK!  It's NAKED!  

I wonder what happened to the side panels?  Laying around somewhere I suppose.

Still, it's interesting to see it's still got its D&H paint, at least on the cab section.

Thanks 'Dude!

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Posted by samfp1943 on Friday, December 3, 2021 10:02 AM

SD70Dude

For the first time in decades a Baldwin cab unit is on the roll.  RF-16 1216 was moved out of the Escabana, MI shops the other day.  No word yet on 1205.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dsqYL3Gxe34

1205 and 1216 are the last two Baldwin 'Sharknose' units left in North America.  

 

 WELL! Bow  A tip of the ole Kromer Cap to Mr. ASSELIN !   Whistling

   THAT WAS QUITE  THE "CATCH"  Cool Cool 

     Those two Baldwin SHARKS HAVE BEEN 'GHOSTS' TO CHASE, IN MANY RAILFAN'S MINDS FOR MORE THAN FOURTY YEARS.

   Until this video was made, they have only existed in a very few odd, photos; shots that seemed to live in just a very few places on the Internet.     The story seemed to be that they were locked away in a privately held location, the 'owner' had done that, because at some point pre- late 1970's, some 'railfans' had slipped in,  and 'stolen' 'parts' off the prized engines. (?). And because of that, the 'owner' had blocked any access to what arguably werre the last two of their kind.Crying Crying

 So whatever is now in store for those Sharks... It is great to see that they may enjoy some more time, and 'sunlight' to their history.

    

 

 


 

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Posted by Overmod on Friday, December 3, 2021 10:10 AM

Panels removed for engine maintenance (which was not finished; crank repair deemed too costly at the time) -- no need to put them back with the engine in inside storage.

When the engines get to 'preservation' a careful set of pictures should be taken: this is the first I've seen of a considerable amount of Baldwin cab-unit structure above the deck.

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Posted by Paul Milenkovic on Friday, December 3, 2021 10:13 AM

Overmod

Panels removed for engine maintenance (which was not finished; crank repair deemed too costly at the time) -- no need to put them back with the engine in inside storage.

When the engines get to 'preservation' a careful set of pictures should be taken: this is the first I've seen of a considerable amount of Baldwin cab-unit structure above the deck.

 

Someone answer me this.

EMD cab units don't have removable panels -- the same being the case for GE Genesis passenger locomotives -- because the sides are structural elements of the locomotive?

The Baldwin shark is then like the EMD "cowl" units where the sides are non-structural and hence removable?

If GM "killed the electric car", what am I doing standing next to an EV-1, a half a block from the WSOR tracks?

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Posted by Backshop on Friday, December 3, 2021 10:24 AM

I saw them on the Monongehela in Brownsville, PA in the mid 70s and on the D&H in Whitehall, NY a few years later.

Railfanning in the UP isn't what it once was.  The E&LS appears to have moved into the old industrial park that C&NW used after they razed their roundhouse. For those wondering what such large railserved buildings are doing in Escanaba, they used to be a P&H Crane manufacturing plant.  The LS&I is a shadow of its former self and the ore dock in Escanaba has been shut for a few years.  With the Empire Mine shut down, that just leaves the Tilden in operation.

An interesting thing (to me) is that one of the best semi-custom knife makers, Bark River Knives, is only a few miles away from where the video was shot.

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Friday, December 3, 2021 10:56 AM

Paul Milenkovic
EMD cab units don't have removable panels

I could be very wrong on this, but I believe EMD's original cab units both E's and FT's had removable side panels.  After the FT's I'm not sure. 

The Genesis locmotives are of monocoque contruction, so their exteriors are "solid," for lack of a better term.  

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Posted by Backshop on Friday, December 3, 2021 11:29 AM

Es and Fs have removable panels.  The structure that they are attached to forms part of the loadbearing/stressed structure, not the panels themselves.

https://www.pbase.com/espeef5/image/54079890

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Friday, December 3, 2021 1:53 PM

Backshop

Es and Fs have removable panels.  The structure that they are attached to forms part of the loadbearing/stressed structure, not the panels themselves.

https://www.pbase.com/espeef5/image/54079890

 

Thanks!

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Posted by SD70Dude on Friday, December 3, 2021 2:50 PM

Turns out it was just being moved to free up shop space and keep it clean and dry.  

https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/baldwin-sharknose-moved-in-michigan/

Greetings from Alberta

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Friday, December 3, 2021 3:22 PM

E&LS should consult with SMS Rail in Bridgeport NJ, those guys are writing the book on keeping old Baldwins alive.

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Posted by Backshop on Friday, December 3, 2021 3:52 PM

Flintlock76

E&LS should consult with SMS Rail in Bridgeport NJ, those guys are writing the book on keeping old Baldwins alive.

 

Even better, they should sell them cheaply to SMS so that they can get the love and attention that they deserve.  It doesn't seem like the E&LS is the most profitable railroad around.

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Friday, December 3, 2021 5:23 PM

Backshop
Even better, they should sell them cheaply to SMS so that they can get the love and attention that they deserve. 

Great idea!  And I wouldn't be surprised if SMS would love to have them too!  Thumbs Up

At least if the price was right.  SMS being a switching and industrial 'road I'm not sure how well Sharks would work for them but they'd be a great addition to their collection.

By the way, SMS's 0-6-0 switcher is supposed to back among the living some time next year.

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Saturday, December 4, 2021 6:48 PM

A little Shark action anyone?  With a few other things thrown in?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eM49JvJf65I

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Posted by BEAUSABRE on Saturday, December 4, 2021 11:30 PM

Back in the early days of guided missiles, there was an intercontinental cruise missile called the Snark. It had repeated launch failures, crashing into the ocean just off the Cape. Their rivals from the Navaho project ended up placing a sign on the beach - WARNING ! Snark Infested Waters ! (Then there was the one that launched successfully, but went out of control and didn't blow up when the Range Safety Officer pushed the Destruct button, to disappear over the horizon, headed &diety knows where. Its remains were found decades later in the Amazonian jungles of Brazil. It was like the old SNL "Weekend Update" routine, "Breaking news, the Air Force has announced a test shot of a nuclear armed missile has gone out of control and will hit a major American city in less than a minute. And now we pause for sixty seconds for this important message from our sponsor")

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Posted by Backshop on Sunday, December 5, 2021 10:48 AM

Flintlock76

A little Shark action anyone?  With a few other things thrown in?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eM49JvJf65I

 

That video reminds me that both times that I saw the Sharks, they were shut down for the weekend.  I think that the only Baldwin that I ever heard running was an E&LS switcher at the paper mill in Ontonagon, MI.

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Posted by Shrike Arghast on Saturday, December 11, 2021 12:29 AM

Someone under that video was claiming it's being scrapped. I pray that's just the internet being it's typical stupid self?

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