Hi guys,
Brazilian broad gauge MRS rebuilt its big fllet of SD40-2 and Sd40-3 for tunnel operation like SP did in the past, adding deflectors like elephant ears on the rear end of the locomotives. The railroad have more than 100 tunnels at mainline, some with more than 26,000 ft long.
Have you seen old SP or any other locos using these deflectors?
Cool pictures!
SP had some GP40Xs during the 80s that were equipped with the "elephant ears".
"I like my Pullman Standards & Budds in Stainless Steel flavors, thank you!"
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
Murphy Siding wrote: What exactly do the deflectors do?
They aren't exactly deflectors, but more like inductors. When locomotives go through tunnels, the oxygen-poor exhaust rises to the roof of the tunnel where a normally-aspirated locomotive would get it's air - the top of the locomotive. The "elefant ears" force the locomotive to draw cooler, cleaner air from the bottom of the tunnel instead of the poor-quality air from the roof of the tunnel.
I beleive the reason for lower intakes on tunnel motors is for the cooling of the radiator...regular locomotives would overheat and shut down while in the tunnels.
The air intake for the engine aspiration is usually right behind the cab above the walkway.
espeefoamer wrote:Southern Pacific had some SD45s with deflectors.
The MRS locomotives in the 5300 series were rebuilt by NRE from SP SD40/SD45's in the 7300/7400/7500 series so some of the deflector-equipped SD45's possibly turned up in Brazil.
Love the tunnel motors, here's a strange one in between two AC60s pulling rocks, naturally.The Big GEs are common around here heading up rock trains but the tunnel motor between them is a first for me. This particular rock train was at LEAST a mile long.
http://s222.photobucket.com/albums/dd174/bakupolo/?action=view¤t=DSC03073.jpg
bakupolo wrote: Love the tunnel motors, here's a strange one in between two AC60s pulling rocks, naturally.The Big GEs are common around here heading up rock trains but the tunnel motor between them is a first for me. This particular rock train was at LEAST a mile long. http://s222.photobucket.com/albums/dd174/bakupolo/?action=view¤t=DSC03073.jpg
The locomotive is listed as a SD40-T, it is actually a SD40T-2.
"No soup for you!" - Yev Kassem (from Seinfeld)
CSSHEGEWISCH wrote: espeefoamer wrote:Southern Pacific had some SD45s with deflectors.The MRS locomotives in the 5300 series were rebuilt by NRE from SP SD40/SD45's in the 7300/7400/7500 series so some of the deflector-equipped SD45's possibly turned up in Brazil.
However, none of those "deflectors" are any that were applied by SP, those were all removed years ago.
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.