GE P40/P42 Genesis modern covered wagons?

[Lyon_Wonder]

Does the GE passenger loco’s monocoque-body make it the modern-day equivalent of first generation cab bodies such as the EMD Es and Fs, and Alco FAs and PAs.  I guess GE did this to reduce weight.  Cowl-body EMD locos have a non-structural cowl, and retain the rigid frame of hood units.  I assume that EMD-powered commuter locos built by MPI are cowl-body too.  I doubt any freight line would want any P40/42s if Amtrak retires them some years down the road.  Probably less adaptable than even cowl-bodies, and I doubt anyone’s going to do to a Genesis what Santa Fe did to their F-units in the 70s.  Imagine a streamlined P40/42 stripped of it's cabbody and turned into a Gevo-powered B-B road switcher.   I guess P40/42s could be used to haul business cars or for excursions, though EMD Es, Fs and even F40s are more classy.  After NS’s purchase of F-units last year, the only Class I that doesn’t have dedicated business car power is BNSF.  Most likely, Amtrak would simply give them back to GE as trade ins for new Tier-III+ power sometime after 2010.     

[fifedog]

Actually, when the new GENESIS engine hit the rails, my buddy and I immediatley started calling them SHARKS, because they do have the basic lines of BALDWIN's famed RF-16s.

[wjstix]

Does the GE passenger loco’s monocoque-body make it the modern-day equivalent of first generation cab bodies such as the EMD Es and Fs, and Alco FAs and PAs. 

I guess my answer would be "sort of". The monocoque-body is very different from the way E and F units were built...so the external result is similar, but the actual construction isn't.

[Paul Milenkovic]

Do they have to cut apart the body shell to change a power assembly -- I understand that a common maintenance procedure on a Diesel of this sort is to unhook the crankshaft connection and to swap out the entire cylinder, piston, and connecting rod and replace it with a reconditioned or a new one.  With car engines, most people just throw the car away rather than "rebuilding" the engine after 100-200 thousand miles, but for a locomotive racking up millions of miles, you need to replace high wear elements of the engine.

Or can they do a power assembly change inside the carbody?  Do crews hate doing this?  In tradeoff for the bad aerodynamics and more industrial look, what a hood unit does for you 1) helps with crew access to things on the locomotive and on the train, 2) provides a clear view for backing moves, and 3) has door panels for easy access to power assemblies.  For heavier maintenance, the whole hood lifts off.

[trainfan1221]

I guess with this reasoning an F40PH could have been considered the same thing.  Nothing will ever really replace classic F units.

[eolafan]

Maybe not exactly the same (different body types structurally) but they are as close as you're going to get today outside of a museum.

[mudchicken]

Not sharks, more like fiberglass bricks.