In the June 2012 issue of Railway Age on page 8 is the following one line notice:
MTA New York City Transit: Accepted the first of 28 m/w locomotives from Wabtec subsidiary MotivePower, Inc.
In the above context, what is a "m/w locomotive?"
RJ Emery near Santa Fe, NM
I assume it means "maintenance of way" -- locomotives to be used in track maintenance duty. Presumably, they are diesels (or dual powered) for use even if the electric power for the passenger locomotives is shut off or has suffered a failure.
Based on a reply to an inquiry I made several years ago, NYCTA's maintenance of way locomotives are straight diesel-electrics, not dual-powers, and they have elected to live with the fumes in subway tunnels. Much of the NYCTA system is open-air or elevated.
Link to slightly longer article:
http://www.railwayage.com/index.php/mechanical/locomotives/nyc-subways-adding-28-locomotives.html?channel=62
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.