I go to Temple, TX practically every day to watch No. 21 - southbound Texas Eagle - arrive and depart as well as the numerous freights that roll through. It helps keep me sane during the so-called lock-down.
BNSF has a locomotive maintenance facility in Temple. It seems to perform light maintenance, but I don't really know.
Yesterday as I was waiting for No. 21 some of the folks were running up the diesels. I love the sound.
How are the maintenance people able to run up the diesel without moving the locomotive? Do they disconnect the diesel engine from the electric motors? How do they do it?
I suspect you were watching a load test take place. During this test the output from the locomotive's generator is diverted to a resistor of some sort, allowing the engine to be tested under heavy load without the locomotive moving. This allows the mechanics to determine if the unit is performing within the acceptable parameters.
Most locomotives now in service on Class I's, like this CN ES44DC, have the capability to "self-load". They use the dynamic brake grid as the resistor.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ga5G9C65uQ0
Older locomotives or those not equipped with DB have to use an external load box. In this case cables will be run from the generator to the load tester. Someone like Don Oltmann or Randy Stahl can better describe exactly where they are connected.
In the past CN would construct load boxes using DB grids salvaged from retired locomotives.
This one uses parts from two F-units mounted atop a Flexcoil truck, for ease of moving around the shop. It is still in use in Edmonton, though it was recently modified and moved inside a boxcar.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/albertarailwaymuseum/2127718400/
This one appears to have come from three FM/CLC C-Liners:
Greetings from Alberta
-an Articulate Malcontent
SD70Dude,
Thanks for the insight. I believe you hit the nail on the head.
Periodically I see locomotives from other carriers at the Temple facility, i.e. Kansas City Southern, Ferromex, etc. Presumably BNSF works on them and then bills them for the work. Would this be correct?
JPS1SD70Dude, Thanks for the insight. I believe you hit the nail on the head. Periodically I see locomotives from other carriers at the Temple facility, i.e. Kansas City Southern, Ferromex, etc. Presumably BNSF works on them and then bills them for the work. Would this be correct?
The link below pertains to the interchange and repair of Intermodal Equipment by the carriers. There are similar rules that pertain to all the other forms of equipment that the carriers interchange including cars and locomotives.
https://aar.com/standards/pdfs/Intermodal.20151222.pdf
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
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