what is this car used for????

[railroad65]

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=71254

[JoeKoh]

maybe its a generator for a mow train?? just a guess.
stay safe
joe

[spbed]

Sorry link did not work for me. [8D]

[adrianspeeder]

Fire car???

Adrianspeeder

[Anonymous]

I think adrians right. I think it's Part of the fire train for the mountainous areas. looks like the water tanker, but not sure what the exact purpose of the converted flat is, possibly a pump engine for the hoses.

[Overmod]

Oh, come on, hasn't anyone been reading other threads recently?

This is the Select-A-Power equipped experimental MotorSlug used for auxiliary boosting of trains on severe grades. As discussed, diesel locomotives at higher speed are restricted by the output power of their engines, not by traction-motor capacity. Likewise, crews complain when dynamic braking takes place near their cabs. It's impossible to implement team-engineer operations without a large reserve fuel capacity. This bold new approach 'fixes' all that.

In operation, the unit provides power for steep grades etc. without the expense of a whole additional locomotive. It also uses power from the consist when in dynamic braking to split water into oxygen and hydrogen, then react these with the carbon dioxide recovered from the locomotive exhaust to synthesize hydrocarbons, which can then be stored in a compartment of the fuel tank car. When now-secret plans for union-bustin' "buddy" husband-and-wife engineer teams are finalized, the large tank car capacity will allow the very long idle time in sidings and other places that is so characteristic of modern-day operation on this road.

I thought I heard someplace that the unit in the form pictured had subsequently received trucks from old GP40s with the "Fast Forty"-style passenger gearing, to allow higher speeds. But I think that's just railfan exaggeration, not justified by the cold hard facts of railroad operation...

[arbfbe]

Overmod, no it is not Apr 1 yet. Please go back to your nap and quit confusing the youngsters on the forum. Heaven forbid someone gets a hit on this thread and puts it in their research paper in school. Won't that make you feel bad?

Alan

[ericsp]

QUOTE: Originally posted by arbfbe

Overmod, no it is not Apr 1 yet. Please go back to your nap and quit confusing the youngsters on the forum. Heaven forbid someone gets a hit on this thread and puts it in their research paper in school. Won't that make you feel bad?

Alan

It sounds like he has been hanging out with Dan Harmon.

On a serious note, is UPP still reserved for UP passenger cars? I know that they look like dynamic brakes on the car, but maybe it is a HEP car. If UP's business/executive cars run on electricity and are not equiped for steam, if they are being pulled by one of the steam locomotives they would need a HEP car.

Since UPT 8 has a painting (or decal) of a fuel hose & nozzle on it, I would guess it is carrying some type of fuel oil, not useful for fire fighting. According to http://www.uphs.org/index-18_2.doc UPT 7 is a fuel tender, no mention of UPT 8.

[Anonymous]

Its SD90MAC prototype ^^

[chad thomas]

count the axles, It's the GP100MACB prototype [(-D]

[chad thomas]

Did I say that out loud ???

[Overmod]

SERIOUSLY -- it's a dynamic-brake training car.

Believe it or not, Overland Models was going to produce the thing, but cancelled the order -- you can see a picture of the thing at

http://www.modeltrains.com/PICTURES/PICTURES%20-%20Brass/Overland/bulletin-omi/om-p1595.jpg

Looking carefully at the picture... I don't think UP 8 is associated with this car. Can't find any Web listing for it, but I suspect it's a fuel car for MoW trains (to supply diesel fuel for equipment in the field that's too far away to be refueled by road).

[edblysard]

UPP 403, Dynamic brake test car, is a load tester also.
UPT 8, fuel tender.
http://www.modeltrains.com/PICTURES/PICTURES%20-%20Brass/Overland/bulletin-omi/om-p1595.jpg

We have a mobil load tester, built from the left overs of a junked SD 40 brake grid, that our shop crews installed on a flat.
Sometimes its easier to take the tester to the locomotive, than the locomotive to the tester.

Then, again, did anyone notice shackles on the inside?
We could always ship it to Montana!

Ed

[arbfbe]

Overmod,

Thanks for the link to the OMI page. The UP8 is a fuel tender to work between two locomotives to keep them fueled on long runs. BN tried the idea, the Soo Line tried the idea and the UP tried the idea. It has mostly fallen out of favor though I think the BNSF may still be using fuel tenders on helper sets out of Gillette and Crawford.

The UP has a service road nearly the length of the railroad. i doubt there is any equipment that cannot be reached by a service truck of semi truck proportions . It would take a locomotive and a crew to move this car between equipment and that would be too expensive for the UP.

Locomotive load test equipment used to be quite common in engine service areas. Commonly they were the dynamic brake panels from F units. Later units were from SD40-2 diesels. Some were even on rubber or steel wheels. Most units from the late 1970s on have had the ability to use the dynamic brakes on the locomotive to test their loadin capabilities. The UP apparatus in the photo has HUGE capacity for it's appearance.

[cpbloom]

QUOTE: Originally posted by chad thomas

count the axles, It's the GP100MACB prototype [(-D]

[:p] LOL! Could you please explain how it is both a MAC and a B?