let it go

[Anonymous]

So much for the hornets nest! Any Wide-Body up front is a good engine for the crew!!!!
My question for the CSX guy, is that your former Conrail C40 dash8's running gear worn out, the ones on NS will throw you out of the seat, loose as a goose!!!! We contend at NS when NS/CSX divided up the Conrail power, CSX got all the good engines. Seems like we got alot of deferred maintainanced engines. The only people that made out on the deal were the Conrail stockholders.

[Train Guy 3]

Forget GM and GE.....STEAM RULES!

[Anonymous]

Hogger-

Sounds like a decent set up. I'm getting used to the screens these days and having them in front of you sounds better than on top of the stand...

LC

[hogger42]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Limitedclear

Hogger-

Is it a standard AAR control stand?

LC

LC

Yes, with a few modifications. It's got the two MAC screens (These were FIRE screens and not the standard ICE screens)
in front of the engineers seat just below window level. Lots of leg room now.
They took the computerized braking and put it back where it belongs
(it's just on it's side now.) Will work just like the good old 26!
There's even room left for the Electronic Braking if that ever pans out. With the
popularity of DP we might not see it here on the Joint Line .

[rrnut282]

wabash1
How many Triple Crown trains have you been on with only a single GE?

[Anonymous]

Hogger-

Is it a standard AAR control stand?

LC

[hogger42]

Speaking of EMD[tup]

I got to check out GM 70 (SD70ACe) at work today. This is one sweet unit, NO MORE DESKTOP CONTROL STAND according to the rep that was riding with the unit and test car. The 70 had just come from The Transportation Test Center and was headed north.

(and the two emd baseball caps were pretty cool too [tup][:D][tup])

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Kozzie

QUOTE: Originally posted by eolafan

As far as this foamer is conerned, any running engine (and some that aren't running) is a good engine, regardless of who made it.

I agree with eolafan. If the differences were that great, surely one or the other group of locos wouldn't be used to the extent that they actually are?
Maybe it's a case of "horses for courses"?

Can't agree. It is more a question of economics than quality. The railroads keeping two or more players in the locomotive manufacturing biz helps keep locomotive costs down and other competitive forces keep costs of maintaining the locomotives cheap too. Has a lot more to do with money than which locomotives are truly better or more reliable...

LC

[Kozzie]

QUOTE: Originally posted by eolafan

As far as this foamer is conerned, any running engine (and some that aren't running) is a good engine, regardless of who made it.

I agree with eolafan. If the differences were that great, surely one or the other group of locos wouldn't be used to the extent that they actually are?
Maybe it's a case of "horses for courses"?

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by daveklepper

Interesting. I vote we retain the topic. Dave

I agree and I still hate GEs. EMDs are the superior locomotives in every way that matters. The only thing GEs can do acceptably is make EMDs look good...

LC[8D]

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by csxengineer98

can we please let the GE-vs-EMD battle die already.

IT'S FUN FIGHTING ABOUT GE AND EMD I'M PERSONALLY A EMD FAN GE STINKS AND EMD RULES

DOGGY[:o)][:o)][:o)][:o)][:o)][:o)][:o)][:o)][:o)][:o)][:o)][:o)][:o)][:o)][:o)][:o)][:o)][:o)][:o)]

[Mookie]

Well if you don't keep both of the engines, Grandma Mookie won't be able to tell a Dash 9 from an SD70. So I vote to keep both. Run the SD70 on point and the Dash 9 behind it! Works for me!

[daveklepper]

Interesting. I vote we retain the topic. Dave

[wabash1]

Overmod i can tell by your response that you never ran a engine. I might haft to run a ge engine but i dont haft to ( and dont) like it. otherwise what you said ........ yea ok sure.

[Overmod]

I might raise a separate issue, which has come up in this debate before: there are two distinct threads here, which aren't really comparable:

1. How well do the engines perform, as assessed by people who make a living with them; and

2. How interesting, or fun, or attractive, etc. are the engines to watch?


Now, unless I remember things very poorly, the GG1 was a miserable locomotive to 'drive'. It was also a splendid thing to watch from just about anywhere.

I find it hard to believe that anyone running an Alco with a 244 engine really enjoyed black smoke, turbo lag, etc. But we love watching them.

R.J. Russell, who ran Metroliners in the 1970s, said that one of his favorite locomotives was the Baldwin BP20 on the NY&LB. I think I understood him correctly when he said that the 'accepted' starting procedure involved yanking the throttle and watching the ammeter run over until it 'pegged' at 2000A. It would stay there until the train got up to speed (quickly!) and then he said, it would float down to reasonable levels. He then said you did NOT do that with EMD E units! (Now, does this make the big Shark a better locomotive than an E7 or E8?)

One of my favorite locomotives is the U34CH, which is one of the all-time contenders for 'honorary steam locomotive.' I had no problems watching these and E8-powered trains at the same time, and enjoyed them both for the particular things they did well.

I loved the SP's first order of Dash-9s, which were particularly good to 'pace' coming down Ark 29/Louisiana 3 from Lewisville to Shreveport. I also loved the combination of SD90MACs and GE Dash-9 4400s on coal trains. These are both great locomotives to listen to, and to watch.

Wonder why nobody mentions the difference between GE locomotives from the '60s to the '80s and the ones made once Jack Welch and crew resolved to remake the American locomotive industry? (Of course, There May Not Really Be One, so no snappy comeback lines please.) Theoretically, at least, if you're going to offer a 'power guarantee', you're going to use six-sigma or whatever to make your locomotive 'better' -- otherwise money will be bleeding away. It does surprise me that nobody at GE has made a list of the operating and ergonomic problems I have seen reported in these forums, and at least tried to address them. It surprises me still more that 'computers' are continuing to fail on so many of these engines. (Of course, I still get surprised at the thought of someone being made to perform fast switching moves with a Dash-9 high-horsepower unit, but then again I'm woefully outdated in many critical respects!)

I have still not heard a comprehensive discussion of whether it's better to have six inverter control circuits or two on a C-C locomotive. Or whether EMD would go to six as soon as the cost of the electronics comes down...

But:
FDL-16 exhaust? Love it. (Cooper-Bessemer too)
EMD 567 exhaust? Should be on anybody's top-ten list of best mechanical sounds. (My early experience was with idling NWs on Erie-Lackawanna and with undermaintained FL9s out of Harmon with that distinctive chug-and-whine acceleration).

I like Dash-8s, Dash-9s, SD70s, 80s, and 90s. Oh yes, I like Genesis units much more than F59s, but that doesn't mean I don't like F59s.

I also like many of the new paint schemes on diesels, particularly those on BNSF (which to me had reached a particularly depressing nadir on BN with that generally-filthy green-and-black scheme that looked worse than filthy-all-black). Now if only we can get NS to adopt NYC lightning-stripes instead of that plain old black-and-white (or return to the good old Tuscan of the early N&W diesel power... with perhaps some keystones...!!!)

Hey, guys -- there doesn't HAVE to be a loser for there to be a winner. I tend to like EMD better as a manufacturer. I like Ford better than GM. (But I presently have a diesel Suburban, a Cadillac convertible, and a BMW, and no running Fords at all. Go figure!)
The moral of the story is that if it's interesting, you should like it, regardless of what someone else tries to tell ya.

[Anonymous]

uh..........fun. I guess all I care is that I like to be a railfan. in my opinion, niether is better, niether is worse, they are locomotives.

Just an amature railfan's opinion.

[Rick Gates]

Besides all the obvious differences that have been pointed out, Limitedclear makes the best point about they move all of the resets and switches everytime the introduce a new model. It's a real pain trying to find them things in the dark just to keep moving! EMD's are much more reliable and they sound like it. Subtle changes in sound while running are part of the operation. Emd's do it better!

[Anonymous]

But an EMD still cooks better than ANYTHING GE makes...LOL

LC

[Anonymous]

An EMD Mac is about as bad for you as a McDonalds' big mac...


And i'm still not sure which one is BIGGER!

[Anonymous]

AMEN to Wabash1 and LimitedClear. I'm right up there with ya!

[JoeKoh]

matt says peep peep for thomas! Just put your trains on the track and my camera will take your picture.Waving is optional.
stay safe
joe

[Anonymous]

Oh, and another thing, the GE sidewall heaters don't work with a damn and the A/C fails after about 6 months. And they made the powder room too short so you bump your head if you are over 5'8" tall. Oh, and all the resets are in the wrong places and they move them every time they come out with a new series of locos. EMDs have been the same since the FTs hauled the freight. Now you have to have a laptop and mechanical codes just to limp home after the damn things failed.

LC

[Anonymous]

GE lightbulbs don't even last that long...

We switch the Sylvania Plant where they are smart enough to stick to lightbulbs. Sylvania doesn't make locomotives...lol

LC

[Anonymous]

Drailed1999 this ones for you.... and thanks for giving me the idea...


Why doesn't EMD make lightbulbs?

Because they'd only run for 12 minutes!!


LMAO!!!! thanks man

[Mookie]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Limitedclear

Jen-

They look nice and on the road they pull pretty well, for a while. They are awful to switch with, the electronic independent brakes (EPIC or similar) are terrible, and the computer lag on power drives the brakie nuts, only good thing about the NS Dash-9s is at least they have a regular AAR control stand and not those lousy desktop things (good way to dislocate a shoulder) oh, and they also have those lousy modified toadstool seats that will take a bit of your kidney if you aren't careful. Oh, and don't even get me started on the surveillance camera riding around with you...

LC

Really? I am all ears I mean eyes!

Jen

[Anonymous]

Jen-

They look nice and on the road they pull pretty well, for a while. They are awful to switch with, the electronic independent brakes (EPIC or similar) are terrible, and the computer lag on power drives the brakie nuts, only good thing about the NS Dash-9s is at least they have a regular AAR control stand and not those lousy desktop things (good way to dislocate a shoulder) oh, and they also have those lousy modified toadstool seats that will take a bit of your kidney if you aren't careful. Oh, and don't even get me started on the surveillance camera riding around with you...

LC

[Mookie]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Limitedclear

Gotta head out in a few hours for my lovely night local. Hey at least it'll be cooler. Of course we'll probably have a "Supertoaster" (Dash-9) for power so switching out 40 cars will take 3 hours...assuming the computer is even working. Hope we don't burn the toast like last week when the dynamics fried...lol...GE...Ja-JUNK...Ja-JUNK...Ja-JUNK...they make the right sound anyhow...

LC

Hey LC - I saw a new GE AC engine - you know, one of those that has alphabet and numbers instead of something easy to remember like - dasher, dancer, prancer, etc. Anyway - one was coming into the yards and I was flapping my hands and going "look look" - like I had just gotten into loco weed! They are big! Look nice from the side of the road, anyway.

Jen

[Anonymous]

Gotta head out in a few hours for my lovely night local. Hey at least it'll be cooler. Of course we'll probably have a "Supertoaster" (Dash-9) for power so switching out 40 cars will take 3 hours...assuming the computer is even working. Hope we don't burn the toast like last week when the dynamics fried...lol...GE...Ja-JUNK...Ja-JUNK...Ja-JUNK...they make the right sound anyhow...

LC

[Anonymous]

It's a good thing EMD doesn't make light bulbs, I'd have to change brands!!!!!!!!!!! LMAO


P.S. I think its a great idea Bergie. At least try it once to see how it goes. [8D]