MBTA's MPI HSP-46 Locomotives

The 2001's engine block froze and cracked so it will need a whole new prime mover. A similar thing happened to the 1066 a few years ago.

Either the water coolant didn't dump when it should of at 40deg, or it's an ID10-T error

ck4049 wrote:The 2001's engine block froze and cracked so it will need a whole new prime mover. A similar thing happened to the 1066 a few years ago.

Ouch... I'd hate to have been the crew that found the coolant dumping out of the prime mover. Just how do you tell your boss that the brand new million dollar piece of equipment just shit the bed?

daylight4449 wrote:

ck4049 wrote:The 2001's engine block froze and cracked so it will need a whole new prime mover. A similar thing happened to the 1066 a few years ago.

Ouch... I'd hate to have been the crew that found the coolant dumping out of the prime mover. Just how do you tell your boss that the brand new million dollar piece of equipment just * the bed?

You dont.. You pretend your imaginary daughter has come down with astomach bug at school and needs to be picked up immediately, then run like he!!.

If engine froze its a design fault or someone plugged the Ogontz valve, the valve is part of lowest water holding part of engine, and sticks out under floor, when engine stops and water cools off it is at coldest spot.
Valve opens once water is down to 48 degrees and drains the engine.

Could it be asoftware malfunction? The systems in those things are fairly complex, and their integration hasnt been smooth.. Perhaps the valve never recieved the message to dump from whatever system was supposed to tell it to dump.

I would assume that valve functions independently, allowing it to work if the computer is offline, batteries are dead, etc. I can't think of any good reason for it to be controlled by the computer system. Monitored by the computer, perhaps, but not dependent on it.

ACeInTheHole wrote:Could it be asoftware malfunction? The systems in those things are fairly complex, and their integration hasnt been smooth.. Perhaps the valve never recieved the message to dump from whatever system was supposed to tell it to dump.

I'm not sure how exactly Ogontz valves are triggered by the coolant water temperature, but they're totally self-contained and have nothing to do with computers. You can put one on an F-unit and it'll work just fine.

Edit: Nomis, thanks for the wording clarification. Definitely coolant temp, but I don't know what actuates the valve. Fire sprinklers have a piece that melts in high temperature and allows the water to flow.

Hmm.. Ok thanks guys. I dont know, I was only trying to see any possible causes that dont pin the blame on a member of personnel. It will be interesting to see what happens with the rest

Ty, coolant water temperature.

It could be that the valve was defective, or somehow got damaged. I don't see any reason to blame anyone unless there are other details we don't know about.

If this news is true it is very serious indeed and points to some kind of systemic failure regarding these new units and their care.

One thing that I was always told by old timers regarding "dump" valves "don't trust them". They leak when hot and "might" do the job when needed. It gets very expensive when you blindly assume they will work.

But the locomotives are still under warranty, are they not? So there's little chance, if any, of the crew or MBTA being at fault here, so the expense will almost certainly be absorbed by the manufacturer at this point. Right?

If we assume that the unit was shut down for some reason. I would bet there is a requirement in the maintenance manual that the locomotive is to be drained when the temperature is below say 45 degrees. If that passage was ignored who assumes the liability now?

I remember EMD manuals with this requirement.

RRCOMM wrote:If this news is true it is very serious indeed and points to some kind of systemic failure regarding these new units and their care.

One incident — which we don't know the details of — points to a systemic failure?

Leave it to Railroad.net to spin EVERY SINGLE rumor and incident that we hear about third-hand into a complete condemnation of a locomotive/coach/railroad/carbuilder/loco builder/engine choice...

Sometimes I'm embarrassed to be a member here.