by SouthSideDIY
Hey Group
I haven't been here in a long time. I did have an account here when I was in HS...I'm 32 now lol. At any rate, this question has been bugging me.
Did EMD TR series cow-calf switchers utilize the same 27 pin MU system that is still in use today. I am having a hard time finding solid information and photographs. It seems like most original TR-A and especially TR-B hunits have long since either been scrapped or heavily modified. For example, the set at the Boone and Scenic Valley RR isn't quite original. That 'herd' was paired together by the CNW in service, but the 'cow' was a regular NW2 that was built as a single unit. The calf is real, but I imagine it was rebuilt or modified to work with the NW2.
The Belt's TR2s and TR4s are likely the reason for my fixation on these units. I wish I would have gotten up to see that pair that ILSX owned that worked in the upper midwest together for some years. I think one of the A units is still running around on the EL&S. I have seen pictures of these and do see all the air hoses that you would find on newer switchers and road locomotives. I didn't see actual 27 pin plugs though.
I know these were likely modified to an extent by the BRC too. I do find the BRC's choice in 12-567 powered switchers through the years to be interesting. They seem to have started with drawbar connected TR2s, moved on to TR4s(which I think had regular couplings as built). Then they ordered 2 pairs of regular SW9s in 1951 which had MU plugs(no air hoses) on the cab ends only so that they could run in pairs cab to cab. Finally they just ordered regular SW1200s with full MU (hoses and plug/wires) on both ends. They must have realized that the cost savings of cabless b-units and units with MU plugs only on one end wasn't worth the reduced versatility. Maybe it was a union thing.
When all of these units were in service in the latter half of the 20th century, the BRC never seems to have mixed them up in service. They should have all been compatible. I just haven't seen any photographic evidence. The closest I have seen was a calf coupled in front of one of the SW9s at the shop in Clearing(that SW9 had no MU on the front, so we know they weren't paired). Every other picture of them working has been of them in matched pairs. The only exception I can think of is the SW1200 that was turned into a slug and run with an SW1500.
The SW9s were compatible with other locomotives. Like the TR4s in Minnesota, pairs of the SW9s would famously run in pairs in secondhand shortline service in the early-mid 2000s. I do know of one instance where one of the SW9s was run with a rebuilt IC SW14(rebuilt from an SW9). There is even a video of it on youtube. I was told that they worked "ok" together. I believe the SW14 had regular 62:15 road gearing, so it would push the BRC unit around during low speed maneuvers. I have read similar anecdotes about mixing higher geared EMDs(Fast 40s, F40PHs, various GP40 based commuter locos, and passenger FP9s in freight service).
At any rate, can someone tell me how the calves were controlled as built? I would imagine by the time the 70s and 80s rolled around, there were enough scrapped locomotives around to easily retrofit more standard MU controls if they did not already have them.
Oh pps: I seem to recall there being compatibility issues with MU on early E and F units, like the ones originally built with drawbars.
I haven't been here in a long time. I did have an account here when I was in HS...I'm 32 now lol. At any rate, this question has been bugging me.
Did EMD TR series cow-calf switchers utilize the same 27 pin MU system that is still in use today. I am having a hard time finding solid information and photographs. It seems like most original TR-A and especially TR-B hunits have long since either been scrapped or heavily modified. For example, the set at the Boone and Scenic Valley RR isn't quite original. That 'herd' was paired together by the CNW in service, but the 'cow' was a regular NW2 that was built as a single unit. The calf is real, but I imagine it was rebuilt or modified to work with the NW2.
The Belt's TR2s and TR4s are likely the reason for my fixation on these units. I wish I would have gotten up to see that pair that ILSX owned that worked in the upper midwest together for some years. I think one of the A units is still running around on the EL&S. I have seen pictures of these and do see all the air hoses that you would find on newer switchers and road locomotives. I didn't see actual 27 pin plugs though.
I know these were likely modified to an extent by the BRC too. I do find the BRC's choice in 12-567 powered switchers through the years to be interesting. They seem to have started with drawbar connected TR2s, moved on to TR4s(which I think had regular couplings as built). Then they ordered 2 pairs of regular SW9s in 1951 which had MU plugs(no air hoses) on the cab ends only so that they could run in pairs cab to cab. Finally they just ordered regular SW1200s with full MU (hoses and plug/wires) on both ends. They must have realized that the cost savings of cabless b-units and units with MU plugs only on one end wasn't worth the reduced versatility. Maybe it was a union thing.
When all of these units were in service in the latter half of the 20th century, the BRC never seems to have mixed them up in service. They should have all been compatible. I just haven't seen any photographic evidence. The closest I have seen was a calf coupled in front of one of the SW9s at the shop in Clearing(that SW9 had no MU on the front, so we know they weren't paired). Every other picture of them working has been of them in matched pairs. The only exception I can think of is the SW1200 that was turned into a slug and run with an SW1500.
The SW9s were compatible with other locomotives. Like the TR4s in Minnesota, pairs of the SW9s would famously run in pairs in secondhand shortline service in the early-mid 2000s. I do know of one instance where one of the SW9s was run with a rebuilt IC SW14(rebuilt from an SW9). There is even a video of it on youtube. I was told that they worked "ok" together. I believe the SW14 had regular 62:15 road gearing, so it would push the BRC unit around during low speed maneuvers. I have read similar anecdotes about mixing higher geared EMDs(Fast 40s, F40PHs, various GP40 based commuter locos, and passenger FP9s in freight service).
At any rate, can someone tell me how the calves were controlled as built? I would imagine by the time the 70s and 80s rolled around, there were enough scrapped locomotives around to easily retrofit more standard MU controls if they did not already have them.
Oh pps: I seem to recall there being compatibility issues with MU on early E and F units, like the ones originally built with drawbars.