44 weirdness...

My train, the 7:25 express from newark penn had a 44 pulling this eve.... Three times on the way to trenton the acceleration/velocity would suddenly drop out, putting the car i was in into battery mode each time. I believe it was 4416 but i'm not sure. It seemed to have some trouble accelerating too, but only up to about 30 mph. Interestingly enough, we did arrive in trenton on time, however it concerned me that the loco might crap out. Is this concern unfounded, what might be the cause?

- A

The 44's are old and tired. It could have just been having a bad day.

What about phase gaps?

There are no phase gaps on the portion of the NEC that NJT operates on.

oh

WOW!!!! 44"s are dogs.

boxcar wrote:WOW!!!! 44"s are dogs.

The 44's get a bad rap, they're my favorite motors to run...

Help please. I have been guilty once in a while of saying things like "I'd rather see a moving string of G's instead of a moving G string" without explaining that a G is Pennsylvania Railroad's classic GG1 electric locomotive. But I have no idea what a 44 is, although I can guess it's some kind of NJT electric locomotive.

Lazy me I tend to call all the electric locomotives that look a little bit like Amtraks AEM7's 'meatballs' because of the AEM7's Swedish heritage, and except for Amtrak's HHP8 locomotives every electric passenger locomotive from Washington to Boston looks like an AEM7 to me, and when I first saw them I thought HHP8's http://www.northeast.railfan.net/images/amtk661.jpg were just AEM7's http://www.northeast.railfan.net/images/amtk934.jpg with streamlined ends.

Also compounding my confusion is that sometime in the PRR-PenCentral-Conrail era they had E44 electric freight locomotives, so when I read the first few posts I was trying to figure out how and why an E44 was on an NJT passenger train.

I know since I live in New Jersey I probably should know all the abbreviations, but maybe some of our gentle readers in other parts of the galaxy might also appreciate a little help with the naming convention.

TREnecNYP wrote:My train, the 7:25 express from newark penn had a 44 pulling this eve.... Three times on the way to trenton the acceleration/velocity would suddenly drop out, putting the car i was in into battery mode each time. I believe it was 4416 but i'm not sure. It seemed to have some trouble accelerating too, but only up to about 30 mph. Interestingly enough, we did arrive in trenton on time, however it concerned me that the loco might crap out. Is this concern unfounded, what might be the cause?

- A

Take a trip to SEPTAland. Happens all the time going from RDG territory into the commuter tunnel on AEM-7/ALP-44 power. That's why I always carry a flashlight in my backpack.

gardendance wrote:Lazy me I tend to call all the electric locomotives that look a little bit like Amtraks AEM7's 'meatballs' because of the AEM7's Swedish heritage, and except for Amtrak's HHP8 locomotives every electric passenger locomotive from Washington to Boston looks like an AEM7 to me, and when I first saw them I thought HHP8's http://www.northeast.railfan.net/images/amtk661.jpg were just AEM7's http://www.northeast.railfan.net/images/amtk934.jpg with streamlined ends

Ok well as you have probably guessed by now the abbreviation "44" was used to refer to the NJ Transit ALP-44 locomotive, however this is just a general reference to the locomotive because the "44's" can be broken down into 3 separate models.

ALP-44O (4400-4414) American Locomotive Passenger - 44 (refers to maximum continuous rating in Kilowatts of 4320) Original (refers to the initial order of the locomotive by NJT)

ALP-44E (4415-4419) Same as above except the "E" refers to the original order being Extended. There is no real difference between the ALP-44O and E

ALP-44M (4420-4431) Again same as above except the "M" refers to Microporcessor controls. There are some minor differences the "M" has over the O/E model but not worth getting into here as they are internal differences and wouldn't aid in your identifying of them.

Is this a little better???

Ok well as you have probably guessed by now the abbreviation "44" was used to refer to the NJ Transit ALP-44 locomotive, however this is just a general reference to the locomotive because the "44's" can be broken down into 3 separate models.

ALP-44O (4400-4414) American Locomotive Passenger - 44 (refers to maximum continuous rating in Kilowatts of 4320) Original (refers to the initial order of the locomotive by NJT)

ALP-44E (4415-4419) Same as above except the "E" refers to the original order being Extended. There is no real difference between the ALP-44O and E

ALP-44M (4420-4431) Again same as above except the "M" refers to Microporcessor controls. There are some minor differences the "M" has over the O/E model but not worth getting into here as they are internal differences and wouldn't aid in your identifying of them.

Is this a little better???[/quote]
Ah what do you know you only run these Locomotives! JC

My sentiments exactly JC...

Aren't the M's also longer & heavier with a greater tractive effort? That aside, it felt like i was on a arrow 3 set struggling with the wire breaks between Hudson and Union.

- A

TREnecNYP wrote:Aren't the M's also longer & heavier with a greater tractive effort? That aside, it felt like i was on a arrow 3 set struggling with the wire breaks between Hudson and Union.

- A

No the "M" is actually 1000 lbs lighter (206,000 lbs) than the "O/E" (207,000 lbs). Tractive effort (51,500 lbs per axle) and length (72 ft) are exactly the same.

No the "M" is actually 1000 lbs lighter (206,000 lbs) than the "O/E" (207,000 lbs). Tractive effort (51,500 lbs per axle) and length (72 ft) are exactly the same.[/quote]
Hey how would you know? Oh wait your a Locomotive Engineer! I forgot sorry. JC