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  • F40PH's in freight serice?

  • Discussion of Electro-Motive locomotive products and technology, past and present. Official web site can be found here: http://www.emdiesels.com/.
Discussion of Electro-Motive locomotive products and technology, past and present. Official web site can be found here: http://www.emdiesels.com/.

Moderator: GOLDEN-ARM

 #728060  by DutchRailnut
 
correct perfectly legal , it has required inset for conductor to go in clear, its called a stairway.
In railroad jargon, a ladder is mounted on side or end of car or engine, rear end of a F7 or FL9 unit for example.
A F40PH has no stairways on front end,(only rear end) it has only side ladders at front.
 #728487  by newyorkcentral
 
I'm curious as to why the F40's were made w/o steps on the unit? I would at least think there would be steps, ladders to climb up to the cab :(

From the descriptions of the other threads I would think this unit WAS nothing more than a road engine :wink:
 #728490  by MEC407
 
newyorkcentral wrote:I'm curious as to why the F40's were made w/o steps on the unit? I would at least think there would be steps, ladders to climb up to the cab :(

From the descriptions of the other threads I would think this unit WAS nothing more than a road engine :wink:
They have steps on the rear, and ladders on the front. They were designed for passenger trains, not freight trains, hence the lack of front steps.
 #728777  by NV290
 
newyorkcentral wrote:I'm curious as to why the F40's were made w/o steps on the unit? I would at least think there would be steps, ladders to climb up to the cab :(

From the descriptions of the other threads I would think this unit WAS nothing more than a road engine :wink:
A step by definition implies that you more or less will be moving up and forward making it possible to climb using only your legs. Because of this, there would be no way to have actual steps on a hood unit because the cab and nose is as wide as the locomotives frame. Ladders are the only choice. They do however use a decent size footplate to climb on vs tradition railroad grab irons. On F40's, you had a ladder that went straight up to the cab and then you had a switching ladder on each side of the front. This still allowed you to ride the leading end of the movement, albeit not in the same comfort an actual platform would give you. Where the hood ends on a hood unit, stairs can be added since they need only shorten the width of the rear platform to allow the steps to move inward as they progress.

F40's, like the P40's and P42's were never intended to haul freight or be used in yard switching. They were built as mainline locomotives to work as road units. In fact, P40's and 42's not only lack the forward mounted switching ladders, but it is against the rules to even ride the side ladders on the front due the risk of injury from truck componenets.
 #730313  by Komachi
 
MEC407 wrote:Canadian American Railroad (CDAC), the Maine railroad referenced above, added a door to the nose of the locomotive and added a front porch with steps. They also added a larger fuel tank, did some electrical upgrades, and changed the gearing from passenger to freight. The rebuilt units were called F40M-2F.

Spec sheets for these locomotives can be viewed at:

http://railworld-inc.com/forms/F40M-2F-Front.pdf (page 1)

and

http://railworld-inc.com/forms/F40M-2F-Back.pdf (page 2)

I believe four of those F40M-2Fs have migrated south to Iowa and are currently operating on the Iowa Northern Railway.

See here on the Official Iowa Northern Railway site (scroll down to stats at bottom of the page)... http://www.iowanorthern.com/about/

and this roster listing on the Unofficial Iowa Northern site... http://railroad101.tripod.com/id10.html

Looks like CDAC units 451, 454, 458 and 461 are now on the IANR... with the same road numbers.
 #732929  by GulfRail
 
I've often pondered as to what a freight version of the F40PH would have looked like. It probably would have been called something along the lines of "GP40F-2," and would have been mainly purchased by cowl diehards like the Santa Fe. It would have needed to have been modified similar to how the SDP40F's were given front pilots and handrails. For info on the F40PH's "big brother," the SDP40F, see:
http://ATSF.Railfan.net/cowls/sdp40f.html

Once can guess that's what sort of modifications would have been made at the factory by EMD.
 #733038  by MEC407
 
If CN or CP had requested a "Draper Taper" version of the GP40-2W (as they did with the SD40-2W, SD50, SD60, HR616, etc), I think that would have been pretty similar to what you're describing... except that it wouldn't have required any nose modifications, as with Sante Fe's SDP40Fs.
 #733220  by HoggerKen
 
Iowa Northern has two of them, and I used to see them all the time making moves in Cedar Rapids, and working stations north. Did not have the steps till later on.
 #733371  by Mr.S
 
If I am not mistaken CP was the only Canadien Railroad that ordered the Draper Tapered SD40-2W, it is labeled a SD40-2F and are more commonly known as RED BARNS..
 #733409  by MEC407
 
Mr.S wrote:If I am not mistaken CP was the only Canadien Railroad that ordered the Draper Tapered SD40-2W, it is labeled a SD40-2F and are more commonly known as RED BARNS..
That is correct.
 #735567  by ENR3870
 
Mr.S wrote:If I am not mistaken CP was the only Canadien Railroad that ordered the Draper Tapered SD40-2W, it is labeled a SD40-2F and are more commonly known as RED BARNS..
And CN ordered the SD50F, SD60F, HR616, and C40-8M.
 #739353  by Triplex
 
I can't believe this hasn't come up yet.
There are some F40PHs with the traditional nose in regular freight service - in Panama.
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=292221