Modern Locomotive Engine Rooms

I was wondering if they are large enough to walk around in. If so, is it safe to be there while the prime mover is running? In run 8 I would imagine that it's fairly loud and hot.

Also, when the outside temperature is around zero, what would be the temp in the engine room at idle or under load?

Thanks!

Denver,

First, it would depend on whether the unit is a cowl or carbody unit, or a hood unit.
A cowl or carbody unit would have a walkway running the length of the long hood on either side of the prime mover and other equipment.

I have never been inside the long hood of a cowl unit. But I have been inside the engine compartment of cab and booster units while underway. It is loud! How warm at 0 deg. F. I don't know, but the prime mover throws off a lot of heat. The engine assembly is not insulated. Also, the air compressor gets pretty hot. There are both air-cooled and water-cooled compressors, obviously the air-cooled ones produce more radiant heat.

Hood units can be entered at the air compressor end, for access to the air compressor compartment. It gets really hot in those small compartments. I would not enter one while underway. There are racks in there for storing spare multiple-unit cables and air hoses, so they are designed to be entered at times. I almost fainted going into one on a hot day.

Some GE hood units have an electrical cabinet room directly behind the cab that can be accessed from either side. There is a panel with circuit breakers on the wall that is against the cab. You can pass from one side of the unit to the other by going through this compartment.

Engine start stations are generally reached through side doors on hood units, but are not designed to be entered. You have to stand on the walkway and reach in the open door. EMD units will have these near the governor. GE units will have these at the generator end. In neither case is there enough room for a person to actually step inside.

Les

Les,

Great explanation. One final question. I'm not sure what carbody, hood, or cowl units are. What would, say, an EMD SD70ACE or a GE ES44AC be considered?

Thanks!

Those would be "hood" units.

Easy way to tell : if there are walkways on the OUTSIDE on the sides, it's a hood unit.

This is the traditional road/switcher body style, first introduced w/the GP7.

If the side is a sheer wall (like a typical amtrak passenger locomotive), it's a cab/carbody unit.

I've also hard these referred to as "covered wagons"

litz wrote:This is the traditional road/switcher body style, first introduced w/the GP7.

Minor nitpick, but the first roadswitcher was the Alco RS-1 in 1941. The GP7 wasn't introduced until 8 years later.

Just to clarify things a bit, the Alco RS-1 came along in 1941, followed by the Baldwin DRS-6-4-15 and the Alco RS-2, both in 1946, then the GP-7 in 1949. The EMD BL-1 and BL-2, questionable at best as road-switchers, were born (and died) in 1948 and 1949.

F-M even beat EMD to the road-switcher party with the H-15-44 in 1947 and the H-20-44, also in 1947. The latter was an end cab unit, but was built on road trucks and was capable of road speeds.

Denver,

The other guys answered your question pretty well.

EMD,

If you consider an end-cab switcher (or center-cab switcher) to be a hood unit, then these things have been around since at least the 1920's.

One of life's mysteries to me has been the BL-2. I've got models of two of them on my model railroad (MP, ex C&EI). Do you know how access was made to the engine compartments on these? There are no external walkways, but there seems to be no room for internal ones. I've never seen one "in the flesh."

Les

Desertdweller wrote:Denver,
One of life's mysteries to me has been the BL-2. I've got models of two of them on my model railroad (MP, ex C&EI). Do you know how access was made to the engine compartments on these? There are no external walkways, but there seems to be no room for internal ones. I've never seen one "in the flesh."

It's true, __everything__ is available on the internet! Here's a video with a look at the inside of a BAR BL-2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36CCu--Eqzc

Cool video! Thanks for the link.

Desertdweller-

Please take a close look at my screen name; I use the initials that my parents gave me. I'm not a locomotive nor locomotive builder. (And I'm an Alco guy, to boot. Life isn't fair-)

To get back on topic, a BL-2 has been described by mechanics as an F unit with all of the working room taken out of the engine room.

EDM

The GP7 solved some of those problems. One thing I noticed was that the engine air for combustion is taken from the hot engine room. You see on a lot of GP7's and GP9's a "horse collar" arraignment that takes the combustion air directly from the outside. The radiators and at least the dynamic brake grids remained over the engine until the 50 series. New locomotives have a removable cover that is easily removed for easy access to the engine now.

Piyer,

Cool video. Thanks!
One minor nitpick: the superchargers on non-turbo EMD are Rootes blowers, not centrifugal superchargers. Turbos use centrifugal superchargers.

This beast looks more like an F-unit inside than a Geep. I especially liked the inside fuel gauge. Not only is it easier to read, but it will stay clean in there.

I don't think I'd want to walk through that engine room with the unit running. It would really be a place I'd want to wear ear protection.

EDM,

Well, you were almost EMD. Looks like you have a BNSF Dash-nine number.

Les

DD- Nope; road number of an Alco that I own, and last two of a hack I used to own. No Dash-nine-