Railroad Forums 

  • New Build Diesel Ideas?

  • General discussion about locomotives, rolling stock, and equipment
General discussion about locomotives, rolling stock, and equipment

Moderator: John_Perkowski

 #1540212  by Pensyfan19
 
I'm not sure if a topic in this nature already exists, so if it does please move it there. But if not, here ya go! :P

There are groups in Britain who are rebuilding extinct diesel locomotives, such as the class 22 and class D16/1, could it be possible for such a project to take place in the U.S.? Are there similar diesel new build projects in the proposal or construction stage?

Now for the other part of this discussion: List the diesel engines you want to see be restored/brought back from the dead!

1. ALCO DL-109
2. Baldwin DR-12-8-1500/2 (Centipede) (or the Baldwin DR-4-4-15 "Baby face")
3. EMD DD35
4. GE U50
5. FM Erie Built
 #1540244  by eolesen
 
Hmmm. Before spending hundreds of thousands (if not millions) to build a couple extinct diesels, perhaps it would be a better use of that money to actually restore the hundreds of locomotives sitting around in museum collections or at storage yards with railroads, Larry's, Precision, etc. awaiting their date with the torch...
 #1540289  by Pensyfan19
 
eolesen wrote: Tue Apr 21, 2020 3:40 am Hmmm. Before spending hundreds of thousands (if not millions) to build a couple extinct diesels, perhaps it would be a better use of that money to actually restore the hundreds of locomotives sitting around in museum collections or at storage yards with railroads, Larry's, Precision, etc. awaiting their date with the torch...
I am well aware of the hundreds of SD40-2s, MP15s, etc. which could be restored from LTEX or Progress Rail. But the whole point of this discussion is to see what extinct diesel locomotives you would like to see back. There are similar topics when talking about steam locomotives, and I am trying to do something similar for diesel locomotives.
 #1540324  by Allen Hazen
 
Well, I would LIKE to see an Alco Dl-109 (*), and engines could be obtained by sacrificing a couple of S4...
But, as mentioned in a thread on new-build steam, smaller is cheaper and so maybe more practical (the idea of getting a LARGE NUMBER of American railroad enthusiast to agree on a plan to build a large diesel is mind-boggling), so maybe we should think about a small locomotive.
I'd vote for re-creating one of the 300hp, Ingersoll-Rand engined, switchers that GE built in the early 1930s for the Bush Terminal Railroad in Brooklyn (NY): the first diesel hood units. A few apparently survived into the 1970s... and weren't preserved because getting rail-fans to cooperate on a diesel preservation scheme was too hard.
---
(*) Maybe "see an Alco Dl-109 again": my family had frequent enough occasion to meet trains at the Berlin (CT) station in the 1950s that I probably saw Also Dl-109 a few times... when I was too young to recognize and appreciate.
 #1540358  by John_Perkowski
 
eolesen wrote: Tue Apr 21, 2020 3:40 am Hmmm. Before spending hundreds of thousands (if not millions) to build a couple extinct diesels, perhaps it would be a better use of that money to actually restore the hundreds of locomotives sitting around in museum collections or at storage yards with railroads, Larry's, Precision, etc. awaiting their date with the torch...
I agree. Let’s deal with what is rusting away now.
 #1540411  by Pensyfan19
 
Allen Hazen wrote: Tue Apr 21, 2020 8:41 pm Well, I would LIKE to see an Alco Dl-109 (*), and engines could be obtained by sacrificing a couple of S4...
But, as mentioned in a thread on new-build steam, smaller is cheaper and so maybe more practical (the idea of getting a LARGE NUMBER of American railroad enthusiast to agree on a plan to build a large diesel is mind-boggling), so maybe we should think about a small locomotive.
I'd vote for re-creating one of the 300hp, Ingersoll-Rand engined, switchers that GE built in the early 1930s for the Bush Terminal Railroad in Brooklyn (NY): the first diesel hood units. A few apparently survived into the 1970s... and weren't preserved because getting rail-fans to cooperate on a diesel preservation scheme was too hard.
---
(*) Maybe "see an Alco Dl-109 again": my family had frequent enough occasion to meet trains at the Berlin (CT) station in the 1950s that I probably saw Also Dl-109 a few times... when I was too young to recognize and appreciate.
Fair point. I would go for a small industrial diesel of that kind, but I don't think the DL-109 would be too large. Or an FM Erie Built. Or maybe even a few railcars, such as MoPac's Eaglette or other small railcars or doodlebugs of that nature.
 #1540557  by Pensyfan19
 
So with that in mind, what are some diesel locomotives you would like to see back? (I know about the thousands of SD40s and others sitting at LTEX, but I wpull like this topic to focus on engines which we woulk like to see back, or have a new build of, as there are similar discussions regarding steam locomotives.)
 #1540761  by Allen Hazen
 
How about recreating electrics? I'd love to see one of the New Haven's big GE types: maybe an EP-4 (same wheel arrangement as a PRR GG-1, but not quite the same frame design, so temporarily removing the body from some preserved GG-1 and putting an EP-4 duplicate on top wouldn't be QUITE right...), or an EP-5 ("Jet"). The latter might appeal to some diesel fans, since the cab and nose designs have more than a passing resemblance to some earlier GE designs: the Also-GE PA and FA series.
 #1540806  by Pensyfan19
 
Allen Hazen wrote: Sat Apr 25, 2020 10:45 pm How about recreating electrics? I'd love to see one of the New Haven's big GE types: maybe an EP-4 (same wheel arrangement as a PRR GG-1, but not quite the same frame design, so temporarily removing the body from some preserved GG-1 and putting an EP-4 duplicate on top wouldn't be QUITE right...), or an EP-5 ("Jet"). The latter might appeal to some diesel fans, since the cab and nose designs have more than a passing resemblance to some earlier GE designs: the Also-GE PA and FA series.
Great idea! This thread is also open to new build electrics such as the EP-5, or maybe even the older EP-2, or a PRR L5. This discussion can also include boxcabs and streamlined trainsets such as UP's M10000.
 #1540979  by Allen Hazen
 
Re: Boxcabs.
There are a few Also-GE-IR boxcars still in existence. (CNJ 1000, I think, is in the B&O museum in Baltimore.). The IR diesel engine is the same, and the electrical at least very similar, to those in the (sadly extinct) GE-IR hood units built for the Bush Terminal Railroad. Perhaps if a duplicate of one of the Bush Terminal units was built, it would be possible to borrow the engine/generator set from one of the existing box cabs for running a (well-filmed!) operation, and then return it to the owning museum, keeping the body of the Bush Terminal replica as a static display? After all, diesel locomotives are designed to allow removal of the engine for heavy maintenance...
 #1540990  by eolesen
 
Great. Now you have an EP-5 and a DL-109.

Where do you plan to run them?....

The only way I"d invest is if there was a place to run them. Building a replica just to sit as a museum display? Nah, I'm good with photos and videos of something in operation. I don't need an overpriced stage prop.
 #1541029  by Pensyfan19
 
eolesen wrote: Tue Apr 28, 2020 5:50 am Great. Now you have an EP-5 and a DL-109.

Where do you plan to run them?....

The only way I"d invest is if there was a place to run them. Building a replica just to sit as a museum display? Nah, I'm good with photos and videos of something in operation. I don't need an overpriced stage prop.
Not likely but the EP-5 can be used for excursion service on the Northeast corridor.

ALCO DL-109 can run along the same trackage as other EMD E units which run on excursions.
 #1541036  by scratchyX
 
Allen Hazen wrote: Tue Apr 28, 2020 12:02 am Re: Boxcabs.
There are a few Also-GE-IR boxcars still in existence. (CNJ 1000, I think, is in the B&O museum in Baltimore.). The IR diesel engine is the same, and the electrical at least very similar, to those in the (sadly extinct) GE-IR hood units built for the Bush Terminal Railroad. Perhaps if a duplicate of one of the Bush Terminal units was built, it would be possible to borrow the engine/generator set from one of the existing box cabs for running a (well-filmed!) operation, and then return it to the owning museum, keeping the body of the Bush Terminal replica as a static display? After all, diesel locomotives are designed to allow removal of the engine for heavy maintenance...
Yeah, I had my hands on CNJ 1000 when I visited 2 months ago. It's indoors.