Someone actually washes them

Today i passed 3634 as it sat facing east at ridgefield park. What i saw astonished me. Someone actually washing it. They were on the cab roof with a powerwasher and soap cleaning it. I never thought they would go out of there way to do it. Where he had washed already was nice and yellow too.

How ofter do they wash them if ever?

Mavbe that's what they were doing in Bingo to the 3672 the other day. Or oil remover, as it was mainly under the stack, and on the fuel tank.

when i had gone passed again later on i didn't see the guy washing anymore but the 2 aclo's didn't get touched.

Oh boy, they have a wash rack there? Where does the run-off go? This doesn't sound like the best thing to be doing there, in light of the oil spill into Overpeck already.

i wouldn't call it a wash rack.

That's what I thought, there's nothing there, but what passes for ballast. But I don't think a commercial enterprise can just wash trucks or cars on its property without some method to catch the rinse water, I would think the same goes for the railroad.

I know there are pads between and on the outsides of the rails so could that possibly catch the water? You can see them in this shot i got of the offices/engine servicing area. http://trainfreak.rrpicturearchives.net ... ?id=342866 They are down on the left side of the shot in the corner. Even though they look metal.

Jeff, is the plastic tank on the pallet the cleaning solution? I don't think those blocks do much... but I'm going to defer to Chris if he knows what the environmental rules are for New Jersey. If the wash solution is biodegradable and if the ballast and undersoil can absorb the washwater without run-off, it may be marginally acceptable... but I don't want to play jailhouse attorney here. It just doesn't look right.

well this was a first for me anyway. Why would they need to wash them? I mean the alco's look like they're soaked in oil and dirt. Do they really care if they are clean looking?


2 off topic questions here.

1. Why do the alco's sound like they are whining struggling? Tonight i followed the 99 from bogota to rt.23 and actually lost him. But when they got to river st. in hackensack they throttled up and the 3634 sounded healthy not much smoke, the 2 alco's on the other hand spitted blue/blk smoke and just sounded weird. Then when in midland park the 3634 again sounded healthy at full throttle, but the alco's just sounded as if they couldn't do it. The last/3rd alco was surging and spitting out sparks and actually had a nice lil faint flame shoot out. Then in oakland chuggin along the emd sounded fine, then the alco's just had a loud whine to them. Why is that?

2. What other frequencies are there? are there any other frequencies for the csx river line?

Sadly, many years ago rail management found out that a dirty locomotive would pull just as much as a clean one.

The "pads" in Ridgefield Park are more for soaking up any drippings off the units rather than for washing. There is however some kind of chamber to catch the oil / grease/ fuel dropped because that is what over flowed when one of the Alcos popped a cork a few months back.

The washing may have been done to get the windows clean. I believe any engineer has the right to refuse running an engine if the windows are too dirty. Washing is also done if there is excessive oil on the walkways and handrails. Washing on the NYS&W is done more for safety rather than asthetics.

2005Vdub;

The Alcos sound differently than the EMD because they are a totally different engine concept. If I remember correctly EMDs are two stroke, while Alcos and GEs are four stroke engines. The "Alco dust" or smoke you saw was one of the tell tale signs of Alcos. Its typically caused by turbo lag in the engine when it is throttled up.

Chris

thanks cjvrr. Yea the last alco on the 99 yesterday was not just spitting a nice cloud thru hackensack when they went full throttle but up the hill thru midland park got some nice spark showers.

as for that cleaning, he was on the roof cleaning the roof.

The pads catch any oil or fluids leaking from the engine. typically called an oil-water seperator. seperates the oil from the water. Dont think this is good enough for locomotive washing, but I dont have any real experience with washing locos.

The NYSW has an oil seperator tank. Thats what you are seeing. The oil/fuel/water mixture flows into the tank then the water is seperated from the fuel/oil. I used to be the guy who washed the engines. i did one a week there for a while then i got a better job with Bombardier working on the new jersey transit bi-level cars. any other questions??

That's the magic answer... from someonebody who knows. Thanks.

Yes, I have another question... the plastic tank in the pallet... is it washing solution or Nalcool 2000? Do the Cartier Alcos still use a water treatment antifreeze, or are they now running on straight water?