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  • Dl-109 truck weirdness

  • Discussion of products from the American Locomotive Company. A web site with current Alco 251 information can be found here: Fairbanks-Morse/Alco 251.
Discussion of products from the American Locomotive Company. A web site with current Alco 251 information can be found here: Fairbanks-Morse/Alco 251.

Moderator: Alcoman

 #205873  by Allen Hazen
 
The January 2006 (I think-- it was sold out when I went back to the newsdealer to buy a copy) "Railroad Model Craftsman" has an article on the New Haven's Dl-109: ostensibly about how to kitbash commercial models to represent the New Haven's modifications, but it looks as if there is some prototype information as well, and several good photos.
One photo was of the 0737, taken from about two points off the port bow (so to speak). It LOOKED as if the front truck had two dissimilar drop equalizers! One was clearly of the early (??drop forged??) type, with flanges at the top and bottom. It looked as if the other was of the later (??flame-cut??) type with plain edges (similar to the equalizers on PA trucks).
...
Somebody, please tell me this was an illusion, that the photo was out of focus, that my eyes are bad... and that maintenance-related mix-or-match didn't really extend to mixing equalizer bars on the same truck!
;-)

 #205982  by mxdata
 
Most likely there was a crack in one of the earlier style equalizers on the truck and it was replaced by the later design which was probably the only version then in production. Keep in mind that the New Haven DL-109 units were relatively heavy locomotives.

 #205986  by wess
 
I would be very surprised if that could be accomplished. I am not familiar with the New Haven, but you definitely gave us something of a challenge

 #206140  by mxdata
 
Allen, somewhere in the piles of junk around here I have the parts books, if they ever surface I will try to give you a more exact answer. The two styles of equalizers are probably physically interchangeable but might require different spring seats. Unfortunately I have not seen the photos you referenced.

 #207160  by Allen Hazen
 
mxdata--
You're probably right about the motive for the change. (I recall from a "Trains" article on TTX's U28B that drop equalizers are easily damaged in even minor derailments, and don't see any reason a priori to think those in the Alco passenger trucks would be any more immune to damage than those in the (forgive me!) "Type B" trucks on a U28B.) My guess is that the mix-or-match would be feasible if the mass (and longitudinal mass distribution) of the two types of equalizer bar were equal. ... My sense, from looking at photos, is that the early style drop equalizer (with top and bottom flanges) was used only at the start of Dl-10x production.
... As for the photo: I only saw it briefly. I'm tempted to write to "Railroad Model Craftsman" to ask them to examine the original under a magnifying glass: if it really shows what I thought, that Dl-109 sometimes operated with dissimilar drop equalizer bars in the same truck, some doyen of diesel detailing among their readers might be interested!
-
Wess--
My recollection is that a Dl-109 was in the 360,000/370,000 pound range, compared to 330,000 for an EMD E unit and 300,000 for a PA?
--
And, while we're at it... I noticed, looking again at Steinbrenner's "Alco - Centennial History" that the 3-moter Alco "Trimount" truck came with two visually distinguishable styles of drop equalizer, one used on most RSD-4 and the other more common on RSD-5 (??and later models??). So, if anyone is looking at a large collection of photos of CC Alcos....

 #207253  by mxdata
 
Allen, the drop equalizer is unsprung weight, so the only thing a difference in weight between two dimensionally interchangeable equalizers is going to do is cause a slight change in the journal bearing and wheel loading. It should have very little effect on truck ride quality, they aren't part of the sprung weight.
 #209528  by jr
 
Allen said (or perhaps pleaded):
Somebody, please tell me this was an illusion, that the photo was out of focus, that my eyes are bad... and that maintenance-related mix-or-match didn't really extend to mixing equalizer bars on the same truck!
;-)


I have the January issue of RMC. I cannot give an opinion on your eyesight, the maintenance practices of the NH, or whether it was an illusion. The photo is a bit fuzzy, so I would call it a slightly out-of-focus. :-)

The photo is on page 93, and does indeed show that the front truck, front left equalizer has flanges, and the corresponding rear left equalizer does not.

I seem to recall that the drop equalizers on passenger car trucks were sometimes cast steel, and had a propensity for cracking. While I'm not certain, I believe that Amtrak may have required their replacement with the rolled (or forged?) steel versions, for any private cars that are hauled in their trains.

JR