The following person who was close to the situation asked me to post this.
Alcoman-moderator
Subject: Roll-call
I was hired by the party that purchased the 12 cylinder 251 engine and generator from the LSRC C420 #976. My job was to remove the engine from the locomotive, as such I saw first hand what caused the fire that destroyed this locomotive. The locomotive's fire was caused by a diesel fuel mist being sprayed into the main generator. This leak was not caused by the fuel line running across the top back of the diesel engine; i.e. fuel crossover line.
There was a fuel line running from the fuel oil booster pump to the cab for a fuel oil pressure gauge. This line lays on the deck just inside the hood doors, runs past the main generator, thru the electrical cabinet, under the cab floor, thru the floor and is mounted to the front cab wall. This line had a split about one and one half inches long right next to the rear of the main generator. As such, it was spraying a fine mist of diesel fuel into the main generator.
This line was on the left side of the locomotive, but the right side of the diesel engine. Once the fire started, the crew let it burn with the engine still running. The engine continued to run until the fire department arrived and put the fire out. Because of the rotation of the engine/generator, it push the fire around thru the generator and up the left side of the engine, { right side of locomotive } this melted the left rear injector cover, the left rear valve cover and the crankcase exhauster.
The main generator was destroyed as well as the main cables to the electrical cabinet, but the electrical cabinet was unhurt. There was other damage to the locomotive, but it was rebuildable. The insurance company paid for the locomotive, but the decision was made to part it out and not rebuild it.
This all could have been stopped before any major damage occurred. The locomotive had 3 emergency fuel shutdown buttons, none were used. Had the engine been shutdown and the knife switch pulled, the fire could have been put out with a fire extinguisher.
James Kopkey
