EMD or steam engine? Hard to tell from a distance.......

[Jtgshu]

I had an engine today, a GP40 - that smoked SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO bad, it would even make an Alco look environmentally friendly!!!

It smoked so bad, I could not even see the head passenger car coupled to the engine!!!! It lasted a few minutes, much longer than the usual "burning off" that the EMDs do if they sit for a while......

the cloud of smoke was still lingering over the marshes of South Jersey when I went around a bend and was able to look back - a whole 4 miles away! It was great!!! hahahah

What would make her smoke so bad at first? For the rest of the day, there was no more exhaust smoke than usual, and she ran like a champ - she was quicker than most others and a good runner -

When we returned, the mechanical forces checked the oil and had to add a good amount!!!

Never a dull moment!!!

[nickleinonen]

any unusual noises from the engine rear geartrain where the turbo is? if the clutch was slipping, that could give you the smoke off the start, but if it came off the clutch under load, it would clean up quite a bit.. lack of air or way excessive fuel will make it smoke black.

[Jtgshu]

Nah, no out of the ordinary noises, she actually seemed quieter than some other GP40's in the fleet - and she ran really well, got up to track speed (80mph) seeming quicker than others and also braked really well (a blended brake set up, air plus dynamics contolled by the AB handle - no seperate DB handle)

I saw someone else running it, and she also smoked pretty good out of the initial terminal, but not nearly as bad as when I had it.

It wasn't black smoke, but rather grayish/brown smoke.

I think NJTR4150 should be given an honorary steamer award!!!

[E-44]

Aside from the obvious - possible differences in skill level behind the throttle - it sounds like this stinkpot just has a small crack in the cylinder head (or gasket leak) that self-seals as operating temp climbs and the metal expands.

If you were losing compression due to worn rings (and lube oil was being washed off the cylinder walls and burned) your performance wouldn't have been there. That gray color in the exhaust probably indicates some coolant escaping into the cylinders, which might also be "cured" by heat expansion.

Beats me why, with some of the worst air quality in the nation, Transit is still running these antique oil burners.

[Jtgshu]

Aside from the obvious - possible differences in skill level behind the throttle

Beats me why, with some of the worst air quality in the nation, Transit is still running these antique oil burners.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooh ouch - hahahahhaha

I see your GE bias is leaking out

Those "antique oil burners" still work, thats why!!! the PL42 is nothing short of a disaster, and although they are getting better, the site of a Geep is a relief - you know that you are gonna get there, and she is gonna load up when you move the throttle!!! And, most importantly, the only brain on the locomotive is the one in the engineer's head, not 100's of other little silicon brains that think they know how to run the train better than the enigneer, deciding if they are actually gonna let the enigneer do what he wants to do!!!

[E-44]

I'm not the one who is leaking. I leave that to the EMD crowd

[E-44]

And, most importantly, the only brain on the locomotive is the one in the engineer's head, not 100's of other little silicon brains that think they know how to run the train better than the enigneer, deciding if they are actually gonna let the enigneer do what he wants to do!!!

OK, JT, you're off the hook. They don't mention any names

From the Bergen Record 2/27

"Most of the failures were traced to a computer system that controls engine power, which occasionally turned off and then on again, much like a computer rebooting after a crash."

http://northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eX ... FlZUVFeXky