Tarpulin over grille?

[mrconductor55]

I have alays wondered this. Why do some rr's put tarps over the front grills of emd end cab switchers during the winter. I have seen this on 4 engines this winter,An SW1, an SW14, an SW7, and an SW1500. Could someone shed some light on this?
Frank

[ex Budd man]

In cold climates the diesel coolant (water) will freeze if not kept warm. Even with the shutters closed frigid air (no not the Refrigerator ) will chill the coolant to the freezing point if not protected. There is a valve ( the Ogonze Valve) that will dump the water if it goes below a set temperature. Thats why they idle all day long to ensure that the water stays hot. It is too expensive to use antifreeze in hundreds of locos.

[mrconductor55]

right, thats why they idle through the winter or use hot start, but why the tarp on the grille on the front of the engine like shown here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vjc_gExt7U

[DutchRailnut]

to prevent radiator from freezing, just like on trucks, on switchers the fan runs continous, and at Idle there is not enough flow through radiator.

[pablo]

Another concern I was hoping Dutch would mention is that Antifreeze products are corrosive to locomotive parts...though I don't know which ones. I suspect, though, the cost is simply prohibitive.

I didn't know about the flow at idle, though, truthfully.

Dave Becker

[DutchRailnut]

On EMD's the seals between parts are not tight enough to run an engine with Antifreeze, any antifreeze that leaks inside the engine will end up in oil pan.
If Antifreeze gets circulated with oil it will eat the crankshaft bearings, and therefor totaling engine real quick.
You can also imagine that EPA would not like 180 gallons of antifreeze in a system that leaks like a sieve

[bystander]

canvass keppes hte oil in-

[DutchRailnut]

Could you translate that in to our native language please ? We do not speak " hooked on Phonics"

[RickRackstop]

On EMD's the seals between parts are not tight enough to run an engine with Antifreeze, any antifreeze that leaks inside the engine will end up in oil pan.
If Antifreeze gets circulated with oil it will eat the crankshaft bearings, and therefor totaling engine real quick.
You can also imagine that EPA would not like 180 gallons of antifreeze in a system that leaks like a sieve

EMD use to make a package generator set using a 567D4 engine running at 900 rpm and rated at 2000KW (2800 hp) that required the use of antifreeze, usually NALCO 39L. They are pretty reliable but I one of LILCO's units had a oil cooler failure and it was a major project to chemically clean all the goo out of the system. The EMD tool catalogue list a large rubber bag for the purpose of storing coolant during engine work then pumped back in. A lot of generator sites don't have water available and it would have to be trucked in. The above MP36 units are the only units that require antifreeze the following MP45's don't require it because the radiators drain back into the expansion tank during shutdown.

The water-deck engines previous to the 567C of 1954 would leak into the oil pan where they got cold and that antique in the video probably has such an engine.

[D.Carleton]

Diesel prime movers, be they stationary or mobile, need to be at operating temperature prior to loading to ensure engine longevity and proper operation. Many of the older SW locomotives have a shutter arrangement in front of the fan which over time may not open /close fully or seize completely. Removing the shutters for maintenance is a hassle and time-consuming. It has been found to be much simpler to tarp the radiator intake in cold weather to bring the prime mover up to and maintain temperature.

[BR&P]

The last post is getting closer to it. While in an extreme case the tarp may prevent actual freezing, more often it's just to keep the water temp higher. Even when the shutters close properly, cold air can get in and lower the temperature. Since most of these older units have hot water heat like your car, if the water is cold the cab is cold. Not only can that be an FRA violation, it also makes for grumpy engineers. If the engine is out thrashing around with a decent load to work it, they will put out some heat. If you're putting along with a couple cars in second notch, it can take half the day to get the temp up to 160. Another trick for even colder weather is to block off half of the opening on each side of the radiator screen on the top of the locomotive - a tarp or some plywood wired in place will further cut down on the air flow.

One problem occurs when a normally lightly used loco with tarp in place has to do some real work - next thing you know you're out there dropping the tarp to cool it back down.

[Engineer Spike]

The real point has already been made. The fan is direct driven, just like in a car. This may be why UP modified their switchers. They look to have GP9 style grills, and electric fans. This way, they can be thermostatically turned on or off. As for water heat, most bigger railroad long ago replaced them with electric heat.