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  • What model switcher is this?

  • Discussion of Electro-Motive locomotive products and technology, past and present. Official web site can be found here: http://www.emdiesels.com/.
Discussion of Electro-Motive locomotive products and technology, past and present. Official web site can be found here: http://www.emdiesels.com/.

Moderator: GOLDEN-ARM

 #273611  by emd_SD_60
 
I was out railfanning today and saw this switcher sitting right off the side of the tracks (don't ask me how it got there!)... what model is it? Looks like a SW-7 or 9? Also appears to be of C&IM heritage. It was lettered for the CEMR railroad and was numbered 4080.

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... ?id=447349

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... ?id=447355

 #273699  by MEC407
 
Hmmm... very difficult to tell from that angle.

 #273702  by emd_SD_60
 
It appears to have two exhaust stacks. BTW, would anyone happen to know about the CEMR railroad? I think it stands for "Central Manitoba Railway" IIRC.

 #273715  by Steve F45
 
in the pic it's labeled as an sw1200.

 #273727  by U-Haul
 
I do not know if this is the case here, but occasionally a locomotive might have a few problems. The problems might be too expensive to repair or make the locomtive difficult to remove. Thus it is easier to just put the locomtive on the side of the tracks and let it decay.
(This came from a website which I can not remember the name, but some other things on the website were sketchy in their thruthiness. I would not bet the farm on the article's accuracy.)

 #273737  by emd_SD_60
 
I decided to list it as a SW1200, but can change it to a SW9 if someone with more knowledge about the C&IM or CEMR gives me some more info here... visually the SW9 and SW1200 look identical to me.

 #273830  by GN 599
 
Looks like a C&IM motor to me.

 #273877  by BR&P
 
U-Haul, are you serious? Put a locomotive at the side of the tracks and let it decay? Give your local scrap dealer a call and see what steel is selling for these days!

 #273883  by emd_SD_60
 
I did get an e-mail from a pal who works for UP, it appears it was left there by a train a few days before, he told me it is supposed to be picked up and taken to it's final destination August 2nd. Why they didn't just leave it on the siding or take it up a couple of miles to Benton is beyond me....considering it still has its trucks. I take it some sort of crane is required to have left it there and when UP finally comes to get it. Prolly was handled by a work train or local i guess.

 #273926  by MikeF
 
The easiest way to distinguish between an SW9 and an SW1200 is the handrails -- SW1200's have handrails on the outside of the walkway along the entire length of the long hood, as this locomotive does. SW9's do not. (Here is an example of an SW9.)

The locomotive in question probably was not intentionally left there by a train crew. Chances are it either derailed or fell off a flat car.

 #273932  by octr202
 
MikeF wrote:The easiest way to distinguish between an SW9 and an SW1200 is the handrails -- SW1200's have handrails on the outside of the walkway along the entire length of the long hood, as this locomotive does. SW9's do not. (Here is an example of an SW9.)

The locomotive in question probably was not intentionally left there by a train crew. Chances are it either derailed or fell off a flat car.
Although, sometimes if you see it with outside handrails, you need to look closely. I've worked on/around a couple SW-1s with outside handrails that weren't built that way, but had them added later in life.

 #274115  by crij
 
To me it looks like either a SW-1000 (Single stack) or an SW-1200 (Dual Stack), there appears to be no railing along the hood, which is how the early units were built before OSHA made EMD put external handrails on the units. Also the rear grab itons look wierd, then again I am not used to seeing one that was built for MU service.

One reason it may have been sat alongside the RoW, instead of being brought upto the next siding, is that a traction motor or truck bearing may have siezed and locked the axel. If it was being pulled in a train, the speed might have been to high for the gear ratio in the trucks.

Just my opinion,

Rich C

 #274341  by trainiac
 
The easiest way to distinguish between an SW9 and an SW1200 is the handrails -- SW1200's have handrails on the outside of the walkway along the entire length of the long hood, as this locomotive does. SW9's do not. (Here is an example of an SW9.)
That's sometimes true, but it's not a spotting feature. Many SW1200's were built with hood-mounted handrails--many switchers in the EMD series had frame-mounted handrails added afterwards. The only visual difference I've found between the two is on the battery box behind the cab--SW9's have six louvers while SW1200's have five (which holds true for most--but not all--of the production).

 #274371  by Aji-tater
 
Man, we've got some strange ideas floating around here! First, the suggestion that it might be an SW1000 was way off - the cabs on a 1000 and a 1200 are quite different. The one in the photo has an older cab like an SW1200, nothing like the newer ones.

And the idea the loco had a problem in route and was somehow picked up and set off the track sounds like an HO set. Physically it is possible but I can't imagine it being done - if a motor locked up the first thing I'd try is putting oil on the rail and taking it to the next siding. Far easier to have a couple people applying lubrication than to call in cranes and pick it off the track. Then again, with some environmental wackos even that small amount of oil would get their shorts in a bunch. But some torch work on the pinion gear and you could move the thing.

"Fell off a flat car"? Are you serious?

Does anybody know if this thing is really there? I've seen some pretty convincing photoshop projects and can't help wondering if somebody is having a little fun.

 #274380  by GN 599
 
Yeah no kidding I think we are being punked. It it had a locked axle, they would work that pinion gear over with a cutting torch like aji tater said. Hey I know maybe its gonna be a permanent display, like that GP on horseshoe curve. :-D