Excuse my dumb question but out of curosity the old type of diesel locomotives did usally behave like trucks or old commercial vehicles in terms of railroad holding performances and comfort ?
In the sense of comfort do they use to shake,vibrate,bounce from side to side,tremble,roll or even rattle ?
The old diesels i am referring to are the so called transitional era one like the RS-1 RS-2 RS-3 early GPs or small switchers in general S-2 S-4 HH660 Fairbanks-Morse etc.
Having never had the opportunity for a cab ride I can;t sya for sure, but I don’t think they were THAT horrible, unless runnign on some really bad jointed track. The newer locos are surely more comfortable, with the cab isolated from the frame, insulation, and even air conditioning, but I don’t think first gen units ran like old solid wheel Mack trucks. The trucks were still sprung and equalized, even on a switcher.
I enjoyed a number of cab rides back in the late 70s-early 80s. IMHO, unless over rough track, riding qualities were not bad at all, although on class 2 yard tracks I got to experience the rock & roll sway in an SW9, U18B, and GP7. The switcher and U18B were a little “bouncier”. I also rode on an SDP40f and GP38-2 (have photos). The SDP40f ride was rather smooth with a gentle sway, while you felt every rail joint on the GP38-2.
On that note, I’ve read that generally six axle EMD units had better riding qualities than their 4 axle counter parts and overall, EMDs were smoother rollers than GEs of similar sizes and horsepower. From my understanding, EMD E-units rode “like Cadillacs”.
Re bouncy GE’s: check out this clip. (Ka-boing! Ka-boing! [:P])
For the same reasons I suspect, SD7s and 9s got the same nickname.
And anything coming out of a steam locomotive is like the difference between a Model T and a 2011 anything…
F units have a fairly high center of gravity. Higher than their cousins the GPs. They didn;t share much in the way of ride with trucks, more like silboats in a stiff sea. The GPs don’t sway and the ones at ITM don’t “hunt” (not the right word, but as close as I can get) as much as the Fs we run. But they also aren’t the smoothest ride. They will transfer a rough rail.
On a related note, several CSX engineers I know have told stories of beign bounced and shaken out of their cab seats on 2nd and 3rd gen diesels.
The old hands can correct me, but would it be safe to say that a cab ride in a 1st Gen diesel is going to be 1.5 or so rougher than a coach on the same train, for being higher and heavier?
Simply put back in the day 6 axles rode better then 4 axle…
As far as cab noise we simply yelled over the racket-remember there was no “whisper/quiet cabs” and you heard the motor at full noise and every rattle-that’s why old railroad men are loud talkers…
Riding bad track was a real experience since the engine dipped and rock its way down the track.A real treat was watching ex-steam locomotive fireman walk across the cab,get a cup of water(the engines had water bottles) while the engine was in motion and rocking back and forth.
hi stefano. i took a cab ride a couple of years back on Wisconsin Great Northern SW1 [an ex-Milw unit built 1940.] trip was about 8 miles out and back [ backing up on return]. i remember it being a fairly smooth ride. some roll due to old trackage [ex-Omaha Road]. but fairly quiet and seemed to purr at idle. like they say “they don’t build 'em like that anymore”. the cab ride only cost 10 bucks more. regards, mike r.
Thanks very much for sharing such colorfull stories and the very interesting opinion its a good way for me to feel the atmoshpere of railroading on the early diesels
I had the priviledge of riding in the cab of an RS-3. I didn’t notice the rocking, ect to be too bad. Then again, I was in a little bit of a trance[:|]
I got a ride in an SW unit in a refinery setting, and it was not that uncomfortable. I think the wonderful sensation of being inside such a powerful “beast” overpowered any lack of comfort that I may have experienced. Assuming the trackage is reasonably good, I believe being in a switcher all day would not be extreme one way or the other.
The real tell is how a cab ride would be at speed, for longer periods of time. I’ve never done that, and sure would like to do so !