This is not an advertisement or endorsement…because I am posting it here in model trains forum. The industry just happens to be in my town at the old BCR shops now abandoned after the takeover by CN.
This is a very neat little rig and a clever enterprise. It also would make a great kitbashing project. I am going to make one for sure in HO gauge.
I include the businesses website link merely so you can take a look at their operations with an eye to modelling.
Looks like a battery powered shop goat. Conrail had one that worked at the Elizabethport N.J. shop. It didn’t have a cab, though. It was just a platform with a battery box mounted on an old Alco Blunt truck. I think it’s at Steamtown now.
Looks that way, but it isn’t. If you check out the website. It uses rail power components and diesel power producing 56,000 pounds of traction (which can be boosted to 70,000 pounds of tractive effort!)…three traction motors on three powered axles I believe…though I haven’t read all about it yet.
No, I read now about their electric transmission. I don’t think they could utilize traction motors on the orignal trucks, and have space.
I just figured it was battery powered because I saw no fuel tank or exhaust stack, but what do
i know, I’m no technician.
Ya know, I thought about doing something like that with an Athearn Hustler, but didn’t think it would look very “prototypical”. It’s on now! Thanks for this post.Very cool! Dan
Wow ! Excellent. To me, that makes more sense than a Trackmobile, even in HO scale, although the Trackmobile has the rubber tire option. I just have to make an attempt at this. I sure have enough stuff.
Thanks for sharing that!
Mike.
Milwaukee Roads shop goat in Harlowton Montana, no catenary, it used an extension cord!. It was only used to pull the Little Joes and Boxcabs out of the roundhouse. There is a film showing it doing just that, and twice the extension cord grounding out against the rail. Can still be seen at the museum in Harlowton.
At Enola…we used a radio controlled and battery powered EMD 2 axle truck that was used to move locomotives in and out of the wheel true building. It was affectionately called ‘the bug’, numbered 0.
Could be the same type of machine that steemtrayn we referring to.
Mark H
Interesting - It appears to be built and an EMD HTC truck frame(introduced on the SD40-2). The video shows it in operation, but I do not see an exaust stack(but I do hear ‘something’ running in video). I suspect a small CAT/Cummins/MPU powerplant as they are using a large ‘starter’ for the main generator, so an EMD main generator may be too big or need to be run at a different RPM to be efficient. It will be tested by a large grain elevator, so I suspect it is designed for spotting cars like at such a facility or for positioning cars at a rail car rebuilder.
Jim
I can hardly wait until Darth Santa Fe sees this engine!
They do mention a fuel tank, so it appears the critter (and I think that the name is apt) is not (solely) battery powered. It may well use batteries with a trickle charger onboard. Ed
Read the PDF, there are all the details + plans of this engine powered loco.
here’s a BN one from the West Burlington Shops, Photo shot by: John Lewis
Yes, I am told it can move a seven or eight empty cars.
That traction figure quoted higher sounds optimistic by a factor of two. I doubt this thing can pull more than its factor of adhesion on the rails. I estimate its weight to be close to 20 tons, or 40K pounds. It might be able to generate the power aboard to have a tractive effort of 50K+ pounds, but it will spin in place attempting to apply it to the rails. 70K pounds of tractive effort would dwarf most 200 ton 4-8-4 locomotives in their day. You’d have to add another 40K pounds of ballast to the frame of this wee beastie in order to generate the boosted figure claimed, and have pristime track and tire surfaces.
-Crandell
That would certainly be my thoughts.
FWIW I read its weight to be 80 tons on the downloadable brochure.