I’ve been thinking about having my railroad be all GE power. What would be a GE equivalent to the EMD GP-38 series or other light road switchers?
Thanks,
Kent
I believe that you will find that the lightest readily available GE is the Atlas U23B… U25B would be next… externally U28B is the same except for a batery box cover… don’t know about weight/assume power uprated…(They were Stewart… someone else -Athearn???- is doing them now).
I’m biased… I think you’ll get more fun/variety with small Alcos… loads of them! RS series (Road switchers). Because (mostly) an earlier generation (like 1st) so smaller/lighter all round (Someone will show me how wrong this statement is)! Even an RSD12 looks small compared to most GE power.
AND…ALCOS SMOKE! [8D]
Then again… what scale are you in and what era? [I’m talking H0]. What sort of road? What traffic? Where in the US? Alcos lasted a long time on short lines / could be bought cheap if funds were short… GE often had to come new/full price…
I don’t know… Is a GP38 a lightweight loco? I would have thought a GP7 or GP9 ( or one of their derivatives) would be… could someone help us out on this please?
Have fun! [:P]
I hadn’t thought of Alcos. I’ll look into them more. What do you mean by smoke?
I’m sorry, I keep forgetting to give this information. I’m still in the early planning stages, but I plan on modeling the modern era. I’m still deciding between N or HO scale. I’m currently leaning toward HO, as my eyes are not the best. The road will be an industrial railroad. When space permits I would like to expand to some sort of shortline. Not really sure of the traffic right now. This will be located in the Western or Southwestern US. My current plan is Western Utah.
Kent
Somke!!! Alco engines were notorious for excessive smoking through exhaust, belching thick black smoke everywhere. The new alco’s by P2K or Atlas’s C424/425,or their new RS series would fit right in on a shortline industrial railroad, as railroads merged, older engines, especially Alcos, were sold off due to lack of parts, many shortlines picked them up.
How about the U18b ‘Baby U-Boat’ Maine Central had a bunch of them. I don’t remember the prime mover right off the top of my head, but they were about 4’ shorter tham a U23. If you want really light, don’t forget the 44 and 70 tonners. They were used for both switching and road work.
George
SUPERB! LOVED THAT! Wish I could find the link for two Suzie Q Alcos I have pics of… they are hiding apartment blocks with the BLACK crud they are belching out. With all this DCC and sound I just wish that someone would come up with good smoke units and space to fit them in diesels.
For a more modern layout you could choose AtlasB23-7s or B30-7s. I don’t know of anyone making the Baby Boats… pity they’re nice.
If you get GE 70 or 40 tonners (from Bachmann) watch out that you get the recent builds… other threads here will tell you about issues with the early ones. I have an early one that makes smoke… without a smoke unit.
If you are aware of your eyes now… go H0!
Based on your description, I will assume that such a shortline would be an ore hauler or other raw materials. Based on your preference for GE’s, I would go with U23B/U23C’s for your roster. If you go with the U23B, a few road slugs to go with them might not be too bad.
The suggestion of a cabless remote control switcher for the mine or smelter is good, an Alco or EMD switcher would be a good starting point for such a conversion. They usually have the original engine removed and replaced with a truck-size Cummins or Cat diesel and a slug of concrete for ballast.
Before you ask… a road slug is the bottom part of a loco - everything below the running plate - with no prime mover (engine). It takes power from the parent loco when more traction is needed… on starting and on up grades. It is a way of distributing the power produced by the loco that would tend to go into wheel slip. I’ve never seen more than one slug with one loco. A slug with several locos (2, maybe more) is not unusual.
I wasn’t actually thinking of a cabless loco… a Zombie is a cabbed loco that has had its main controls replaced by radio control. The cab windows may or may not be blanked out. They tend to have very bright or wasp ends and (more recently) big warning signs. They also tend to have rotating beacons. They tend to be converted with as little input/cost as possible so a cab will not be removed without reason. The door(s) may be stencilled with a warning or a “Keep Out” or “No Riders” sign. They can also be made from a B unit, calf from a cow-calf switcher pair possibly with the addition a some sort of box for the control gear… or they can have the cab removed as described.
Then again… sometimes the cab is retained for an operator with a hand controller like those used for model airplanes to ride in between locations
What do I mean by smoke?
Try these…
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=75698
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=75709
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=75699
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=66803
[(-D][yeah]
In the Appalachians, lots of coal mine operations have used remote control switchers cut down from old Alco switchers, usually an S2 or S4. The cab and 539 engine are removed, a block of concrete for ballast is placed where the old engine was, and a gen-set using a truck-size Cummins or Cat diesel is installed in the radiator area. Since speeds are low and car cuts are not that big, a lot of horsepower isn’t needed. Several small re-builders were involved in supplying these switchers to various mines.
The GE equilivant of the GP38 would be a U23B, B23-7 (which Conrail was fond of) or a B30-7. Atlas does nice models of all three. Personally, having riden B23s and B30s, I think they are horrible engines. Tiny little doors, the infamous knee-knocker ladders, and next day throttle responce. Plus, for some reason, they always smelled funny. [;)] I’ll taka a GP38 anyday
Nick
Any pics? What did they look like? Did they still have the hood?
thanks for the input! I’ve never heard of this. [:D]
Got to ask… What did they smell of???
Pre-wide cab GE’s are famous or rather infamous for having exhust fumes leak into the cab. Plus (at least the ones I’ve been on) there’s that lovely chemical toilet smell. For some reason, the GE toilets always stunk worse then the EMD ones.
Oh, and if you ever ride on an older GE, you’ll understand why we call them washing machines.
Nick
[(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D] Go on! Tell us more! PLEASE! [(-D][(-D]
If you’re talking GE lightweight power, have you considered 44 or 70 tonners? Lighter than a GP-38, but Bachmann produces nice models of both, DCC or no DCC, that are easy on the budget.
Because they rock and roll like an out-of-balance washing machine. Especially, the four axles. The GP38s and 40s are much better balanced.
Nick