I know this may sound very stupid to some of you, but I was wondering how to tell the names of different types of engines. If there is a book I can get or some website or maybe you can find a way to tell me. I am younger than the magority of all of you, so please, don’t think this is a stupid question.
I’ve had that same problem and there is a series of books called “diesel spotters guide” that should help!
i think you mean model types… like a emd sd70mac or a ge cw-44-9ac … that what your getting at?
csx engineer
Yes that is what i’m getting at. Now all I need is to know the difference between each model.
best thing you can do is go get a disel spoters guide… the diffences are way to many for one to list on here… but i can say that to spot the differnce between an EMD locomotive and a GE is the fuel tank…EMDs have a rounded fuel tank while the GEs have an anguler tank… now to break it down into each model from each manufactor is where the spoters guide come sin
csx engineer
The “Guide to Modern Diesel Locomotives” (by TRAINS publishing) is probably the best thing to get if you waht to identify the trains of today; it doesn’t have the most recent models (like the ES44AC or SD70ACe) but you’ll be able to destingui***hem from others once you know most (or all) of the trains in the guide.
If you want to identify older locomotives, like the GP7s and F-units and such, the old 1980s Diesel Spotters Guides will work.
There’s also a spotters guide for steam locomotives published by TRAINS.
Okay, I may be beyond help, but where on the loco does one find fuel tank(s)?
right between the trucks…its big thing that hangs down below the catwalks and frame…
csx engineer
Oh, and all this time my wife though it was called…
Ed[:D]
Ah, that does help! For me the first cut is figuring out whether it’s EMD or GE.
Among the newest locos, I notice that some of them have a kind of window “droop”. By that I mean the window isn’t perfectly rectangular (allowing for rounded corners, I mean); but includes an almost comma-shaped component at the lower outside corner–facing the loco, outside right bottom on right side and outside left bottom on left side.
Also, is it possible to distinguish DC from AC models??
Oops! I meant to ask also (how) (whether) said windows are significant in determining loco series or model?
An AC loco will have an inverter bank behind the cab on the conductors side. The top of it will be 2/3 as tall as the cab and they extend several feet from the rear of the cab.
You could go to
www.rrpicturearchives.net/modelList.aspx
and search under the model you want to look at.
if its belching fire and going slow its a GE … now if the train goes by in a blurr its a emd. and the big thing that hangs down between the trucks belong to the engineer. dont mess with them.
GE engines have a flared roof at the rear of the locomotive. (I believe it’s for the radiator.) Older EMD units don’t have this. Newer EMD units have the flared roof just a bit ahead of the end of the unit.
For the differences between actual models, refer to the Diesel Spotters Guide book that was mentioned in other posts.
Hope that helps.
Brian
Of course, some times it can get tricky determining what model a particular locomotive is, even for seasoned railfans. I had a fellow railfan who was absolutely sure that he saw some brand-new SD90MAC-H’s come through on the UP, turned out it was some of their new SD70ACe’s! GE has a habit of changing body styles midway through models (sometimes more than once, a la U30C) and changing models midway through body styles! So things can definitely get interesting.
Add to that all of the rebuilds that now grace our rail system, and you’ve got some serious confusion! e.g. GP38-2/3’s rebuilt from GP40s and GP50s (and CP’s new ones rebuilt from GP40Xs!), all the SD40M-2s rebuilt from various carbodies, etc. etc.!
Seriously though, the Diesel Spotters Guides will help tremendously, but it helps to double-check anything with an established roster!
Have fun! That’s what we’re here for!
-Mark
www.fuzzyworld3.com
Give this website a look: http://usloki.tripod.com
You can navigate around and get a view of diesel engines built by the various manufacturers. Check it out.
It gets even more interesting with repowerings and slugs. Most repowerings are long gone, but the majority involved the replacement of the engine from the original manufacturer (Baldwin, Alco, FM, etc) with an EMD engine. If it was an EMD factory job, the unit would often get an EMD hood over the engine with some extra sheet metal work where the hood met the cab. Good examples are EJ&E’s Baldwin centercabs repowered with EMD engines and MKT’s Baldwin and Alco road switchers also repowered by EMD.
Slugs can be even more confusing. Often, all that is left from the original unit is the frame, trucks and traction motors. Some will retain the old hood with the cab removed and CSX’s road slugs keep virtually the entire carbody with the radiators and stacks blanked out with sheetmetal.
one note on csx road slugs… they also blank over almost all the engin room doors on the carbody with sheet metal too… on a unit that still has the prime mover…they have doors and lactches that you can see by looking down the carbody… the road slugs are missing all of them except 1 or 2 per side to allow access to a few eletrical things in the carbody such as the traction motor blower fans and other items…
csx engineer
Smalling,
The window shape you describe on wide nose locomotives is sometimes called a “teardrop” window because the dropped corners are said to look like tears dropping from the outside corner of eyes. I don’t like that name much, because the windows themselves aren’t shaped like a teardrop, but that’s what they call it.
These windows are used on EMD Wide Nose locomotives, dating back to the DDA40X and FP45 (but not on early SD60Ms and not on late SD90MAC or the new SD70ACe).
They are not used on standard GE wide nose locomotives, but CN has that window style on its more recent GE locomotives. Earlier CN GE (and EMD and MLW) locomotives had four front cab windows, with the outer ones deeper in the same shape, and some CP units were built with the four window “Canadian Cab”.
So the quick answer is that ifit has a “teardrop” window and isn’t a CN unit, it is probably an EMD.
One exception to this is locomotives for Australian mining roads. All the GE wide nose units have the CN style cab, and I believe the new BHP Billiton EMD SD70ACe units are the first of that type with “teardrop” wndows.
But you don’t see many of those in the USA.
Peter