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Original Krauss Maffei trucks arrive in US
This sounds really cool. After all these years, to find 2 trucks, is an amazing feat. These were truly unique locomotives and have a spot in rail history.
This is really a great effort!
Conrail had several Plasser Track Undercutters that were also self-powered. If I remember, the power trucks didn’t look American. Might those be ex-KM?
I would travel to the Bay Area to witness this locomotive moving locomotive its own power.
I just found this site today and have spent the entire day from 10 am until 815 tonight going through every page of the documentation and film you have posted. What an awesome job you are doing. I was a journeyman body & paint tech for years up in Pasco Wa. I now live in Maine and would love to live closer and be able to help. Congratulations to all of you.
Although the Krauss-Maffei was just a footnote in Espee history(The “American” styled orde) being that those locomotive lasted but four years before retirement, They were certainly significant. During the horsepower race in the early sixties The ML-4000’s were quite a bit more powerful that the U.S. of that period. Typical horsepower ratings were around 2000. plus the hydraulic transmission made the unit even more significant as well. Yes I’m certainly glad to see one of these unusual units preserved and running to boot.
Dig into the Trains archives. The original concept for the Southern Pacific diesel-hydraulics looked like a big German diesel, or a very big British D800 series Warship.
The SP had 21 MK 4000’s, including 3 from the Rio Grande.
The first six numbered SP 9000, 9001, & 9002 were SP; the former Rio Grande KMs were numbered 9021, 9022 & 9023, the six being renumbered in 1965 to 9100 - 9105. These ran from 1961 to 1968.
The second batch of KMs were numbered 9003 through 9017, being renumbered in 1965 to 9106 - 9120. These ran from 1964 to 1968.
The three Alcos numbered 9018 - 9020 were renumbered in 1965 to 9150 - 9152 and renumbered again to 9800 - 9802 in 1969. They ran from 1964 to 1973.
A minor correction to Jim Lekas’ message above re:the SP Alco hydraulics: The 9800 was retired in May 1971 after Roseville shop forces found brass flakes in the oil in one of the final drive gearboxes. The 9802 sat idle at Roseville through a 10 day strike in the summer of 1971, and was still idle in mid-October. It was taken into the shop and some work done on one of the engines, then made one last round trip from Roseville to Tracy and was retired later that fall. The 9151 apparently never was released from Sacramento shop to run as 9801 and was also retired by 1971.