radio wheels on nw2 locos

Classic Toy Trains Forum
1

can anyone tell me what the function of a radio wheel was ? the internet is no help.

Thanks,

Railmark

2

It was the antenna for the cab radio.

3

I assume you’re talking about the wagon wheel antenna. As has been said above, it was the antenna for the cab radio. From it’s design I have to assume it’s a modified omnidirectional ground plane antenna.

4

I’ve always wondered which railroads used the wheel antenna. The only one I’ve ever actually seen is on my Lionel 6220. Was it strictly a Santa Fe thing?

5

The Lionel models that had them seem to be the Santa Fe 617, 622, 6220, and 623, the Chesapeake and Ohio 624, and the Seaboard 6250. The only prototype example that I could find in Marre’s Diesel Locomotives: the First 50 Years was a Burlington SW1200.

6

Bob, there is a CB&Q BLW VO-1000 with the wheel antenna on p. 301, so it might have been a Burlington-specific add-on.