Does antone have any info on RDCs being used as cab-control cars on push-pull trains? and what locomotive would have been used?
I don’t know but I suspect that RDC controls are different from regular locomotive controls. The rerason I say that is all cars were self propelled and the setup may be different.
True, but remember that RDCs often ran in sets. For instance, Santa Fe’s were running as a pair between Los Angeles and San Diego when they had their infamous Redondo Junction mishap. Many electric commuter trains, including those predating the RDCs, were powered cars with one head-end control car, so RDCs were probably set up the same way.
On the other hand, I would guess that pre-Budd-RDC gas-electric doodlebugs had trailers but hardly ever multiple power units…
Boston’s MBTA bought RDCs from B&M in the 1970s. They were de-energized in the 1980s and used as coaches in locomotive powered trains. MBTA started out using B&M GP7s to push the RDCs, and later, used FP10s for power on one end, and used the RDC’s controls at the other. 3 of the RDCs are currently in use on the Seminole Gulf in Florida. They are used on an excursion train, and no longer have any controls. A GP9 provides the power at one end, while an ex-LIRR F unit (also de-powered) provides the controls at the other end.
MBTA had RDC-9s that were not self-propelled. They had one engine for lights and air conditioning. They also had ‘Boise Budds’, which were rebuilt by Morrison-Knutsen. They had the humps removed from the roof. Some MBTA cars had the end windows removed as well.
RDC’s had a Diesel-hydraulic drive, not Diesel-electric like locomotives, so they would not MU with anything but another RDC. It’s possible that one could be converted to a cab car by replacing the controls, but it would no longer be a powered car. MU controls can be put in just about anything; even steamers (Clinchfield 4-6-0 # 1, C&O 614 for example) had controls added so diesels could be placed behind them in the consist.