On another webgroup, discussing Norfolk Southern’s preference for standard cab units, The NS SD70’s were discussed. NS bought 56 of them back in 1993-94 and Conrail built another 24 of them in 1998 to NS specs. An interesting thought came to mind…If Standard Cabs were still economical to purchase, NS would likely have bought more. It would be interesting to have seen NS’s latest orders for SD70M’s with flared radiators combined with a Standard Cab…Aside from no dynamic brake blisters, it really would have been reminiscent of an SD45! An SD70ACe or SD70M-2 with it’s 90MAC looking radiator design would have been something to see with a Standard Cab on it! Dave Williams http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nsaltoonajohnstown
The SD70ACe and SD70M-2 already look like they are constructed from LEGOs. Adding the std cab to that would just make it appear more so!
As far as standard cabs are concerned, when the first Dash-8’s came out with their standard cabs, I once opined to a friend that CR’s B40-8’s looked like they should have a pantograph on the roof.
To be absolutely correct, the cabs on both types are exactly the same width. It is the noses on the newer designs that are wider. Therefore these should be called wide nose units, or North American cabs or even safety cabs. Not wide cabs.
dose anybody know who built the first wide cab? It was CN!!! these cabs had 4 windows and a larger nose with the door opening on the nose, now all these new "widecabs are just a copy of the originall CN widecab with only two windows. see my pic below a SD40-2W with the CN widecab.
I think the standard cab is much more aesthetic than the safety version.
Gabe
Purist. [;)]
The earliest CN units were the M420W in 1973, also the P&W bought 3 of them.
The UP DD40X had a “wide cab” built in 1969.
I didn’t know CN built locomotives.
So do I…The pic on another post here on the SD40-2 Repaint only reinforces that opinion with me…However from a safety standpoint, if a crew is about to have a grade crossing collision with a truck, they have more of a bufferzone in front of them with the Safety Cab. When Conrail built that last batch of SD70 Standard Cabs for NS, they sure looked good in that glistening blue paint. Dave Williams http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nsaltoonajohnstown
CN didn’t techincally build them they developed them and desinged them but let the locomotive builders do the construction work of the cab.
hummmm. … wide cabs they seem cool to me. I like them just as much as I like the standard cabs. However, I do really like the safety cab on the SD80MAC, it’s wonderfull. The ride is confortable, and steady. The wispercab works great, can talk confortably at throttle 8, they dynamic brake box isn’t directly behind the cab eliminating some of the noise. The only thing you feel in a SD80MAC’s cab is the wheel creap system when your under full load at 0.5mhp. You can feel the engine or should I say the trucks movie and jump a bit. It almost makes you want to come off the throttle. Also, if a crowbar is fired under these conditions it causes a really good jolt in the cab. But all in all i like the 80MAC’s cab.
Are you sure ?? The EMD DD40AX was built for the UP in 1969 and the CN SD40-2W wasn’t built until 1975.
widecabs .more room to walk around and likely more safe than standard.
I’ll second that. However, the tapered nose on later SD60Ms and SD70Ms does look nice.
Function over form people, function over form.
Adrianspeeder
Quick question:
Is the standard cab also referred to as the “Spartan Cab”? Or was this another design?
Antonio,
Yes, the name “Spartan” for the cab reflected the simplicity of the design on the GP35 and SD35 (flat roof panels) compared to the very complex GP30 (which had a very tall electrical cabinet that required the “hump” above the cab) and the arched roof on the SD24 which preceded the 35 line. In fact, EMD export units from 1954 used the same angular styling, but the “Spartan” name only became popular after the GP35 was introduced. This became the “standard” cab so liked by NS in particular.
Peter
Thanks my friend!
For a while there I was actually thinking that “Spartan” might have referred to the modified standard cabs that had the “rounded” corners. There were 2 or 4 EMD demonstrators that had this styling in the early 90s. Were they GP59s? TRAINS had the article. Some of you might remember it. I thought that the modified styling looked pretty neat, but the railroads didn’t go for it.
Anyone know what became of these units as they were brand new then?
Cheers!
I prefer standard cab units over wide nose units…But then, I prefer cab units over hood units,GG1s over AEM7s and HHP8s.And if I had seen steam, I would prefer that over diesel,but we can’t stop progress,and engines aren’t built to satisfy us railfans.