1.
EMD GP40
–
The GP40 is a 4-axle diesel-electric road-switcher locomotive built by General Motors, Electro-Motive Division between November 1965 and December 1971. It has an EMD 645E3 16-cylinder engine generating 3,000 hp and it was built on a 55 ft frame, the GP35 was built on a 52 ft frame - as was the GP7,9,18, and 30. The difference in length can be seen in the GP40s ten handrail stanchions compared to the GP35s nine,60 units were built with high-short-hoods and dual control stands for Norfolk & Western Railway. Two passenger versions, the GP40P and GP40TC, were also built, on January 1,1972, the GP40 was discontinued and replaced by the GP40-2, which has a modular electrical system and a few minor exterior changes. The GP22ECO is a built from recycled GP40/GP40-2 parts. The frame, trucks, and carbody are refurbished, while the 16-645 engine is replaced with a new 8-710-ECO engine, the electrical system is replaced with a modern microprocessor-based system. Horsepower is reduced to 2,150 due to the smaller engine, EMD GP40-based passenger locomotives List of GM-EMD locomotives List of GMD Locomotives Pinkepank, Jerry A
2.
BNSF Railway
–
The BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroad networks in North America, second to the Union Pacific Railroad, and is one of seven North American Class I railroads. It has 44,000 employees,32,500 miles of track in 28 states and it has three transcontinental routes that provide rail links between the western and eastern United States. BNSF trains traveled over 169 million miles in 2010, more than any other North American railroad, the BNSF and UP have a duopoly on all transcontinental freight rail lines in the Western U. S. and share trackage rights over thousands of miles of track. According to corporate press releases, the BNSF Railway is among the top transporters of intermodal freight in North America, for instance, the railroad hauls enough coal to generate roughly ten percent of the electricity produced in the United States. Headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, the railroad is an owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. The creation of BNSF started with the formation of a holding company, on January 24,2005, the railroads name was officially changed to BNSF Railway, using the initials of its original name. The United States Surface Transportation Board placed a 15-month moratorium on all rail mergers, the company is investing an estimated $34 billion in BNSF and acquiring $10 billion in debt. On February 12,2010, shareholders of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation voted in favor of the acquisition, BNSFs history dates back to 1849, when the Aurora Branch Railroad in Illinois and the Pacific Railroad of Missouri were formed. The Aurora Branch eventually grew into the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, a portion of the Pacific Railroad became the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway. The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway was chartered in 1859 and it built one of the first transcontinental railroads in North America, linking Chicago and Southern California, major branches led to Texas, Denver, and San Francisco. The Interstate Commerce Commission denied a proposed merger with the Southern Pacific Transportation Company in the 1980s and it absorbed the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway in 1980. Its main lines included Chicago-Seattle with branches to Texas and Montgomery, Alabama, on June 30,1994, BN and ATSF announced plans to merge, they were the largest and smallest of the Super Seven, the seven largest of the then-twelve U. S. The long-rumored announcement was delayed by a disagreement over the disposition of Santa Fe Pacific Gold Corporation and this announcement began the next wave of mergers, as the Super Seven were merged down to four in the next five years. The Illinois Central Railroad and Kansas City Southern Railway, two of the five small Class Is, announced on July 19 that the former would buy the latter, but this plan was called off on October 25. The Union Pacific Railroad, another major Western system, started a war with BN for control of the SF on October 5. The UP gave up on January 31,1995, paving the way for the BN-ATSF merger, subsequently, the UP acquired the Southern Pacific Transportation Company in 1996, and Eastern systems CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern Railway split Conrail in 1998. UP was satisfied with a segment of trackage rights from Abilene, Kansas to Superior, Nebraska. KCS gained haulage rights to several Midwest locations, including Omaha, East St. Louis, and Memphis, in exchange for BNSF getting similar access to New Orleans
3.
North America
–
North America is a continent entirely within the Northern Hemisphere and almost all within the Western Hemisphere. It can also be considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the west and south by the Pacific Ocean, and to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea. North America covers an area of about 24,709,000 square kilometers, about 16. 5% of the land area. North America is the third largest continent by area, following Asia and Africa, and the fourth by population after Asia, Africa, and Europe. In 2013, its population was estimated at nearly 565 million people in 23 independent states, or about 7. 5% of the worlds population, North America was reached by its first human populations during the last glacial period, via crossing the Bering land bridge. The so-called Paleo-Indian period is taken to have lasted until about 10,000 years ago, the Classic stage spans roughly the 6th to 13th centuries. The Pre-Columbian era ended with the migrations and the arrival of European settlers during the Age of Discovery. Present-day cultural and ethnic patterns reflect different kind of interactions between European colonists, indigenous peoples, African slaves and their descendants, European influences are strongest in the northern parts of the continent while indigenous and African influences are relatively stronger in the south. Because of the history of colonialism, most North Americans speak English, Spanish or French, the Americas are usually accepted as having been named after the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci by the German cartographers Martin Waldseemüller and Matthias Ringmann. Vespucci, who explored South America between 1497 and 1502, was the first European to suggest that the Americas were not the East Indies, but a different landmass previously unknown by Europeans. In 1507, Waldseemüller produced a map, in which he placed the word America on the continent of South America. He explained the rationale for the name in the accompanying book Cosmographiae Introductio, for Waldseemüller, no one should object to the naming of the land after its discoverer. He used the Latinized version of Vespuccis name, but in its feminine form America, following the examples of Europa, Asia and Africa. Later, other mapmakers extended the name America to the continent, In 1538. Some argue that the convention is to use the surname for naming discoveries except in the case of royalty, a minutely explored belief that has been advanced is that America was named for a Spanish sailor bearing the ancient Visigothic name of Amairick. Another is that the name is rooted in a Native American language, the term North America maintains various definitions in accordance with location and context. In Canadian English, North America may be used to refer to the United States, alternatively, usage sometimes includes Greenland and Mexico, as well as offshore islands
4.
Glossary of rail transport terms
–
Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the American term railroad and the term railway is the most significant difference in rail terminology. There are also others, due to the development of rail transport systems in different parts of the world. Various global terms are presented here, where a term has multiple names, the abbreviation UIC refers to standard terms adopted by the International Union of Railways in its official publications and thesaurus. Instead, an alarm is sounded at an interval in which the operator must respond by pressing a button to reset the alarm. If the operator does not respond within a time, the prime mover is automatically throttled back to idle. They also serve to support the arch or equivalent. The only significant difference is the size, measured in feet rather than inches, the fireman remains with the locomotive and, when the driver is at the other end, the fireman controls the cut off and vacuum ejectors in addition to his usual duties. Axlebox or axle box The housing that holds the bearings of a locomotive The housing attaching the end of the axle to the bogie which contains the bearing allowing the axle to rotate. Bad order A tag or note applied to a piece of equipment. Generally, equipment tagged as bad order is not to be used until repairs are performed, revolving masses can easily be balanced by counterweights, but the balancing of reciprocating parts is a matter of compromise and judgement. Balloon A looped length of track, usually at the end of a spur or branch, can be used as part of a freight installation to allow the loading or unloading of bulk materials without the need to stop the train. Early locomotives burned coke, provision of an arch was necessary before coal could be used without producing excessive smoke. Many early railroads were broad gauge, for example the Great Western Railway in the UK which adopted 7 ft gauge until it was converted to standard gauge in the 1860s - 1890s, russia still has over 80,000 km of broad gauge railroads. Broad gauge is also normal in Spain and Portugal, in India, as well as Ireland, cabless A locomotive without a cab. Commonly referred to as a B unit or a Slug, although not all Slugs are cabless, caboose A railroad car attached usually to the end of a train, in which railroad workers could ride and monitor track and rolling stock conditions. Largely obsolete, having been replaced by the electronic end-of-train device, the correct classification is CoCo, but Co-Co is used more often. One set uses high pressure steam, then passes the low pressure exhausted steam to the second, also known as master and slave, as in the British Rail Class 13 shunters at Tinsley Marshalling Yard
5.
Locomotive
–
A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. A locomotive has no payload capacity of its own, and its purpose is to move the train along the tracks. In contrast, some trains have self-propelled payload-carrying vehicles and these are not normally considered locomotives, and may be referred to as multiple units, motor coaches or railcars. The use of these vehicles is increasingly common for passenger trains. Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front, however, push-pull operation has become common, where the train may have a locomotive at the front, at the rear, or at each end. Prior to locomotives, the force for railroads had been generated by various lower-technology methods such as human power, horse power. The first successful locomotives were built by Cornish inventor Richard Trevithick, in 1804 his unnamed steam locomotive hauled a train along the tramway of the Penydarren ironworks, near Merthyr Tydfil in Wales. Although the locomotive hauled a train of 10 long tons of iron and 70 passengers in five wagons over nine miles, the locomotive only ran three trips before it was abandoned. Trevithick built a series of locomotives after the Penydarren experiment, including one which ran at a colliery in Tyneside in northern England, the first commercially successful steam locomotive was Matthew Murrays rack locomotive, Salamanca, built for the narrow gauge Middleton Railway in 1812. This was followed in 1813 by the Puffing Billy built by Christopher Blackett and William Hedley for the Wylam Colliery Railway, Puffing Billy is now on display in the Science Museum in London, the oldest locomotive in existence. In 1814 George Stephenson, inspired by the locomotives of Trevithick. He built the Blücher, one of the first successful flanged-wheel adhesion locomotives, Stephenson played a pivotal role in the development and widespread adoption of steam locomotives. His designs improved on the work of the pioneers, in 1825 he built the Locomotion for the Stockton and Darlington Railway, north east England, which became the first public steam railway. In 1829 he built The Rocket which was entered in and won the Rainhill Trials and this success led to Stephenson establishing his company as the pre-eminent builder of steam locomotives used on railways in the United Kingdom, the United States and much of Europe. The first inter city passenger railway, Liverpool and Manchester Railway, opened in 1830, there are a few basic reasons to isolate locomotive train power, as compared to self-propelled vehicles. Maximum utilization of power cars Separate locomotives facilitate movement of costly motive power assets as needed, flexibility Large locomotives can substitute for small locomotives when more power is required, for example, where grades are steeper. As needed, a locomotive can be used for freight duties. Obsolescence cycles Separating motive power from payload-hauling cars enables replacement without affecting the other, to illustrate, locomotives might become obsolete when their associated cars did not, and vice versa
6.
Cab (locomotive)
–
On steam locomotives, the cab is normally located to the rear of the firebox, although steam locomotives have sometimes been constructed in a cab forward configuration. The former arrangement is now the norm in North America for all types of diesel or electric locomotives, in Europe, most modern locomotives are cab units with two cabs, one at each end. However, the locomotives powering some high speed European trains are normally cab units with one cab, on self-propelled rail vehicles, the cab may be at one or both ends. In addition to the controls, a cab will typically be fitted with windshields, rectangular side windows, crew seats, heating. By about 1850, high speed Crampton locomotives operating in Europe already had a much needed windshield giving some protection to the footplate area, some other early locomotives were even fitted with a cab as part of a rebuilding program, an example being the locomotive John Bull. In Germany, the cab was introduced by the Saxon railway director. However, until 1950 the railway directorates of the German-speaking countries continued to believe that a standing posture was essential to maximise crew vigilance and this unsatisfactory situation changed—with few exceptions—only with the construction of the German standard electric locomotives, which for the first time were equipped with crew seats. Meanwhile, the maintenance of crew vigilance became possible by technical means through the use of Sifa devices, cockpit Control car Control stand Driving Van Trailer Push–pull train This article is based upon a translation of the German-language version as at April 2010
7.
Switcher
–
They do this in classification yards. Switchers may also make short runs and even be the only motive power on branch lines and switching. The term can also be used to describe the workers operating these engines or engaged in directing shunting operations, the typical switcher is optimised for its job, being relatively low-powered but with a high starting tractive effort for getting heavy cars rolling quickly. Switchers are geared to produce high torque but are restricted to low top speeds and have small diameter driving wheels, switchers are rail analogs to tugboats. US switchers tend to be larger, with bogies to allow them to be used on tight radiuses, European shunters tend to be smaller and more often have fixed axles. They also often maintained coupling rods for longer than other types, although bogie types have long been used where very heavy loads are involved. Switching is hard work, and heavily used switch engines wear out quickly from the abuse of constant hard contacts with cars, nevertheless, some types have been remarkably long-lived. Diesel switchers tend to have a cab and often lower and/or narrower hoods containing the diesel engines. Slugs are often used because they allow even greater effort to be applied. Nearly all slugs used for switching are of the low hood, good visibility in both directions is critical, because a switcher may be running in either direction, turning the locomotive is time-consuming. Some earlier diesel switchers used cow-calf configurations of two powered units in order to provide greater power, the vast majority of modern switchers are diesels, but countries with near-total electrification, like Switzerland, use electric switchers. Prior to the introduction of locomotives, electric shunting locomotives were used to an extent in Great Britain where heavy trains needed to be started on steep gradients. The steeply-graded Quayside Branch in Newcastle upon Tyne was electrified by the North Eastern Railway in 1905,1, is now part of the National Collection and resides at Locomotion in Shildon. A number of the early German locomotives built for use on lines have been preserved. These specialised locomotives were tall steeple-cab types not seen anywhere else, one example built by Greenwood and Batley in Armley, Leeds is preserved at the Middleton Railway, not far from where it was built. Small industrial shunters are sometimes of the battery-electric type, an early battery-electric shunting locomotive is shown here. The Tyne and Wear Metro has three battery electric shunters built by Hunslet, which are used to haul engineering trains when the supply is switched off. Flywheel energy storage was used experimentally by Sentinel
8.
American Locomotive Company
–
The American Locomotive Company was formed in 1901 by the merger of Schenectady Locomotive Engine Manufactory of Schenectady, New York with seven smaller locomotive manufacturers. The American Locomotive Automobile Company subsidiary designed and manufactured automobiles under the Alco brand from 1905-1913, the company changed its name to Alco Products, Incorporated in 1955. In 1964 the Worthington Corporation acquired the company, the company ceased trading in 1969. Samuel R. Callaway left the presidency of the New York Central Railroad to become president of Alco, when Callaway died on June 1,1904, Albert J. Pitkin succeeded him as president of Alco. In 1904, the American Locomotive Company acquired control of the Locomotive and Machine Company of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in 1905, Alco purchased Rogers Locomotive Works of Paterson, New Jersey, the second largest locomotive manufacturer in the United States behind Baldwin Locomotive Works. In the post World War II period, Alco operated manufacturing plants only in Schenectady and Montreal, after the American Locomotive Company ceased locomotive manufacturing in the United States in 1969, Montreal Locomotive Works continued to manufacture locomotives based on Alco designs. Alco was the second-largest steam locomotive builder in the United States, among these were a large number of well-known locomotives. Alco built many of the biggest locomotives ever constructed, including Union Pacifics Big Boy, during World War II, Alco produced many 2-10-0 Decapods for the USSR. Many of these were undelivered at the end of the war,75214, is preserved at the Finnish Railway Museum. Though the dual-service 4-8-4 steam locomotive had shown promise,1948 was the last year that steam locomotives were manufactured in Schenectady. These were the seven A-2a class 9400-series Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad 2-8-4 Berkshires and their tenders had to be subcontracted to Lima Locomotive Works, as Alcos tender shop had been closed. The building was converted to diesel locomotive manufacture, to compete with locomotives manufactured by the automobile industry, joseph Burroughs Ennis was a senior vice president between 1917 and 1947 and was responsible for the design of many of the locomotives manufactured. The company diversified into the business in 1906, producing French Berliet designs under license. Production was located at Alcos Rhode Island Locomotive Works in Providence, two years later, the Berliet license was abandoned, and the company began to produce its own designs instead. An Alco racing car won the Vanderbilt Cup in both 1909 and 1910 and competed in the first Indianapolis 500 in 1911, driven on all three occasions by Harry Grant, but, ALCOs automotive venture was unprofitable, and they abandoned automobile manufacture in 1913. The Alco automobile story is notable chiefly as a step in the career of Walter P. Chrysler. In 1911 he left Alco for Buick in Detroit, Michigan, for a list of Alco diesel locomotive models, see List of ALCO diesel locomotives. Although strongly committed to the locomotive, Alco produced the first commercially successful diesel-electric locomotive in 1924 in a consortium with General Electric
9.
Electro-Motive Diesel
–
Electro-Motive Diesel is an American manufacturer of diesel-electric locomotives, locomotive products and diesel engines for the rail industry. The company is owned by Caterpillar through its subsidiary Progress Rail Services Corporation, in 1930, General Motors purchased Electro-Motive Company and the Winton Engine Co. combining the two to form its Electro-Motive Division in 1941. In 2005, GM sold EMD to Greenbriar Equity Group and Berkshire Partners, in 2010, Progress Rail Services completed the purchase of Electro-Motive Diesel from Greenbriar, Berkshire, and others. EMDs headquarters, engineering facilities and parts manufacturing operations are based in McCook, Illinois, while its final assembly line is located in Muncie. EMD also operates a traction motor maintenance, rebuild and overhaul facility in San Luis Potosí, as of 2008, EMD employed approximately 3,260 people, and in 2010 it held approximately 30 percent of the market for diesel-electric locomotives in North America. Harold L. Hamilton and Paul Turner founded the Electro-Motive Engineering Corporation in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1922, the company developed and marketed self-propelled railcars using General Electrics newly developed internal combustion-electric propulsion and control systems. Hamilton started his career as a fireman, then locomotive engineer, on the Southern Pacific Railroad. Financing himself, he quit his sales position and set up shop in a hotel with his partner. In 1923 EMC sold two gasoline-powered rail motor cars, one to the Chicago Great Western and the other to the Northern Pacific, EMC subcontracted the body construction to St. Louis Car Company, electrical components to General Electric, and the prime mover to Winton Engine Company. The motorcars were delivered in 1924 and worked well, fortunate for the fledgling company, in 1925, EMC entered full-scale production, selling 27 railcars. In 1930 General Motors was seeking to improve their Diesel technology and they purchased the Winton Engine Company who, in addition to their Diesel products, sold non-Diesel engines for EMC-developed rail motorcars. The combined resources of GM and their new Winton subsidiary were focused on developing Diesel engines with improved power-to-weight ratios, GM saw EMCs role in marketing and applications development as fitting their objectives and purchased the company shortly after the Winton acquisition, renaming it Electro-Motive Corporation. In 1933 EMC designed the power setups for the Zephyr and M-10000 streamliners, the Zephyr used the first major product of the new GM-Winton venture, the 600 hp Winton 201A 2-stroke Diesel engine. Encouraged by the success of the new streamliners, EMC invested in a new locomotive factory. The new headquarters on 55th Street in McCook, Illinois, west of Chicago, in 1938 EMC started production of locomotives using GMs new 567 engine, which upgraded the horsepower to 2000 per locomotive unit and increased reliability. The 567, named for its displacement-per-cylinder of 567.45 in³, was a two-cycle Roots-blown, Uniflow-scavenged, Unit-injected engine with overhead camshafts and it was built as a V-6, V-8, V-12 and V-16. Charles F. Kettering and the General Motors Research Corporation were in charge of its development and their nearest competitor was the American Locomotive Company, who started production of less-developed Diesel locomotives to compete with the E-units in 1939. Baldwins response to the challenge of the E-units was to develop a steam locomotive design that pushed beyond the limits of practicality, passenger trains made little money for the railroads, but replacement of steam engines with reliable Diesel units could provide railroads with a crucial difference for profitability
10.
EMD GP7
–
The EMD GP7 is a four-axle road switcher diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division and General Motors Diesel between October,1949 and May 1954. Power was provided by an EMD 567B 16-cylinder engine which generated 1,500 horsepower, the GP7 was offered both with and without control cabs, and those built without control cabs were called a GP7B. Five GP7Bs were built between March and April 1953, the GP7 was the first EMD road locomotive to use a hood unit design instead of a car-body design. This proved to be more efficient than the car body design as the unit cost less to build, was cheaper and easier to maintain. Of the 2,734 GP7s built,2,620 were for American railroads,112 were built for Canadian railroads and this was the first model in EMDs GP series of locomotives. Concurrently, EMD offered a six-axle SD locomotive, the SD7, unfortunately, in heavy service, the GP7’s frame would bow and sag over time. This defect was corrected in later models, the GP7 proved very popular, and EMD was barely able to meet demand, even after opening a second assembly plant at Cleveland, Ohio. Later, locomotives in EMDs GP-series came to be nicknamed ‘Geeps’, many GP7s can still be found in service today, although most Class 1 roads stopped using these locomotives by the early 1980s. The GP7, GP9 and GP18 locomotives share a similar car-body that evolved over time, most GP7s had three sets of ventilation grills under the cab, and two pair of grills at the end of the long hood. However, some late GP7s were built with car-bodies that were identical to early GP9s, early GP7s had a solid skirt above the fuel tank, while late GP7s and early GP9s had access holes in the skirt. Many railroads later removed most of the skirt to improve access, Locomotives could be built with the engineer’s control stand installed for either the long hood, or the short hood designated as the front. Two control stands for either direction running was also an option, the GP7 was also available with or without dynamic brakes, and a steam generator installed in the short hood was also an option. In the latter case the 1,600 US gallons fuel tank was divided, with half for diesel fuel, and half for boiler water. There are five GP7s on A J Kristopans EMD Serial number page that reused previous serial numbers, B&O6405, CRI&P1308, L&N501 and 502 and these rebuilt units were rebuilt as new on new frames. Another rebuild by GMD is that CN4824 was rebuilt as a GP7 with parts from an F3A in October 1958, a few production GP7s and four of the GP7Bs were built with 567BC or 567C engines starting in March 1953 through May 1954. These are noted on the roster above, many railroads rebuilt their GP7s with low short hoods, some railroads went further in their rebuilding than others. Missouri Pacific Railroad upgraded their GP7s with 567BC engines and replaced the standard EMD 2-stack exhaust with a 4-stack “liberated” exhaust, illinois Central Railroad rebuilt most of its GP7s with 567BC engine blocks, liberated exhausts, paper air-intake filters, 26-L brakes. All but the first locomotive rebuilt had their front hood reduced in height for improved crew visibility, the IC designated these rebuilt locomotives GP8
