ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Off the wall question

Hey thanks again for all the responses, the more I read the more it is interests me really..
The one truck in question that we have is an 86 international with a DT466 or a
DT 466"E", something like that anyway, the other truck of which I haven't really stuck my head in yet is a GMC but the actual model and engine I know nothing about at this time.

Unfortunately the International does not have an EGT gauge and I have no way of telling how hot the exhaust is getting.. the GMC MIGHT. As a matter of fact I will be trying to start that old pig tomorrow so I will find out.
Just off the wall again.. The bossman sent myself and 2 others for our DZ ( truck + air brake endorsement) licence, of which all three of us passed. Just wondering if there is any tips , advice or information we should know in general about these diesels or any diesel in general. Just things we should do or not do or watch out for kind of thing.
Thanks yet again fellas!

Oh ya, Trainwire: Black smoke, red embers and some flame out the top of the stack when the Cat was "stepped on" after being lightly worked for so long eh? THAT I would have loved to have witnessed, sounds impressive and scary at the same time. I guess basically it had a "chimney fire" of sorts?!


A.D

Rewired:

the truck engine you described that is 86 model year that is full mech engine that is non electronic verison they are rated from 185 to all way about 250-275 H.P range most common is either 210 or 250 H.P. and the DT466 useally last very long time kinda bullet proof engine and easy to rebuilt kinda like bread and butter truck engine [ very common med duty engine ]

speaking of flame up on exhaust yeah i ran into few of that one train with G.E. [ a.k.a. ALCO diesel ] they will spit heckva of flame if idle very long peroid of time especally that true during cold days it will show up.

i did that with few other diesel as well including one natural gaz engine i manged to get blue flame came out of the exhaust [ ran pretty rich on that setting ]

Merci , Marc

We have a 1200KW, 600KW, 400KW and a 300KW
generators we test under full load every month. Which is a good thing 'cause you find the problems under load not by idealing.

Trainwire, when I was a kid growing up just outside of Chicago I remember the engines on the commuter trains would be left idling all weekend and on holidays. They stopped doing it, I was told, because someone took one out for a joy ride one time!

I suspect there are other reasons to shut them down now days. I believe it takes more fuel to start one than it does to idle it for two days, does it not?

There was a story about a stewardess that worked out of Ohare, she had a Mercedes diesel and in the winter she would leave it idling in the parking lot the whole time she was in flight.

We have a 900KW CAT V12 driven genny as part of an automatic emergency switching scheme with two incoming AC lines. One downside is that the automatic mode will start the genset if either line drops, yet inhibit switching to it unless both lines drop. If we know that a line will be down for a while we will often put the switchgear into manual mode and switch to the genset. Our machinists used to run it unloaded every Friday. Now we switch to it and try to load it at least 300 amps per phase and for at least 1/2 hour. I warn that we have no right to expect more from our generator in an emergency than we observe it deliver under normal testing.

This better testing comes with its share of problems. Some of the high efficiency lamps will not maintain through the transfer and take up to 5 minutes to restrike. Failure to time our manual switching correctly might leave us in near total darkness. Folks have to be warned to close their programs and we have to allow them plenty of time before we act. It was a whole lot easier when we just flipped the control switch from "AUTO" to "ON".
Joe

Rewired, yea for all intents and purposes it was a chimney fire. and there are two of them, still a gutless wonder though. It wasn't that dramatic, so it was more of a "cool, look at that! Let's try that again!"

Modern railroad engines are not left running because of the noise issues, economy issues, and a few other things.

These big deseals don't mind idling and if it's cold out, sometimes getting them relit is a problem. There are ways out there to keep them warm now, little pony engines that run heaters to keep the block warm, thermostats that auto start the engine and shut it off when it reaches temp, a whole host of ideas.

Our engine gets plugged in at night, and yea, sometimes we wind up with a couple of 4'8 1/2" long extension cords. But that's what the gfi's for right?

The train has a couple of 25 KW gen on it. With really long exhaust pipes. We put cleanouts in the exhaust system to make it easier, so that they can be cleaned before it pukes all over the tourists.

TW

Familiarity breeds comtempt, but without familiarity you don't breed anything.

Marc:
Yeah, that engine we have seems like a good one. I am suprrised it pushes that truck around that easily. I was surprised it even started considering it was -13*C out today and the truck was not plugged in.. Come to think of it I do not think there is a block heater of any kind on the truck.
Oh yeah, that "other" truck we have is a GMC "brigadier" ( year unknown) with a "Caterpillar 3208" under the hood.. I made an attempt at starting that this morning as well but no such luck. Even with triple batteries of which their state is not known, and a 200A booster/charger as well I got nothing more than a thunk of the starter engaging and a very audible "hum" from the starter. Got a little smoke off the booster's alligator clips and battery posts also, but the engine did not even move!.
I did find out later the block heater is toast and needs to be replaced.

TW: " Cool lets try that again"... Yep I would be saying the same thing!
there is a train yard kind of thing at the bottom of the escarpment not too far from here and I have noticed they shut the engines down overnight and whenever they sit for a long period of time.. I have noticed on more than one occasion when they go to fire them back up there is great plumes of blue smoke rising out of the yard. If your lucky it goes straight up.. but on occasion I have seen it fog out the yard and the houses around it.
A.D

Thanks, I had a nice LOL over that one!

(Regarding Locomotives):

The Class 1 carriers in my area (SP, ATSF, UP), used to leave Locos running continuously - only shutting down Prime Movers during Holidays (Switching duties on Branch Lines).

They started to shut down unattended Units around mid 1990's, where a Unit was to be unattended for more than 2 Hours, as to comply with EPA + Energy regs (reduction of pollutants, conservation of fuel).

Trains "Put In The Hole" (in sidings, waiting for Meets), also used to be kept running.

There is an area near me on the BNSF's San Bernardino Sub, which has 3 Main Tracks between 2 "Stations" (actually are main line crossovers).
At the ends of this Block Section, the 3rd Main Line ends, running back into the North Track via CTC type 50 MPH Turnouts.

"Non-High Priority" Freight Trains are commonly placed in this Hole, as to eliminate issues with Passenger Trains running through + stopping at Stations, to pickup Passengers.
Most of the Trains held in the Hole are Intermodal, but a few are Manifest.

Since 2006, the Prime Movers are shut down on all Units of these Trains, held in the Hole. They used to be left idling before 2006.

At times, there may be as many as 4 Trains in the same Hole, waiting for a Greenboard!

Cool thing is, the newer GE "Dash 9's" (C44-9W, AC44-9W, etc.) plus the newer EMD SD-75's, SD-80's, etc., have remote startup + shut down controls, from any Unit (normally from the Lead Unit); so all Units in a lashup + any RCE Helpers / Pushers can be shut down + started from the Lead Unit - and at the Engineer's Controller!

Prior to this, Units were started / shut down from controllers located behind the Hoods, near the Cab (on the Engineer's side).

Restarts are normally quick, and produce minimal smoke; plus there is normally minimal sparking / flames and very low (or no) smoke produced after the Train is started (put in motion).

The same is not true for the Branch Line Switchers, as they frequently experince the Wet Stacking issues when "Power Is Needed"


4' 8-1/2" long cords,... LOL!!!

Scott35