INDEX:

On the Berlinerwerke Guest Apocrypha Page 2:
  Parker Parodies - loco research by Karen Parker (moved from BW Apocrypha Page 4 on 16 Jan 04).
  Scott A. Bowman's SB Locomotives - Scott Squad Railroad.
  Erick Anderson's Locomotives.

On the Berlinerwerke Guest Apocrypha Page 3:
  Scott A. Bowman's SB Locomotives - Scott Squad Railroad (continued).
  Jeffrey Mott's EMD TD60.   (19 Aug 07)

Because the Apocrypha and Guest Apocrypha indices exceeded the capacity of the individual pages, they are now presented in full on a separate Berlinerwerke Apocrypha Index (including the Guest Apocrypha Index).   (03 Oct 06)

"You might be interested to know I almost got something even more fun {than my Berlinerwerke Apocrypha items - SB,III} built in the '70s.  We were designing a container-freight train to run in the Northeast Corridor after Amdreck rebuilt their track to 150mph (I'm still waiting...) and we needed a locomotive that could run reliably with a 60-container train at above 120mph; electric below New Haven and self-contained above.

There was only one thing in the mid-70s that could fit the profile, and that was the chassis of the GG1 with some kind of engines installed.  The 'final' version was two G's semipermanently coupled back-to-back, minus the engine trucks in the middle which gave us a 2-C-C-C-C-2 wheel arrangement (not quite a Centipede... but then, what could be?).  I originally planned to install four modular gas-turbine gensets in each carbody (which gave us flex-a-power galore), but we could also have usedanything that fit in the carbodies.  All we really had to do with the suspension was replace the snubbers (like shock absorbers) that were removed from the passenger engines in the '50s (EMD also did this sort of thing on the dash-2s).

The carbodies, from the cab doors back, were to be made of new material, without changing the classic nose profile at each end.  The body was articulated in three sections, with diaphragms between them; plates and springs assisted in locating everything and preventing hunting or other deleterious motion.

I built a working model out of a couple of HO-scale plastic GG1s.  It was an awesome thing.  Especially when you watched it track through a couple of crossovers.  Pity they discovered the crystallized frames right about then -- there wasn't anyone with a stress-relieving furnace large enough to 'do' the chassis castings, and replacing them with welded ones ran the cost above the alternative (which probably wouldn't have worked, involving GM electrics and diesels as it did).

Oh, yes, what did we call it? That was simple. It was class G."

What a rip-off!  These were copied right from the BW's special WWII loco for the PRR, the fabled GBBG1!

The LN class Q4ad had a very large industrial boiler, as large as the ample loading gauge could accommodate, slung on a frame with long gooseneck equalizers.  Leading and trailing engine units were 4-8-8-4, with 72" drivers; these were simple expansion but could easily have been adapted to compound working.  The wheel arrangement was therefore 4-8-8-4+4-8-8-4.  Coal fuel was carried on the rear engine; water on the front, in classic Garratt style; a large movable piece of iron-loaded concrete was run forward and backward on special rails between the engine frames to keep ballast weight properly aligned over the drivers as fuel and water were consumed (thus anticipating some of the principles of Concorde fuel management!)  There was a small sprung roller on the boiler frame just before the leading edge of the firebox, in case undulating track caused a groundout.

The working pressure of these engines was 375psi, as the large boiler permitted extremely strong construction and had no unusual contours.  Since there were no wheels under the firebox and boiler (except for the roller), there was no problem with primary & secondary air to the large grate area.  Draft itself was provided by a combination of exhaust steam and turbine-driven draft fans; the result was a continuous draft which maximized fuel consumption and smoke abatement, while also permitting very fine control of steam generation (to keep the pops from opening when working the varied profiles between Juniata and the Tidewater Division).

For such a large, large, large, large engine, the riding and augment qualities were particularly good.  Problems developed with the throttle linkages (which were air-assisted) in the later years of operation; as with many other sophisticated engines of the Thirties, the fancy gadgets turned out not to work so well in daily service with decreasing standards of maintenance.

Someone figured out that the peak drawbar horsepower of the Q4ad was somewhere on the order of 20,000hp at about 45-50mph.  This was never verified.  No more than ¼ of the engine would fit on the engine test plant at a time, and no one, then or now, has to my knowledge designed a dynamometer car that could measure this kind of power.

Unfortunately, it also turned out that mere mortal coupler knuckles didn't measure up, either.  The experience with the Erie Triplex* was assumed to be the result of WWI-era metallurgy; no one anticipated that even if the strength of forgings had improved 300% since those days, the application of 300% power would still pluck 'em like daisies.  Coal trains could be rebuilt with improved rotary couplings for the still-amazing 'corkscrew dumpers' located at the Virginia and New Jersey mineral terminals (these actually inverted the whole train in a continuous 360ŗ roll rather than dumping several cars at a time, once a few cars had been emptied behind the engine which of course did not have an "E" ticket).  But regular interchange cars could not.  In conjunction with the rather primitive air-brakes applied to freight equipment in the '40s and '50s, it is not surprising that LN train crews were occasionally reminded that the word "couple" has certain other meanings relating to forcible reproduction.

[* - Ellsworth didn't mention the Pennsy's 1917 "Big Liz" Class FF1 (1-C+C-1) of 4,800HP and 88,000TE, which popped drawbars routinely!]

Tests just after WWII revealed that, in order to duplicate the effective performance of this engine (with EMD F units), you'd run out of MU connectors and voltage before you got anywhere near the performance envelope; if you think a Q is long, take a look at THIRTEEN covered wagons in a row.  (I understand Union Pacific actually did this kind of thing in the late '60s).  But aaahhhhhhhh -- think of the sound of all those 567s......

  Now, here, courtesy of Joshua Moldover, of Railroad Paintshop fame^#, is the very latest word in high power, high-tech diesels:

[# - see GC&E #13.]

CSX, Norfolk Southern Place
$600 Million Locomotive Order

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 1/RPS Press/ -- CSX Transportation (CSXT) and Norfolk Southern Corp. (NSC) have each ordered 100 of the newest high-horsepower locomotives from General Electric Transportation Systems, in a combined order valued at over $600 million.

CSXT will be receiving 100 of the AC100CBW locomotives, at a cost of $3.2 million each, and NSC will be receiving 100 of the direct-current powered version, the CB100W-10.  Both versions are rated at 10,000 horsepower.

"These will be the largest and most powerful locomotives ever built," said CSXT President and CEO A.R.  "Pete" Carpenter.  "These locomotives are a very visible, tangible demonstration of our commitment to providing reliable service to our customers," Carpenter said.  "The 4,400- and 6,000-horsepower units have performed to our expectations, and we're eager to begin testing the next generation."

Each of these locomotives, dubbed the "Millennium" series by General Electric, will be as powerful as two current units.  The articulated joint provides needed room for a larger, dual engine, and in turn gives railroads flexibility to reduce costs and improve service at the same time.  The locomotives are scheduled for delivery starting in 2001, with the order to be completed in 2003.

CSXT and its 29,000 employees provide rail transportation and distribution services over an 18,800 route-mile network in 20 states, the District of Columbia and Ontario, Canada.  CSXT is in the process of acqiring about 43% of Conrail.  CSXT is a business unit of CSX Corporation, headquartered in Richmond, Virginia.

Norfolk Southern is a Virginia-based holding company with headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia.  It owns a major freight railroad, Norfolk Southern Railway Company, which operates more than 14,300 miles of road in 20 states primarily in the Southeast and Midwest, and the Province of Ontario, Canada.  Norfolk Southern is in the process of acquiring about 57% of Conrail.  The corporation also owns Pocahontas Land Corporation, a natural resources company.

General Electric Transportation Systems is a division of General Electric Corporation, and manufactures locomotives for both freight and passenger service.

Specifications and General Data:

       

MODEL:                    AC100CBW        CB100W-10

WHEEL ARRANGEMENT:        C-B+B-C         C-B+B-C

ENGINE DATA
  Horsepower, traction:   10,000          10,000
  Number of cylinders:    24              24
  Model:                  GE 8FDL 12 (2)  GE 8FDL 12 (2)
  RPM:                    1050            1050
  Compression ratio:      12.7:1          12.7:1
  Cycle:                  4               4
  Turbocharged:           Yes (8S1712)    Yes (8S1712)
  EFI:                    Yes             Yes
  Engine cooling fan:     2               2
  Cooling fan drive:      AC Motor        AC Motor

TRACTION EQUIPMENT:
  Inverters:              6               0
  Traction motor:         10-GEB13A       10-GE752AH
  Traction motor blower:  2               4

AIR BRAKE SCHEDULE:       26L             26L

MAJOR DIMENSIONS:
  Length:                 145'2"          145'2"
  Height:                 15'5"           15'5"
  Width:                  10'3"           10'3"
  Truck wheel base:       13'2", 8'3"     13'2", 8'3"

MINIMUM TRACK CURVATURE:  273'/21°        273'/21°

DRIVING WHEEL DIAMETER:   42"             42"

WEIGHT-lbs, NORMAL:       687,000         687,000

MAXIMUM CONTINUOUS
  TRACTIVE EFFORT/SPEED
  (pounds/MPH):           241,700/9.9     181,000/12.6

SUPPLIES:
  Fuel tank-gallons:      10,000          10,000
                          (2x5,000)       (2x5,000)
  Coolant-gallons:        760             760
  Lube oil-gallons:       820             820
  Sand-cu. ft.:           80              88

MODEL:                    AC100CBW        CB100W-10

Locomotive artwork ©1998 RPS Press.  RPS Press can be found on the world wide web at http://paintshop.railfan.net.

Josh's excellent line drawings are from his incredible Railroad Paintshop and his original artwork is FAR better than my reproductions here, which break up a bit, at least on my screen.  [Thumbnails added 21 Apr 03]

CSX AC100CBW Drawing © 1998 Joshua Moldover
Provided by the Railroad Paint Shop - paintshop.railfan.net; used by permission (and request)
[Thumbnailed image - click on picture for larger image.]

NS CB100W-10 Drawing © 1998 Joshua Moldover
Provided by the Railroad Paint Shop - paintshop.railfan.net; used by permission (and request)
[Thumbnailed image - click on picture for larger image.]

I should hasten to point out, however, that the Berlinerwerke has come up with FAR more powerful dual units, the fabled 12,000HP BW/EMD SD90MAC2, which are detailed on the Berlinerwerke Apocrypha Page 6.

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EMD SW-13 Series
Switching Locomotives

Mark Laundry, of Boxcabs and BW Apocrypha fame, offers these drawings from EMD (the Ersatz Locomotive Works) of their series of SW-13 switching locomotives:

Mark "fixed up the SW-13 so {it} looks like the updated SW-1/3 on the Yardlimit 'Complete 1939 EMC Switcher Model Lineup' page" and he "updated the SW-1/3 to look more like the 'Recent photo of the prototype' which {he} just 'found'."

[Thumbnail image - click on the image for the full size drawing.]
(The basic SW-13)

[The next four were on one, but I split it up for ease of viewing:]

"These drawings show two 13 truck units and two 13 element units.  If I were an employee at BW when the SW-13 was being designed, I would have pointed out that when one element of this articulated multi-element unit required maintenance the entire unit would be out of service.  I would have suggested conventional independent unit lash-ups instead of articulation.  Of course, my replacement (probably a nephew of some sort) would have solved this problem by proposing that a mobile machine shop be added to the unit.  This way a mechanic (unionized of course) could travel with the unit and perform maintenance while the unit was in service.  The drawings show three options."

[Thumbnail images - click on the images for the full size drawings.]

The original drawing from which these were made was contributed to the Yardlimit by Tom Fassett.  Mark has been in touch with Tom and Tom has no objection to Mark's modifying his original drawing.

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See the biography of Constance Brontė (1816 - 1856) for the story of her 4-14-4 "Impediment" class loco, "Feculent", with 11' drivers!

More tales follow on BW Guest Apocrypha Page 2 (contributions are always welcome).

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See also the HO (1:87.1) Berlinerwerke saga or the Z (1:220) Berlinerwerke-Z saga
    and Berlinerwerke Apocrypha, et seq., (for tall tales of the Berlinerwerke, itself).

Because the Apocrypha and Guest Apocrypha indices exceeded the capacity of the individual pages, they are now presented in full on a separate Berlinerwerke Apocrypha Index (including the Guest Apocrypha Index).   (03 Oct 06)

 

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If you like this sort of nonsense, take a gander at Jim Wells' incredible

and at the AW NUTS Magazine site, "A Publication of the A.W. N.U.T.S. Garden Railway Society".

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THUMBS UP!

THUMBS UP!  -  Support your local police, fire, and emergency personnel!

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S. Berliner, III

To contact S. Berliner, III, please click here.

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