Beep (locomotive)

Last updated
The Beep
USA 2012 0295 - Barstow - Western America Railroad Museum.jpg
Santa Fe's #1460, affectionately known to railfans as the "Beep", at the Western America Railroad Museum.
Type and origin
Power typeDiesel-electric
Builder Baldwin Locomotive Works;
rebuilt by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway
Build date1970
Specifications
Configuration:
   AAR B-B
Gauge 4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Length48 ft 0 in (14.63 m)
Loco weight254,000 lb (115,000 kg)
Prime mover EMD 16-567BC
Engine type V16 2-stroke diesel
Aspiration Roots blower
Displacement9,072 in3 (148.66 L)
Generator DC
Traction motors 4 DC
Cylinders 16
Cylinder size 8.5 in × 10 in (216 mm × 254 mm)
Transmission Diesel electric
Loco brake Straight air
Train brakes Air
Performance figures
Maximum speed65 mph (105 km/h)
Power output1,500  hp (1,119 kW)
Tractive effort 63,500 lbf (282 kN)
Career
Operators
Numberscurrently 1460
Official nameSWBLW (SWitcher, Baldwin Locomotive Works)
Locale North America

The "Beep" (also referred to as the SWBLW) is an individual switcher locomotive built in 1970 by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway at its Cleburne, Texas, workshops. Technically a rebuild, the Beep (a portmanteau of a B-B wheel arrangement and "Baldwin Geep", whose official designation was derived from "SWitcher, Baldwin Locomotive Works") originally entered service on the Santa Fe as a Baldwin Model VO-1000. Following its successful CF7 capital rebuilding program, the company hoped to determine if remanufacturing its aging, non-EMD end cab switchers by fitting them with new EMD prime movers was an economically viable proposition. The conversion procedure proved too costly and only the one unit was modified. In 2008-2009, this locomotive was retired and stored operational at Topeka, Kansas. In May 2009 the unit was donated to the Western America Railroad Museum in Barstow, California.

Contents

History

In the early 1960s the Reading Company sent 14 of their VO-1000s to General Motors Electro-Motive Division to have them rebuilt to SW900 specifications. Unlike the "Beep", these locomotives retained most of their original carbodies. The units were subsequently given the designation VO-1000m.

Development

VO-1000 No. 67729 emerged from the Baldwin Locomotive Works Eddystone, Pennsylvania, facility in July 1943 dressed in the Santa Fe Zebra Stripe livery and bearing #2220. In the early 1960s the unit would take on the blue and yellow Billboard paint scheme with "SANTA FE" displayed in small yellow letters above the accent stripe, as was the standard for all yard switchers. It is these colors that #2220 displayed when it was selected as a test subject. Much as with the CF7 conversions, the unit was stripped down to its bare frame, and the long hood, 1,000 hp (750 kW) power plant, trucks, control gear, and electrical system scrapped; only the Baldwin cab remained.

In a manner similar to the first CF7 modification, a sixteen-cylinder EMD 567 series diesel engine was fitted to the Baldwin's cast steel frame, which required a considerable amount of modification. A new long hood was fabricated by the shops to a GP7 pattern. The locomotive was configured in a B-B wheel arrangement and mounted atop two Blomberg B two-axle trucks, with all axles powered. The unit received an advanced electrical system.

The completed Beep rolled out of the Cleburne shops in December 1970 (with one of its original Baldwin builder's plates still affixed) sporting fresh blue and yellow paint, though now the words "Santa Fe" were applied in yellow in Cooper Black font (logotype) along the sides below the accent stripe in the style otherwise reserved for road switchers and other main line locomotives. It was also assigned #2450 (the first CF7 was given #2649, with successive numbers applied in descending order) and placed in service in south Texas.

In service

Train crews favored #2450 due to the superior riding qualities of its Blomberg trucks, which ran more smoothly than the original AAR Type-A switcher trucks. Being several tons heavier than a typical GP7 imparted a higher tractive effort, helpful when switching long cuts of cars. The Beep spent many years in lease service performing switching duties for the Port Terminal Railroad Association in Houston. In August, 1974 the unit was re-designated as #1160 as part of a general locomotive renumbering scheme. It was again renumbered along with the Santa Fe's few remaining EMD switchers and assigned #1460 in January, 1977.

The Beep was transferred to Cleburne as the shop switcher in the mid-1980s, where in 1985 it was given a number of external modifications. A cab air conditioning system was added, and the rear cab windows were modified from their original Baldwin pattern to a new three-pane configuration that accommodated the use of standard window glass sizes common to many EMD locomotives. The unit was given fresh paint (the Billboard colors were maintained) and placed back in service.

SW900 #1453, Santa Fe's last "standard" EMD switcher, was retired in 1987, thus making #1460 the only end cab switcher on the roster. The Beep continued working at Cleburne until the shops were closed later that year. Since then, the unit has worked as a shop switcher at both the Argentine shops in Kansas City and in Topeka, Kansas. The locomotive was equipped with remote control equipment (RCE) in the early 1990s so that it could be operated from a distance.

After Santa Fe merged with the Burlington Northern Railroad in 1995-1996 to form BNSF Railway, the Beep was one of only three blue and yellow units not affected by the new company's renumbering program. #1460's cab sides were affixed with a BNSF sublettering "patch" and retrofitted with a four-stack exhaust manifold. [1] It was retired in 2008-2009, and later stored in Topeka, Kansas. In May 2009, the unit was donated to the Western America Railroad Museum in Barstow, California, where it remains on static display.

Footnote

Santa Fe had designated a handful of other non-EMD switcher locomotives for rebuilding around 1970 (including two Fairbanks-Morse H-10-44s), but all of these units were subsequently scrapped when it was determined that the required modifications were not cost effective.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EMD FP45</span> US Diesel-electric locomotive

The EMD FP45 is a cowl unit type of C-C diesel locomotive produced in the United States by General Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD). It was produced beginning in 1967 at the request of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, which did not want its prestigious Super Chief/El Capitan and other passenger trains pulled by freight style hood unit locomotives, which have external walkways.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway</span> Former railroad company in the United States

The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the largest Class 1 railroads in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California State Railroad Museum</span> Railroad museum in Sacramento, California

The California State Railroad Museum is a museum in the California State Parks system that interprets the role of railroads in the West. It is located in Old Sacramento State Historic Park at 111 I Street, Sacramento, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EMD GP30</span> Model of American 2250 hp diesel locomotive

The EMD GP30 is a 2,250 hp (1,680 kW) four-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division of La Grange, Illinois between July 1961 and November 1963. A total of 948 units were built for railroads in the United States and Canada, including 40 cabless B units for the Union Pacific Railroad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EMC 1800 hp B-B</span> Locomotive class

Electro-Motive Corporation produced five 1800 hp B-B experimental passenger train-hauling diesel locomotives in 1935; two company-owned demonstrators, #511 and #512, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's #50, and two units for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, Diesel Locomotive #1. The twin engine power unit layout and multiple unit control systems developed with the B-B locomotives were soon adopted for other locomotives such as the Burlington Route's Zephyr locomotives built by the Budd Company in 1936 and EMC's own EMD E-units introduced in 1937. The B-B locomotives worked as proof-of-concept demonstrators for diesel power with the service loads of full size trains, breaking out of its niche powering the smaller custom Streamliners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EMD F7</span> Model of 1500 hp North American cab diesel locomotive

The EMD F7 is a model of 1,500-horsepower (1,100 kW) diesel-electric locomotive produced between February 1949 and December 1953 by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors (EMD) and General Motors Diesel (GMD).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EMD SD70 series</span> Locomotive class

The EMD SD70 is a series of diesel-electric locomotives produced by the US company Electro-Motive Diesel in response to the GE Dash 9-44CW. This locomotive family is an extension and improvisation to the EMD SD60 series. Production commenced in late 1992 and since then over 5,700 units have been produced; most of these are the SD70M, SD70MAC, and SD70ACe models. While the majority of the production was ordered for use in North America, various models of the series have been used worldwide. All locomotives of this series are hood units with C-C trucks, except the SD70ACe-P4 and SD70MACH which have a B1-1B wheel configuration, and the SD70ACe-BB, which has a B+B-B+B wheel arrangement.

Early Electro-Motive Corporation switcher locomotives were built with Winton 201-A engines. A total of 175 were built between February 1935 and January 1939. Two main series of locomotives were built, distinguished by engine size and output: the straight-8, 600 hp (450 kW) 'S' series, and the V12, 900 hp (670 kW) 'N' series. Both were offered with either one-piece cast underframes from General Steel Castings of Granite City, Illinois, denoted by 'C' after the power identifier, and fabricated, welded underframes built by EMC themselves, denoted by 'W'. This gave four model series: SC, SW, NC and NW. Further developments of the 900 hp (670 kW) models gave model numbers NC1, NC2, NW1, and NW1A, all of which were practically indistinguishable externally from the others, as well as a pair of unique NW4 models for the Missouri Pacific Railroad and a solitary, twin-engined T transfer locomotive model built for the Illinois Central Railroad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Louis–San Francisco Railway</span> Former American railroad

The St. Louis–San Francisco Railway, commonly known as the "Frisco", was a railroad that operated in the Midwest and South Central United States from 1876 to November 21, 1980. At the end of 1970, it operated 4,547 miles (7,318 km) of road on 6,574 miles (10,580 km) of track, not including subsidiaries Quanah, Acme and Pacific Railway and the Alabama, Tennessee and Northern Railroad; that year, it reported 12,795 million ton-miles of revenue freight and no passengers. It was purchased and absorbed into the Burlington Northern Railroad in 1980. Despite its name, it never came close to San Francisco.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EMD GP7</span> Diesel-electric locomotive

The EMD GP7 is a four-axle (B-B) diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division and General Motors Diesel between October 1949 and May 1954.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EMD SD9</span> Model of 1750 hp Co′Co′ American diesel locomotive

The EMD SD9 is a model of diesel locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between January 1954 and June 1959. An EMD 567C 16-cylinder engine generated 1,750 horsepower (1.30 MW). Externally similar to its predecessor, the SD7, the SD9 was built with the improved and much more maintainable 567C engine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EMD GP60</span> Locomotive class

The EMD GP60 is a model of 4-axle (B-B) diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between 1985 and 1994. The GP60 was EMD's first engine that was classified as a "third-generation" locomotive. Hidden behind the electrical cabinet doors on the rear wall of the cab, the GP60 concealed a trio of microprocessors that monitored and managed a host of engine, cooling system and control functions. The engine's on-board microprocessors replaced hundreds of wiring circuits, dozens of relays and all but one module card, making it an improvement among EMD's engines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western America Railroad Museum</span> Railroad museum in Barstow, California

The Western America Railroad Museum is a railroad museum located in Barstow, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santa Fe CF7</span> EMD F-unit railroad locomotive converted for switching duty

The Santa Fe CF7 is an EMD F-unit railroad locomotive that has had its streamlined carbody removed and replaced with a custom-made, "general purpose" body in order to adapt the unit for switching duty. All of the conversions were performed by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway's Cleburne, Texas, workshops between February 1970 and 1978. This was Santa Fe's most notable remanufacturing project, with 233 completed between 1970 - March 1978. The program was initiated in response to a system-wide need for more than 200 additional four-axle diesel road switchers to meet projected motive power demands on branch lines and secondary main lines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baldwin VO-1000</span>

The Baldwin VO-1000 is a diesel-electric switcher locomotive built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works between January 1939 and December 1946. These units were powered by a naturally aspirated eight-cylinder diesel engine rated at 1,000 horsepower (746 kW), and rode on a pair of two-axle trucks in a B-B wheel arrangement. These were either the AAR Type-A switcher trucks, or the Batz truck originally developed by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway as a leading truck for steam locomotives. 548 examples of this model were built for American railroads, including examples for the Army and Navy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santa Fe SD26</span>

The SD26 were EMD SD24 diesel locomotives rebuilt by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway between January 1973 and January 1978. In an effort to spare the cost of purchasing new motive power, the Santa Fe elected to expand on the success of its CF7 and other capital rebuild programs and extend the life of its fleet of 80 aging SD24s by rebuilding them at its San Bernardino, California Shops.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EMD GP10</span> Rebuilt locomotive class

The EMD GP10 is a diesel-electric locomotive that is the result of rebuilding a GP7, GP9 or GP18.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EMD SD75M/SD75I</span>

The EMD SD75M and EMD SD75I are a series of similar diesel-electric locomotives produced by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between 1994 and 1996. The series is an improvement and extension to the EMD SD70 series, which further is an extension to the EMD SD60. These locomotives were built as a response to General Electric's Dash 9-44CW. By increasing the output of the 16-710-G3 engine from 4,000 to 4,300 horsepower, the SD75 was a reality. The "M" in the model designation is the style of the cab, in this case the North American style cab.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GE U28CG</span> US Diesel-electric locomotive

The GE U28CG was a dual-service diesel-electric locomotive produced in 1966 by GE Transportation Systems and derived from their freight-hauling U28C design. The sole customer was the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, which ordered ten early that year for delivery in July and August.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EMD GP11</span>

The EMD GP11 is a four-axle diesel locomotive rebuilt by the Illinois Central Railroad's Paducah shops. It is very similar in appearance to the GP8 and GP10.

References

  1. "sf1460ekimmel". atsf.railfan.net.