Hi rails..This is my first post in perhaps a couple years now..and first in this category..I was driving in L.A. last night and saw an old SP (-ish) loco behind buildings and doubled back to look it it..I was able to drive right next to it, it sitting all alone, save for 3 UP Gen-set locos 50 yards away on same track.. It is real old ,maybe from 70s or 8os..maybe an ALCO Century ...Anyway, the fuel tanks were gone and as I could crawl under it (which is an eerie feeling) the traction motors too were gone. What are the gears for on the inside of the wheels on one side ? Don't the motors surround the axles making the axles the motor shaft ? And, if so, how does the motor come off ? Is it splitable ? Or do traction motors hang next to axles and have a pinion (small) gear which meshes with this large inside wheel gear ? Anyone in or near L.A. can go see her. If you were coming from 1st st. going north on Mission Rd. looking to your left (west) you'll see her between buildings a block or so up Mission..There are a couple guards ( 1 RR, 1 private ) who approached me but were very nice ..If you are obviously not vandalizing it they don't mind your checking it out.. I walked all over it, too..I went in long end door. Other end at cab was locked ..I did pull up the coupler pin before climbing down..BTW it was about 2 AM..I'm a night owl....Mark
I can't answer your question, but is this the little yard on the east bank of the LA River? Do you remember the road number? Did it have a UP patch?
Your question about the pinion gear was the correct one. the traction motors are suspended on the truck frame and the pinion gear engages the driving axle gear. On descriptions of passenger and freight diesel locomotives you will often see a gear ratio ie 16:46 that is the ratio of pinion to driving gear. The bi-polar electric locomotives of the Milwaukee Road were powered in the manner you describe wherein the the axle is the armature. Due to that particular method of locomotion those locomotives were extremely powerful and very quiet. They were so quiet that whenever they uncoupled from their train and were moving light on any track, crews were required to sound the bell while the locomotive was in motion. Charlie
You're correct about those Bipolar motors the MILW owned. I can remember a few encounters with them as a small boy. A little flange noise, a few small creaks and groans. Being very young and small in size, to me they seemed to be hulking monsters, sneaking up to do something evil.
Yes , it's the yard on east bank. But she's parked right at very first track with huge parking lot .Sorry, I believe there was no number or UP "patch"..I could be wrong..Oddly enough, RR guard told me it was really shiny not long ago..But boy it's dull now..Maybe they're going to tow it to scap yard soon..I was going to try to tow it home behind my old 82 Diesel Benz but that's when guards showed up..First guard worked for a salsa factory right there and got into a conversation about his friend's MRR layout . When I asked him what size (scale) they were he spread his fingers the width of what seemed O scale. But you know how folks are who are not in the hobby..Next guard came by was RR .. He too was super nice..We talked a bit more and I left without my engine...Dang !!
Here's a shot where you can see how the motor mounts to the axle, but the drive is through the gears. The gears are why different types of locos run at different speeds. In the background you can see new motors waiting to be mounted. The attached photo shows a stack of motors where you can see the hole where the motor clamps to the axle.
So am I real old too?!?!?I dont feel that old lol. I would love to see a pic of this loco.Not many old locos running about these days.
If it were an engine from the 80s, then the odds of it being in that condition are low. Rusty yes, but still serviceable. Of course, you'd be surprised how fast a shiny engine will rust up even in SoCal.
Okay, I found the culprit! I was in Downtown Los Angeles this morning so I decided to pay a visit. I didn't think I could park next to it so I parked about three blocks away, across the Metro Gold Line tracks, but there it was, on Kearney and Myers streets in Boyle Heights, just across from Downtown. The mystery loco is not a former SP loco, it's just primere'd out. It's a UPY 164 CCRCL (Control Car Remote Control Locomotive) - in other words, a prototype wireless DCC loco It began life as a MoPac GE B23-7 and was turned into a CCRCL (also called a "Radio Sled") in 2004. It's meant to control the Gensets via "Prototype Wireless DCC." The track is called the Myers Team Track. The area nearby used to be UP's main station in Los Angeles before Union Station was built. More pics:
How is it set up under the hood? External fuel tank gone, but looks like there is still an exhaust stack. Possibly something to drive a generator and compressor?
I dont think that beast is doing much but sitting there. As for no fuel tank and still has an exhaust.....I guessthey left it there?We had a brand new genset come across the pit on the BN with no fuel tank. Seems they forgot to put it on lol. But in this situation I think this ones been canabalized for parts.