A "nickname" given to a class of locomotives designed to operate in long tunnels. A "T" was added to the class type to designate the special features resulting in the SD45T-2 and later SD40T-2. They had a lower air intake grill at the end of the long hood to pull cooler air from lower in the tunnel. From the side you could see right through the locomotive through the grills. The SP and the D&RG were the only railroads to purchase them new.
Rare glimpse of western power on the KY&N on this day, with KCS GP30 #100 bringing the shifter into the yard as U30C #432 holds the main. The KCS geep would return west on an auto parts train later that afternoon. January 9, 1974. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
How about some Fairbanks-Morse power? Here a few shots of PRR A and B unit C-Liner (Proto 1000) handling a freight past Lieperville Union Station while a PRR A and B set of Erie-Built (Proto 1000) bring the Evening Express with some head end wood express reefers into the station.
I like the Erie Builts, I don't see too many people with these models. I wish Walthers would bring them back, I'm assuming the old Proto tooling is around there somewhere. A lot of people say that the Alco PA is the most attractive passenger diesel, but my personal opinion is the Erie Built, especially the Milwaukee Road units assigned to the Olympian Hiawatha.
Not to start a debate on which passenger diesel is most attractive, but I think that the early transition era had the best looking models. They were coming off the streamlined steam era and needed to look like they could do what their steam predecessors did, go fast in style. There were the early E-units, with their steeply slanted noses - they looked like they were doing 100 mph standing still; the PAs (of course!) with their long, long noses and decidedly powerful and virile allure; FM cabs with their simple yet beautiful lines (I have to admit that the MILW Eries were fantastic), like the CN CPA-16-5s in their original green, yellow and black livery; and not to forget the DL109s, which looked like nothing else on the road, with their unmistakable Otto Kuhler styling; Also Baldwin with their 2000 hp sharks working the Pennsy! That time was also the time of the great designers, Kuhler, Loewy, Dreyfus, Patten... Each design they produced was unique, but with a signature piece that was unique to each designer. Each of them had character, each inspiring a "wow" for a different reason. And they looked different on each railroad. Today, they're all more or less the same with a few details that differ.
I agree. Classy, attractive. Willing to expend a few more dollars, to catch the public's eyes. *Sigh*. I am glad I got to experience some of those years and have a few memories.
