There are also 4 Monon C420s left, 3 of which are operable, but only one with its nose mounted bell left intact.

1) Anything you get from Ozark is going to be a bit pricey.

2) there are minor differences between the "stock" SW1/NW2 cab and the later SW cabs, primarily larger windows on the front wall. Another way to put it is that the top for an MGA sports car won't quite fit an MGB, or a convertible top for a 1955 Corvette won't quite fit a 1965 Corvette.
If this were an industrial concern, most would be quite happy grabbing a cab from a later SW and fitting it, especially as the controls might be newer. But that sort of defeats the whole point of "the Monon's first diesel."

3) "Better than nothing" would sure as hell not satisfy me, if I were the owner litigating against the trucking company and/or its insurance. I'd demand new build from scratch to the original plans and diagrams, and maybe settle for the professional refitting of an EMD-built SW1 cab in excellent condition. Look around in the right places and you can still find SW1/NW2 cabs.

4) On the other hand, if we've just personally bankrupted and jailed a fly-by-night trucker that lacked adequate insurance, the owner could just give up, or compromise with whatever can be patched up.

5) does anyone know what was damaged as far as cab controls, hardware, etc.? Is this just the cab roof and glass, or have the controls (however superficial compared to modern standards) been destroyed?

I currently have a cab on an EMD SW9 available. The locomotive is being scrapped and if they are interested in the cab, then they need to move on it. It will be gone in another week.
James Kopkey
jkironhorse251@aol.com

Al Crisp here; Where did this happen exactly ,does anyone know.? It does not look that high to me .As for night time OD permits, the only ones I have seen are for over width and non escort widths at that. The trailers are equipped width lights to replace the flags at night and can only run in approved jurisdictions. To clean the cab off like that, he was moving. Hell I know when I ever moved anything high I always came to stop and rolled under at speed you could stop if need be. To many times I have seen a road bridge sign that was no good because of a repave that took down six inch's of clearance. I have yet to see GPS or Qualquam that gave bridge height or weight restrictions.

It looks like the corners broke at the window level and peeled the roof back over the hood. Hence the shortened stack. If that's the case, most the the controls may have survived. Fingers crossed.

Edit- If the edge of the roof caught a bridge I-beam flange at say 30 mph, that's enough momentum with mass behind it to do that without much of a jolt.

It's been said that it was the NS overpass across 3rd street in Logansport, IN. That seems to be correct after looking on Google Maps. Clearance on the bridge I think says 14.5ft.

The pictures are at night but I've heard from others that the actual move was in daylight. Trains says night in their article but having heard otherwise, I'm not sure exactly what to believe in regards to that.

Either way, it doesn't look like that overpass was hit at walking speed. Very unfortunate situation. On the "bright side", it appears the engine was very sufficiently locked down on the trailer as it did not end up in the street.

I was worried it fell off the trailer when I first read this. Thank goodness the frame was not bent!

Is someone going to call a witch doctor to break the curse associated with the ITM equipment?

I am for one thankful it was not the Baldwin Switcher at ITM. There are so few parts for a Baldwin. SMS might have a spare cab but lets not find out the hard way.

Robert

very kind offer

Gonna need a proper SW/NW golden glow headlight with original glass reflector and lense, she had the original headlights on both ends. Gonna be very expensive for someones insurance or locomotive's owner is going to own the trucking company for himself before all is said and done. If its the same owner as back in the late 1980's, he is VERY particular about this engine, who is allowed to work on her and such. So i am sure it will be fixed correctly to where after its done, we never know it happend. As to who gets to pay for this, I am sure he has already retained lawyer. Mike

Al Crisp ; Day or night is not the issue. Some one did not do their due diligence, not once but twice. Normal practice for a move like this thru a built up area is a recon of the permitted route. If the vehicle is over the recognised national standard 13'6" you need to measure everything from bridges to power and telephone lines in case you need utility companies to move things!!! . Every town has their own standard and as I said before you can not trust what is on the sign either. I remember years ago taking out a towns Christmas lights and half the towns phones with 13 6 trailer because they had not updated their bylaws. About the only signs towns post for trucks is their bitchy anti Jake brake rules!!
The second was not properly measuring the load at it's highest point and if they had a lead escort checking his contact pole height was set correctly. Escorts can be notoriously bad with little experience. A tip here only hire trucking companies with their own escorts or regularly contracted ones. Anyone with a couple signs and a Honda Civic can be an escort. I have had some terrible ones and others who took things seriously. The minute you get on the road with that load you are responsible for what ever happens. I could write a book on screw ups I have seen!!
As for the trailer having the ability to raise or lower. Yes they do within a very limited range from looking at what's in the pictures. The cab end was loaded on what appears to be a three axle float. They have hydraulic deck disconnect and leveling at the front gooseneck. You can only move up and down so far before grounding out becomes an issue.The axles are on air ride and can be lowered or raised manually on some trailers as well as all air dumped for parking or in a short time emergency a little extra clearance.
The rear[front of loco] appears to be on a self steering disconnected trailer so in effect the locomotive was part of the rig. In my judgement rigs like this are moved at a walking speed in and around anything which is tricky to navigate. They have various means of steering control, some from the cab and for slow speed with a remote control for a assistant on the ground. Somewhere there was a complete break down of communication.

The height to the top of the cab is listed as 14'5", when on its trucks. If you look at how high the bottom step is from the road when sitting on the lowboy, it is obvious that it is at least a foot higher than it would have been when sitting on its trucks on rail, easily exceeding the bridge clearance.

When we trucked ALCO switchers, we had to remove the steps and some other parts in an attempt to keep the height down and barely got it to 14'6"...successfully trucked an S1 and an S2 considerable distances. Unfortunately EMD steps are not removeable. The only one I've seen trucked a decent distance was on a much bigger trailer, with the locomotive sitting in a well that was suspended at each end by goose-necks. That was O&W 116

Back when we moved the SP 1215 (0-6-0) from Hanford to Portola we were just under 16' at the safety valves and cab roof ridge. I wanted to take off the safeties, but was overruled by others. In Bakersfield we came off the highway to use a private scales to insure we were within the permit load per axle, as a state weigh station was ahead (turned out it was closed, oh well. . . ). We did have to move an axle or two to adjust the per-axle weight as I recall. I remember one guy asking if we were hauling it to scrap! Anyways, on the way back onto the highway we drove under an underpass with fresh repaving-and damaged the safety valves and the cab roof ridge. The repaving was just enough to reduce the clearance. I was in a chase vehicle (not part of the trucking crew, but for the museum) and found a sectional 16' pole somewhere--too long ago, I forget where) and would proceed the trucks to check clearance after that. Did have them take toe off & on ramps on one more bridge. I didn't know that this was something other movers did, I just didn't want anymore "issues" with the move.
Funny thing about that off & On ramp, the overpass road was little traveled, but the minute the trucks started up the off-ramp, there was traffic on that road! I had to time it so they didn't have to stop, as they would have had a hard time starting up again on the ramp grade.

Does anyone know who the “movers” were? I know from following at a distance, one particular outfit did quite a bit of the heavy lifting getting things out of Noblesville....

Al Crisp ; On closer look at the photo that is a beam trailer not a lowboy float, but the same things I said apply about the air suspension and gooseneck hydraulics. I would say they used that trailer because the loco was on saddles in place of the trucks and it was easier to attach to. Looking at the picture of the bridge it has never been hit before, as an old hand I can spot a repeat offender, skid marks and banged up leading edges on the underpass.
Here is a couple of useful hints for anyone engaging a carrier to move something oversized. Look at the route your carrier has selected. Ask for copies of any permits they have applied for and read them and do not be afraid to ask for an explanation. Some drivers will look at them, throw them in the glove box and go their own merry way ,cause they know a better route?? I will say that some jurisdictions are notoriously bad in giving correct info as to why they have routed you a certain way. I also can not remember seeing much in the way of height warnings in permits. The Rand McNally Truckers Road Atlas lists restricted route and low bridge locations across North America. Especially during construction season in the northern areas like Ontario there will be limited dimension stretches that you will not know about until you are there. There may be a detour you will only know about from construction signs. These will not always be on your permit and may cause problems with bridge clearances. A lot of municipal jurisdictions want you to buy a permit from them too and for the most part I would say that carriers do not, unless they are operating there all the time. Do not just take the lowest bid and ask for references if you have any doubt. If a carrier has a lot of problems and /or infractions it will be on their CVOR in Canada or the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration in the USA. A lot of jurisdictions sell a yearly blanket permit to regular carriers which has certain dimensions on all roads in that jurisdiction. I can remember the last carrier I worked for part time after retiring had a bunch of these for Ontario which got passed from Truck to truck as needed. I knew what they read but I saw new guys going out with OD loads. As the driver trainer I would catch them if I could and explain what was what. Our head dispatcher was the old farm boy school of hook on,drive and do not look back!! I could go on and on but in the end it is BUYER BEWARE and do not leave it to chance if you feel uneasy!!