Radioactive BLH?

Rob Davis · **Posted:** Fri Dec 27, 2002 9:57 am

This was on Railpace.com

I guess this is one Baldwin bound to preserved out of public view! The thing I don;t get it that she needs to buried, but she's OK to leave sitting at Queensgate?

US DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY LOCOMOTIVE ON CSXT: US Department of Energy Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton RS4TC locomotive OHFX 4026 is currently at CSXT's Queensgate Yard in Cincinnati, OH. This unit is painted red with the name "L'il Leah" on the hood. This locomotive is usually maintained at the DOE's shops at Fernald, Ohio and is to be buried at Clive, Utah due to low level radioactive contamination when it is retired. (Conrail Technical Society E-Mail Update - posted 12/24)

trains@robertjohndavis.com

ge13031 · **Posted:** Fri Dec 27, 2002 10:31 am

>Fernald, Ohio

I think they want anything connected with that operation buried, out of sight and memory! I don't think there is any other abatement procedure for the animal. O'course if they place it in a vault or tuck it away in the corner of a tunnel it will prolley be the only one around in 10,000 years ?

lamontdc@adelphia.net

Mike Shirk · **Posted:** Fri Dec 27, 2002 10:40 am

Yea and I guess it was o.k. for some poor schmuck to operate it too. Perhaps they drew straws and the lucky guy got to wear a pair of DOD-issue lead-lined overalls...

Rick · **Posted:** Fri Dec 27, 2002 4:40 pm

> Yea and I guess it was o.k. for some poor
> schmuck to operate it too. Perhaps they drew
> straws and the lucky guy got to wear a pair
> of DOD-issue lead-lined overalls...

Well maybe they just hired some Alco-haulic railfan who would wade through a pool of radioactive waste just to pull the throttle of an Alco.

Its scary, but I know people like that!

jrowlands@neo.rr.com

Hal Reiser · **Posted:** Fri Dec 27, 2002 4:41 pm

> Yea and I guess it was o.k. for some poor
> schmuck to operate it too. Perhaps they drew
> straws and the lucky guy got to wear a pair
> of DOD-issue lead-lined overalls...

Anybody want to speculate as to whether it still has its "Golden Glow" headlights?

Hal2415@aol.com

Mark Bassett · **Posted:** Sat Dec 28, 2002 1:26 am

> Well maybe they just hired some Alco-haulic
> railfan who would wade through a pool of
> radioactive waste just to pull the throttle
> of an Alco.

> Its scary, but I know people like that!

Just send them to Ely, Nevada. They can pull the throttle on our RS3. It's painted orange, but it does not glow in the dark. All they need to do is leave a little green stuff (money) behind. And then its out on to the mainline.

Nevada Northern Railway Museum
bassett@elko.net

J Kruger · **Posted:** Sat Dec 28, 2002 1:28 am

> Anybody want to speculate as to whether it
> still has its "Golden Glow"
> headlights?

It probably doesn't need them.

http://www.ncry.org

johnathon_kruger@hotmail.com

Mike Shirk · **Posted:** Sat Dec 28, 2002 12:48 pm

No Message

Brian F · **Posted:** Sat Dec 28, 2002 3:07 pm

For those that are curious... here's what an BLH RS4TC looks like in it's military paint. This is one of two RS4TC's in service at The Northwest Railway Museum in Snoqualmie WA.

http://www.trainmuseum.org

Both locomotives have been repainted a more attractive color.

Some folks classify these locomotives as Whitcombs, as they are a Whitcomb design. Whitcom was a subsidiary of BLH but most of the production units were built at Baldwin's Eddystone plant.

Washington Steam Railroads and Locomotives

brianf425@yahoo.com

Hugh Odom · **Posted:** Sat Dec 28, 2002 6:05 pm

Rob,

Sounds pretty wacky at first listen, but the regs for radiological waste are a little wacky too (I used to work with this stuff). The locomotive may be no more radioactive than an old luminous dial wrist watch. The cost of cleaning it up (i.e.- removing the contamination), and certifying that it is cleaned up, would be higher than the cost of burying it in a low-level radioactive waste dump.

Now, if we could just mount some sort of campaign to push the government into doing the decontamination rather than putting another ~100 tons of slightly contaminated steel in the ground, maybe we could save it.

Hugh Odom

> This was on Railpace.com

> I guess this is one Baldwin bound to
> preserved out of public view! The thing I
> don;t get it that she needs to buried, but
> she's OK to leave sitting at Queensgate?

> US DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY LOCOMOTIVE ON CSXT:
> US Department of Energy
> Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton RS4TC locomotive OHFX
> 4026 is currently at CSXT's Queensgate Yard
> in Cincinnati, OH. This unit is painted red
> with the name "L'il Leah" on the
> hood. This locomotive is usually maintained
> at the DOE's shops at Fernald, Ohio and is
> to be buried at Clive, Utah due to low level
> radioactive contamination when it is
> retired. (Conrail Technical Society E-Mail
> Update - posted 12/24)

The Ultimate Steam Page
whodom@awod.com

Aaron Berger · **Posted:** Sat Dec 28, 2002 7:07 pm

I Think They Should Use Some Other Means Besides A Locomotive. How Many BLH Loco's?
Aaron

norfolk_western_611@hotmail.com

Brian F · **Posted:** Sun Dec 29, 2002 1:09 am

> How Many BLH Loco's?

BLH locos... I don't know. According to Jay Reed's "Critters, Dinkys & Centercabs", 71 RS4TC's were built.

http://www.sonic.net/~jayreed

Washington Steam Railroads and Locomotives
brianf425@yahoo.com

Radioactive BLH?

Who is online