More F40s Arrive @ "F40PH Preservation Society"/Grand Canyon

PCook · **Joined:** Sat Jul 02, 2005 7:16 am **Posts:** 2127

Typical fuel consumption for an F40PH locomotive in commuter service with 6 bilevels, full HEP load and 79 mph max between stations varies between 110 and 150 gallons per hour. There is wide variation between lines and operators due to track profile, distances between stations, and many other factors.

PC

RCD · **Posted:** Wed Jan 17, 2024 10:09 am

For the Grand canyon they make sense I was just wondering if they made sense for little railroad museums that are pulling three or four Lackawanna MU cars at 25mph.

PCook · **Joined:** Sat Jul 02, 2005 7:16 am **Posts:** 2127

No. An SW-1 would be much more practical.

PC

Overmod · **Joined:** Thu May 24, 2012 1:37 pm **Posts:** 2492

Or perhaps a 'cabbage' type conversion with a 6-567 and generator mounted on a 'sled' and two traction motors in one truck?

I'll see myself out.

Alexander D. Mitchell IV · **Posted:** Wed Jan 17, 2024 6:16 pm

RCD wrote:

For the Grand canyon they make sense I was just wondering if they made sense for little railroad museums that are pulling three or four Lackawanna MU cars at 25mph.

The only sane reason to use an F40PH, as normally configured, would be on a sizeable fleet of HEP-equipped cars at moderate to fast speed. The GCRY does that, and a couple of other lines MIGHT qualify.

Lackawanna MUs lack HEP, and you proposed a speed of 25 mph.

Putting a regeared F40FH on such a short open-window train could of course be done, but almost any switcher or road switcher out there would be a more intelligent choice. I have witnessed switchers, road switchers, and F-units spend hours in tourist operation and never get above Notch 2.........

RCD · **Posted:** Sat Jan 20, 2024 12:45 pm

Warning topic drift

Alexander D. Mitchell IV wrote:

RCD wrote:

For the Grand canyon they make sense I was just wondering if they made sense for little railroad museums that are pulling three or four Lackawanna MU cars at 25mph.

The only sane reason to use an F40PH, as normally configured, would be on a sizeable fleet of HEP-equipped cars at moderate to fast speed. The GCRY does that, and a couple of other lines MIGHT qualify.

Lackawanna MUs lack HEP, and you proposed a speed of 25 mph.

Putting a regeared F40FH on such a short open-window train could of course be done, but almost any switcher or road switcher out there would be a more intelligent choice. I have witnessed switchers, road switchers, and F-units spend hours in tourist operation and never get above Notch 2.........

How many of our organizations have 480 volt 3 phase AC HEP. A lot of organizations I've seen seem to just use large RV generators and for air conditioning well... you open the windows and heat You jury rig propane furnace. With the cost of diesel fuel and having to burn extra to provide head and power when did it just be cheaper to use a gasoline generator? You would also be putting less wear and tear on your prime mover. I remember one outfit had heavyweight cars and for their Christmas train will need full car lighting as well as power for the Christmas lights, I always drool at the prospect of them swapping out their incandescent 40 watt light bulbs for LED equivalents and figured they could probably run a four-car train with only one generator doing that.