Don't forget the CLC units. They had dual service units in all the road
classes too and were all used as such at one time or another. I think they
were 70 MPH, max, not sure and don't have references unpacked yet. I saw an
H16-44 go through Tappen one night in late August 1970 as the lead unit on a
four or five unit consist at the head end of a very long No. 1. I can still
hear those units roar as they started climbing west up out of Tappen.
I'm not sure if I'm repeating myself here, so please forgive me if I do.
Doug and I have communicated back and forth a little bit off-list concerning
this topic of the roof lights and I think we pretty much understand each
other. For the purpose of the question he posed below: Until suitable
documentation surfaces, the most likely answer to the question of why just a
few few units were equipped with the gyro lights on the roof is simply
because it was a gimmick intended only for the benefit of the new flagship
passenger train. As that train was to be handled by a small pool of
dedicated units, the application of the device of limited to those units.
Speculation? Yes. Because that's the best we are going to do. I'm quite
willing to bet a can of Coke that this is pretty close to the facts. Also
remember that we were dealing with a superlatively conservative
organisation. Something like these gyra-lights was really whooping it up
for an exceedingly stodgy corporation. I'm not kidding when I say that
either. This was a management so cheap that it would put a stamp under an
armpit for moisture rather than lick it. They wouldn't want to be seen as
getting carried away, hence just the Canadian units got the gyros.
Anything else, such as the icicle breakers and the gyro light for the Budds
all had a very solid business case to justify the expenditure on them. From
what I recall hearing, especially around Penticton, the Budd Car gyro lights
were definitely a warning, but they also were to improve the engineers
ability to see what lay ahead in the heavily curved and high rock cut
country of the southern line through BC. Unlike the roof lights on the FP
units assigned to the Canadian, there were absolutely no fripperies about
this light. In some ways, the Crowsnest-Columbia & Western-Kettle Valley
line was the toughest territory on the CPR system and certain standard CPR
operational practises were modified accordingly. (o illustrate, for years,
the Employee Time Tables mandated that all passenger trains operating west
of Nelson will carry 90 psi air pressure. This was at a time when the
standard air pressure was 70 psi.) As the Budds ran through the Coquihalla
at night on one portion of their run, the gyro light was a very justified
addition to the normal headlights. For that matter, there was a fair amount
of country on the Boundary and Nelson Subs which was just about as hairy as
the Q.
Joe Smuin
-----Original Message-----
From: danieldellunto
Sent: Tuesday, November 30, 2010 6:30 PM
To: cpsig@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [cpsig] Gyralights (was Re: Domes and icicle breaker cars)
This seems rather elementary once one thinks about it.
The 1400 number series (and also the 1900's & 1800's) were numbered as such
for dedicated passenger service. They very rarely ran in freight service
(I'd imagine the 89mph gearing didn't help). The other FP7's in the
4000-series, and FPA/B2's, RS10's, and GP9's were dual-service units with
steam generators but 65mph (75 in the MLW's?) gearing to run in freight
service, and could be pressed into passenger service as needed.
Under ideal conditions, your railway would try to run its trains with the
units equipped for passenger service at all times. So, why not equip all the
units dedicated to passenger service with the roof-mounted gyralites and
icicle breakers. No need to equip the B-units if all the A-units have them.
And the 1800's were based out east and rarely ran on The Canadian, that
could explain their absence of gyras and icicle breakers.
Dual service units would ideally be used on an as-needed basis in passenger
service, and thus equipping all of them would be an extra cost.
Dan D
--- In cpsig@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Doug Cummings" <DougCummings@...> wrote:
And I point out again, and must ask again, that if this was indeed the
purpose of the roof gyro light why was it only applied to a handful of
locomotives that were dedicated to passenger service and ran both in the
east and in the west. No one has yet offered an answer to that question. I
know this is what you were told, and I am sure whoever told you was not
trying to mislead you, but if you think about it the explanation is not
logical.
Doug
