RE: [ihc] no IH content, but fun--

[bearbvd@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Greg Hermann)]

At 8:04 AM 10/25/04, Steven Stegmann wrote:
>There's a UP "Big Boy" in the St. Louis County
>Transportation Museum.  Hard to imagine something like
>that moving.
>
>Steve

The UP's 'Big Blows' were equally amazing, but not as heavy as the 'Big
Boys'. They were gas turbine electrics--which burned SO much fuel oil that
they had to have a tanker-tender just to carry their fuel. I think, at
least, they had the decency to put traction motors on the tender as well as
on the locomotive !!!

But the MOST interesting UP thing I ever saw was, I _THINK_ (never was able
to chase down the details) was what appeared to be a combined cycle gas
turbine unit !!! Think it had to be a gas turbine electric top cycle with a
RECIP STEAM bottoming cycle !!!!!! This was in '92, saw it taking a long
freight down 'the ramp' in western Nebraska. My guess would be a big two
shaft turbine--fan jet sort of affair--taking power off the shaft to make
power for traction motors on the tender, and on the leading and trailing
trucks, using the fan to pull air over a steam condenser (yep, it appeared
to be a closed steam cycle, only a wisp of dark exhaust smoke from it), and
then take the turbine exhaust through a fire tube boiler (with perhaps a
bit of afterburn using the excess O2 in the exhaust stream--to run the
pretty convention steam drivers !!!

Greg

>--- Greg Hermann <bearbvd@domain.elided> wrote:
>
>> At 11:30 PM 10/24/04, John M. Adams wrote:
>> >> -----Original Message-----
>> >> From: owner-ihc@domain.elided
>> [mailto:owner-ihc@domain.elided]On Behalf Of
>> >> Greg Hermann
>> >> Sent: Sunday, October 24, 2004 9:42 PM
>> >> To: ihc@domain.elided
>> >> Subject: [ihc] no IH content, but fun--
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> Saw a 148 wheeler (highway) rig today !!!!
>> >
>> >P.S. If that WAS an E60C or equivalent loco like
>> their other ones, its
>> >weight is typically between 185 and 195 U.S. tons
>> (plus or minus a few
>> >pounds... :)
>>
>> Sorta light compared to, say, one of the UP's old
>> 'Big Boy' steam mallets
>> !!! Climbed and looked all over one of them once at
>> the Forney
>> Transportation Museam once in Denver, before they
>> moved it. 1,250,000 lbs.
>> of iron in one of those critters !! :-)
>>
>>  If you add the weight of the two tractors, the
>> "jeeps", the
>> >carrier beam... Man, I don't want to think what the
>> total weight of that rig
>> >was.
>>
>> Had to be in the neighborhood of 600 K lbs,, maybe
>> even north of that,
>> including the ballast on the two tractors.
>>
>> Must really be a LOT of art involved for the two
>> tractor drivers to
>> coordinate their driving!
>>
>> Greg
>>
>> How do get a rating to drive something like that?
>> It's not like there's
>> >much opportunity to practice! Wish I could have
>> seen it...
>> >
>> >Any pictures?
>> >
>> >Thanks,
>> >
>> >John A.