For anyone well up on EMD E and F units: saw a rather frightful picture last night of an F unit slamming into a switcher. not pretty ofcourse. it was on a curve so the F unit fell to her side to the outside of the curve. but not before breaking in half right behind the cab. the picture caption remarked that this was a common feature of the Es and Fs. By design? for safety? or design flaw? first time id seen this type of damage to an F, and certainly have never heard this comment of them. can someone clarify please? Couple days ago i was doing some reminiscing of railfanning way back in the day. i was fondly thinking of the great time i had with the crews. got to thinking about more of the details. all the stuff they had shown me. then something popped into my head. torpedoes! back then, scary lil devices to me! but rightlyfully so. so while im here in questions, are track torpedoes still used (when needed)? are they still around? havent seen one in quite along time since ive thought about it.thank you!
No, none of the class 1's hvae F or E-units that they use in freight service. However, a couple class 1's, including CP NS do own active F-units that are used for business trains or other special passenger trains, such as CP's Royal Canadian Pacific, which is pulled by F-units.
I seem to recall a reference in Trains stating that these were designed to buckle right behind the cab in order to protect the crew in cases of head-on collisions. Apparently, the buckling was intended to absorb energy that otherwise might crush the cab. I can see how the buckling might appear to be a design flaw in the form of a weakness in the frame that allows the buckling. But my understanding is that it was an intentional design feature, kind of like how a fuse is the weakest link for the purpose of protecting the rest of the circuit.
The torpedo lives. The Es and Fs, not so much. But this is true. I have in my collection several derailments, collisions, etc., the aftermath caught on film. The F units did have a tendency to break behind the cab, turning them into an A frame in a collision. Crew protection has been at a low all along, so it probably was a happy albeit unintended consequence. The best example I have is a corn field meet between an F unit consist and a steam switch engine at the far west end of Roseville yard at a place called Antelope, circa 1952-ish. The head end crew of an east train fell asleep, very easy to do, and ran into the yard and ran into the yard engine. Always a handsome loco to begin with, even the major inverted 45 degree V bend looked appropriate for an F unit in Black Widow paint. Actually it was a very conscientious and well known, well respected engineer at the throttle. A union official, a BLE (Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers) Local Chairman. Can't remember the name for the life of me right on the tip of my tongue You got any ideas, Andy?
This Site Might Help You. RE: Break away cabs on EMD E and F units? For anyone well up on EMD E and F units: saw a rather frightful picture last night of an F unit slamming into a switcher. not pretty ofcourse. it was on a curve so the F unit fell to her side to the outside of the curve. but not before breaking in half right behind the cab. the picture
