Peter D. Wrote:
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> Locomotives like the SDP-35 or SDP-40 were
> basically a freight unit with a steam generator on
> the back porch, right? The frame is the same as a
> freight version SD-40, but a little longer for the
> steam generator, which isn't as heavy as the motor
> anyway and is still supported by the back truck,
> right? Where as the EMD 'E' series loco's carried
> the weight on the longer A-1-A trucks, verse say
> pushed together in the middle of the body. Should
> they have beefed up the frames to put whatever in
> the center of the car body type? I would have
> thought that was a no brainer.... 'Side's, the 645
> sound ISN'T the lovely sound of two 567's. More
> maintenance I know, but MORE jobs!


A typical E9A from the factory weighed a nominal
345,000 lb. SD35s were heavier, but NOT because
of having 1 V116. It was heavier for better traction.

UP's rebuilt E9s were ballasted to get the weight
up, as they ended up much lighter after the conversion
to one engine/AR10 and one air compressor and one
high-voltage cabinet instead of two of everything
as from the factory. Also the steam generators were
removed.

Yes, the frame was heavily modified to accomodate
one power plant in the middle. But even then, the
units still had to have ballast added.

They were rebuilt in the early '90s, and there have
been a few hardcore foamers predicting since day one
that this was a mistake and the units would break in
the middle.

Year, right.

As for the guy who says they should have left them
as-bulit so there would be more jobs maintaining them,
they would have been scrapped instead.