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Re: Sulzer How did they pull in actual service, with the sulzer maybach drive?
Author: George Andrews
Date: 07-22-2019 - 17:30
The Sulzer deal was a re - engining of four Espee U-25-B's with 12 cylinder / 2800 H.P. Sulzer prime movers and Behr Cooling systems from Europe. Morrison - Knudsen did the considerable engineering and swap in Boise; the Sulzer engine was taller than the GE standard Cooper - Bessmer FDL, the electrical cabinet & virtually all cabling was replaced / rerouted, and the higher horsepower rating required increased cooling capacity. These four engines were painted in the experimental red & orange " Popsicle " paint scheme, which gained them a fame all out of proportion to their abilities or longitivety.
A quote from Joe Strapac's book Southern Pacific Historic Diesels - Volume 5: " Like the hydros a decade previously, the Sulzers were doomed - not so much because of inherent faults but by the unwillingness of all concerned to take proper care of them. As engineering prototypes, they required more ( not less ) attention than a stock U-boat, and that fact was to be their undoing. "
The rebuilt engines, re - entering service in 1978, were all out of service by 1982. The Sulzer prime movers were sold to a Tug Boat concern, while the carbodies were stored on an industrial siding in the Fruitvale District of Oakland, where I saw them often from The Nimitz Freeway into the early 1990's.
From reading Robert J. Zenk's excellent book Southern Pacific & The K-M Hydraulics, I can say that Espee & Krauss - Maffei REALLY TRIED to make them work. When they did work they were very powerful, with a K-M stated starting tractive effort of 98,000 lbs at 33% Adhesion, and a Drawbar tractive effort at 10.5 MPH ( minimum continuous rated speed ) of 75,000lbs. Having each engine & hydraulic transmission hooked to ALL THREE AXLES on a given end of the unit meant wheelslip was almost impossible. Espee's maintenance standards for U.S. Diesel - Electrics couldn't keep up with the operating department's Every Car In The Yard mentality, ( who could ??? ), and the Hydro's were very demanding of maintenance at shorter intervals than U.S. Diesel - Electrics.
A quote from Joe Strapac's book Southern Pacific Historic Diesels - Volume 5: " Like the hydros a decade previously, the Sulzers were doomed - not so much because of inherent faults but by the unwillingness of all concerned to take proper care of them. As engineering prototypes, they required more ( not less ) attention than a stock U-boat, and that fact was to be their undoing. "
The rebuilt engines, re - entering service in 1978, were all out of service by 1982. The Sulzer prime movers were sold to a Tug Boat concern, while the carbodies were stored on an industrial siding in the Fruitvale District of Oakland, where I saw them often from The Nimitz Freeway into the early 1990's.
From reading Robert J. Zenk's excellent book Southern Pacific & The K-M Hydraulics, I can say that Espee & Krauss - Maffei REALLY TRIED to make them work. When they did work they were very powerful, with a K-M stated starting tractive effort of 98,000 lbs at 33% Adhesion, and a Drawbar tractive effort at 10.5 MPH ( minimum continuous rated speed ) of 75,000lbs. Having each engine & hydraulic transmission hooked to ALL THREE AXLES on a given end of the unit meant wheelslip was almost impossible. Espee's maintenance standards for U.S. Diesel - Electrics couldn't keep up with the operating department's Every Car In The Yard mentality, ( who could ??? ), and the Hydro's were very demanding of maintenance at shorter intervals than U.S. Diesel - Electrics.
