Re: SP C415s in southern California
Author: Freericks
Date: 10-24-2010 - 08:24
Jim700 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Freericks Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Oh, so very cool... loved those beasts.
>
> Maybe cool, as is "liked" (definitely a matter of
> personal opinion, my guess is that you never had
> to run one), but certainly not in cab temperature.
> The SP&S's two C415s were miserably hot in the
> summertime and the complaints of the crews fell on
> deaf ears until one engine caught on fire. Notice
> in the SP pictures that the engine exhaust stack
> lies against the cab wall. The interior cab wall
> was pegboard which was ignited by the heat
> radiated from the adjacent stack. After the fire
> the company finally straightened the stacks which
> greatly reduced cab temperatures. The cab
> temperatures were further elevated by the very
> poor cross ventilation afforded by the
> union-mandated window boxes.
>
> Another irritant was that any crew member who
> happened to be getting up from the seat on the
> non-controlling side of the cab had to be very
> careful of the throttle on the Duplex Controller
> if he didn't want to be singing soprano.
I was only speaking from a photography standpoint.