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Thoughts on SP's
Author: OPRRMS
Date: 12-14-2012 - 00:23
SP5103 Wrote:
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snip
> It's been over 20 years, but if I recall the SP
> units had dual control stands and each was perched
> up on a platform that you had to go up a couple
> steps to get to - if you didn't fall off the
> ledge. Standing in the middle of the cab was like
> being in the Grand Canyon. This must have been
> really miserable when assigned to roadswitcher
> service.
SP's were built with duplex controllers which filled up nearly the entire cab floor space - I'm not making that up. A few months after delivery, the 2401 was returned to Schenectady so Alco could replace the duplex controller with two separate control stands. This opened up the cab space and was a BIG improvement. My understanding is that Alco did this on their dime as a demonstration project to entice SP to pay to have the other nine done, but SP never did.
From the get-go, the units had a lot of problems requiring extensive warrenty work, particularly to their engines (just as with SP's C-630s). As they got older, one of the major design flaws of the units' - having to run water lines from the radiator end to the engine end - became apparent as the couplings would start to leak onto electrical equipment.
Personally, I thought they were kinda fun to run, being so different from anything else we had. (Probably can't go by me, though, as I also liked to run the U25s!) My biggest complaint was when running with the cab doors open on hot days, if the radiator end was leading, the cab would become a sauna whenever the radiator shutters opened up.
-------------------------------------------------------
snip
> It's been over 20 years, but if I recall the SP
> units had dual control stands and each was perched
> up on a platform that you had to go up a couple
> steps to get to - if you didn't fall off the
> ledge. Standing in the middle of the cab was like
> being in the Grand Canyon. This must have been
> really miserable when assigned to roadswitcher
> service.
SP's were built with duplex controllers which filled up nearly the entire cab floor space - I'm not making that up. A few months after delivery, the 2401 was returned to Schenectady so Alco could replace the duplex controller with two separate control stands. This opened up the cab space and was a BIG improvement. My understanding is that Alco did this on their dime as a demonstration project to entice SP to pay to have the other nine done, but SP never did.
From the get-go, the units had a lot of problems requiring extensive warrenty work, particularly to their engines (just as with SP's C-630s). As they got older, one of the major design flaws of the units' - having to run water lines from the radiator end to the engine end - became apparent as the couplings would start to leak onto electrical equipment.
Personally, I thought they were kinda fun to run, being so different from anything else we had. (Probably can't go by me, though, as I also liked to run the U25s!) My biggest complaint was when running with the cab doors open on hot days, if the radiator end was leading, the cab would become a sauna whenever the radiator shutters opened up.
