Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!watmath!att!cbnews!military
From: wbrown@bevsun.bev.lbl.gov (Bill Brown)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Cold Weather Problems
Message-ID: <1990Jun5.201049.26872@cbnews.att.com>
Date: 5 Jun 90 20:10:49 GMT
Sender: military@cbnews.att.com (William B. Thacker)
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Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
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From: wbrown@bevsun.bev.lbl.gov (Bill Brown)
Cc|

My Dad was a Service Engineer for General Electric in the late
40's - early 50's, working mainly on deisel locomotives.  At
one time he dad to got to Ft. Eustice (sp?) Va. to put some
new locomotives in service.

As best as I recall, they were adjustable gauge ( maybe 1 meter to
6' or something like that) and were designed to be started when
cold-soaked at -60 degrees F.

The whole process started with an alcohol lamp, which was used to
melt a bit of fuel oil.  This oil was then burned to heat more oil,
which was somehow circulated through the fuel tanks, around
the storeage batteries, and through crankcase.

Eventually, when the lube oil in the engine and enough fuel to 
start on weas warm enough, the engine was cranked.  Seems like the
whole proceedure took a couple of hours.  I don't know where the
locomotives eventually ended up, (as far as I can guess they were
never used on 5' track where it gets VERY cold) but I suspect that
a couple of them are at the Naval Weapons Station in Concord, CA.

						-bill
						wlbrown@lbl.gov
No opinion - maybe not even facts.
got warm enough