SD40-2 Cab Tour (10 Subscriber Special)

I received a request for a cab tour for my 10 subscribers video so here it is! This is a look inside the cab, (as well as the electrical cabinet and under the floor) of an SD40-2.
I said it in the video and I'll say it here too, tampering with railroad property is a criminal act and will land you in big trouble very quickly. Don't make me (or anyone else) regret showing this.
I mention a couple other ideas in episode 02 of From the Rails up, those video ideas are still on the table if you guys want to see them. I also thought of maybe doing some basic overview videos of some of the subsystems of these locomotives (i.e. excitation control, governor, dynamic braking, and the like) so let me know if you guys would like any of that. I feel like those could be fun for me to nerd out on.
Anyway, thanks for watching and thanks for 10 subscribers!
(PS: Not that I think it's going to, but if this video disappears, it's because I got in hot water for it. I think I'll be fine but yeah.)

[@everettdemeritt7362]

Series and parallel refer to how things such as battery’s are wired together. Series would be wired negative to positive to enable higher voltage ie 12-24-36-48 volts. Parallel would be wired negative to negative and positive to positive to maintain the same voltage but compound the amperage. Thanks for the video and keep up the great work

[@CDROM-lq9iz]

I'll give you partial points lol. Yes that is correct, but I was more asking "what is being connected in series or parallel?"

[@CDROM-lq9iz]

Hey everyone, I think I figured out what that yellow button is. I *think* that's the button for the crossing lights. Some locomotives have a separate button that can be pressed which will cause the ditch lights to flash back and forth for a certain amount of time.

[@Rocketman88002]

These circuit modules are early 60's and 70's technology. They offered two important features: test points and the ability to remove/replace them when they failed. Interesting video and great content on your channel. Good job and thank you!

[@CDROM-lq9iz]

Thank you! I saw a video by Travelling Tom about the UP DDA40X and I saw the Dash-2 switchgear and similar circuit modules. I think he mentioned in the video that those locomotives were one of the first places those modules were used.

[@YourLocalRailfan]

Hope your channel gets bigger in the near future, very informative, and a nice watch. 👍

[@CDROM-lq9iz]

Thank you! Both for the well wishes and for watching and commenting. I definitely have lots of nerdery planned. Hard to say how fast or smoothly the plan will go, but I plan on going through a lot of what makes these older locomotives tick.

[@cprs5000]

Locomotive 6995 6996 produced in 1971 late phase they have a longer tapered dynamic brake housing that's true most second generation EMD cabs are very similar thanks for your efforts very appreciated

[@CDROM-lq9iz]

Neat, I learned something today. I've noticed that most of our converted Dash-2s have a different dynamic grid housing. (I think the 6989 is another exception.) But didn't know there was a term for it.

[@cprs5000]

Hi good morning yep that is a later phase 1971 era prior to - 2 pretty cool right.. if you look at the 3000 series you will see some of the very first SD40,s built Ex up chicken wire radiator grows what some kind of cover. Yeah it's a very diverse fleet I like the 3000 series and a 6900 series the x leasers are really cool I would love to see the SD40 x built on sd35 frame that's very rare early test bed 4 SD40 I agree you can never learn enough thanks a lot

[@CDROM-lq9iz]

Sounds like you know more about that side of things than me lol. I might climb on that 3046 and look around.

[@jix177]

Very interesting, thanks for sharing. I hope your KZbin 10-subs plaque is in the mail. 😄

[@CDROM-lq9iz]

Still waiting on it unfortunately lol.

[@jeffstrains]

Cool video, very informative.

[@CDROM-lq9iz]

Thanks. If I remember right, it was you that asked for this anyway. I'm honestly sure I could go on for hours on end about how different stuff works, I had to make a bit of an effort to keep it semi concise.

[@jeffstrains]

@@CDROM-lq9iz yep it was me, it’s cool to see what everything looks like.

[@CDROM-lq9iz]

Well hey, thanks for watching. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[@cprs5000]

Thanks it's a hobby it keeps me busy but you know all the real stuff. Yeah I love all first and second generation emds. I'm a rail and modeler. Thanks I would love that'd be a great treat 👍

[@CDROM-lq9iz]

It'd seem like you can spot em a mile away, lol. I've gotten a couple of suggestions, so I might throw up a poll this week for my community post with a couple of them and see if anyone answers.

[@cprs5000]

Hi 6995 and 6996 late phase units or early -2 would be really cool thanks

[@CDROM-lq9iz]

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by "late phase." Honestly, most of our locomotive cabs look basically the same save for the control stand and the short hood if it's a tall nose.

[@heavy-iron]

Would you have any interest in doing maintenance instruction videos on the prime mover? Would be great to have information on lash adjuster testing, fuel rack adjustment, injector timing, etc. from someone who does it for a living. Got one 'BC' block 12 cylinder with unusually loud tapping all throughout the top deck but no one at that shop will listen to me when I suggest checking the lash adjusters. They're damn near the loudest sounds coming from the engine! 🤪 Heck, I could maybe even upload a clip of it and see what you think. 😛

[@CDROM-lq9iz]

I plan on getting to that stuff when i make it to mechanical stuff. The prime mover will probably be a bunch of videos at some point. I could probably show some short videos of some of that stuff in the not so distant future.

[@ScottTaipaleRail]

Where’s the air conditioner 😂

[@CDROM-lq9iz]

Optional lol

[@HAL-90000]

extremadamente interesante todos esos sistemas electromecánicos

[@CDROM-lq9iz]

Thanks and thanks for watching. (Hopefully the translation makes sense.)

[@brianburns7211]

I’m surprised that they don’t have flow gauges on that engine. It’s quicker to read flow than a leakage test. Also it’s visible if a leak develops. At least on the 26L you can hear the air feed, so you know how it’s charging.

[@CDROM-lq9iz]

We do have some that have an AFM, I'm not sure why it's not all one way or the other. That's a decision for people that get paid more than me lol

[@user-sn8eo5de7m]

Very interesting

[@CDROM-lq9iz]

Thanks! Just wait till you see what I have planned now that I passed 25 subs.

[@christophercddelrosariocoish]

where's the wiper switches on the dash 2?

[@CDROM-lq9iz]

Well that's one of those "they're all the same" things lol. Nearly every locomotive I've been on has air-powered wipers. Usually the valves are located above the side windows, either on the panel with the cab lights, or simply in the air lines in the cab near the top of the side window. (In the video you can see a wiper valve around the 1:45 mark) There's also (sometimes) a wiper valve above the engineers side cab heater against the front wall.

[@heavy-iron]

Hey there. I've crawled around quite a bit inside of the older pre- Dash 2 EMDs so I am generally familiar with the older contactor and pneumatic drum styles of control. I've never had an opportunity to explore a Dash 2 unit with the motorized controls though. I would love to see an exposition of the motorized drum switches and to get some sound samples of them with the engine stopped. Usually the controls can be operated on an EMD without the engine running by putting the unit in "Run" and enabling the Control & Gen. Field switches. Leaving Engine Run off stops the alarm bell from ringing due to the NVR relay being dropped out due to the absence of alternator output.

[@CDROM-lq9iz]

@heavy-iron Oh wow, SD9. Yeah, that's a little older than what I'm used to lol. I'm a little bit confused what you mean by "exposition." Do you just want to see it in action, or do you want a little bit of a primer on how it works? Both of those are doable, I'm just asking for the sake of clarity.

[@heavy-iron]

@@CDROM-lq9iz Mostly just getting a closer look at them in general and getting some sound samples of them operating.

[@CDROM-lq9iz]

@heavy-iron Gotcha, I think we have a couple of the transfer switches laying around. I also think we have a motor, although we might not. I'll try to make a video of those and get one of them working with the engine dead. That said, I've got a couple other videos in the pipeline so I'm not going to promise a timeframe for how long it'll take me. Also, just out of curiosity, do you want the sound of it to use for a video game model or animation or something? Or just want to hear it? Not judging, just sounds like something someone who's making sounds and models for a Dash-2 would want lol.

[@heavy-iron]

@@CDROM-lq9iz Mostly just because I like cool electro-mechanical sounds like that and I've never actually gotten a chance to hear what one of those switches sounds like on it's own without a whole bunch of background noise muddling things up. It could also be handy for a Run8 mod or similar at some point, but I can't see any immediate application for it given the particular audio implementation of that game. TL;DR: I just like crawling around inside these machines and becoming more familiar with the intimate details of their workings. For instance I'm familiar with the excitation system on the SD9, but I just cracked open the SD40 maintenance manual to that page to try to figure out how it works. It's boggling my mind how much more complex it is than the old chunky rheostats. ...And I'm talking about the PRE dash-2 units - not even the newer ones with card-edge modules and integrated circuits! That magnetic 'Sensor' module that triggers the AR10 field SCRs is pure black magic... 😆

[@CDROM-lq9iz]

Gotcha. I've never gotten far enough into anything to fully mod something, but that's what u assumed you were after lol. Like I said, I'll try to get you something. Not gonna promise a timeline, but I'll try to get to it soon-ish. I also plan on getting into the excitation system. It'll be a while, but I plan on getting to it. But now you have me curious because I've never really seen a DC main without computer controlled excitation. Does it just take the Rate Control output and run it through the load regulator to the battery field?

[@mfbfreak]

Nice tour! But why is it, that out of all modes of transport, locomotives are so often so incredibly dirty on the inside? Do the companies give so few fucks about giving their workers a clean place to work? Usually ship's bridges are clean (though enigneering spaces may be oily), plane cockpits always are clean, bus/coach driver's compartments are clean etc. But for some reason, locomotive cabins rarely are. Except in the Netherlands, where the train's passenger compartments is not too far removed from the dirty train driver's cabins, with the dutch train driver's cabins often being cleaner than the passenger compartments...

[@CDROM-lq9iz]

Ok so, I have to be careful how I answer this in order to not get myself in trouble. I suspect a large portion of it comes down to the fact that locomotive cabs aren't places anyone other than the crews see. I also would mention that cabs do get cleaned on the regular but working outside in everything along the rail and in yards, sidings, etc. means that whatever's out there is going to end up in the cab. In addition, plenty of locomotives in the US can go for weeks or even months without getting fueled or being anywhere the cabs even could be cleaned. It's just the nature of operations in the US. I won't pretend to know much about maritime, but most other modes of transport are places where the public can actually get to and/or see. In the case of freight locomotive cabs, that's not really a thing that happens.