The PSRM : Starting the GP9

Watch in High Quality! Watch the morning routine of starting the Pacific Southwest Railway Museum's GP9. The Museum is located in Campo, California; about a hour's drive from San Diego. The locomotive is a former Cotton Belt GP9 built in 1959. The locomotive was repainted into Southern Pacific Black Widow Colors. The locomotive, SP 3873, is used to pull the museum's weekend trips from the historic Campo depot to the Mexican Border Tunnel at division.
More information on the Museum, the Museum's fleet, as well as ticket sales can be found at www.psrm.org/.
This Video Shows the full startup sequence of an EMD GP9 locomotive. SP 3873 is a high hood, 1st generation diesel. It has a two-stroke 1750 Horsepower EMD 567C non turbo charged prime mover, a shaft driven air compressor, dynamic braking, and Multiple Unit capability.
First Jack, the engineer, connects the battery. Then, he throws some switches in the cab to get the necessary systems required to start the locomotive running. Then, he goes outside to open the Cylinder cocks on each of the 16 cylinders. This is necessary to perform the blowdown. Next, he cleans out the 4 carbon traps. The carbon traps collect carbon from the exhaust. Jack also explains why oil sometimes collects in the carbon traps. It is very important to empty the carbon traps before each day's run in order to prevent a fire. As you can see in the video, the carbon traps are doing their job and are fully emptied before the locomotive is started. Jack also checks the water level plus the engine, governor, and air compressor oil levels. Then, while holding the layshaft in the off position, he flips the starter switch to turn the engine over a few times to blow down the engine. The open cylinder cocks allow any moisture or other contaminants that may have accumulated in the cylinders to blow out. This is necessary since they may damage the engine while it is running. Jack then closes the cylinder cocks. The locomotive is now ready to be started. First, the starter is turned to the left to prime the engine for about 30 seconds. Then, while pushing the layshaft in to increase the engine speed, the starter is turned to the right. The engine then rumbles to life. Jack shows the water level dropping after the engine starts. Then, he opens the valve lid to allow you to see the valves opening and closing on each cylinder.
Thanks to Jack (2353Engineer) for the useful information on this locomotive.
Note: I filmed this series with special permission from the museum. I filmed the video entirely on behalf of the museum. Please do not harass the museum employees to allow you to film videos like this. Cab rides on this locomotive are available for $35, but the startup is before museum hours.
Watch for more videos from the museum including a walk down inspection, air test, cab ride, and speeder ride.
Enjoy!

[@verastaki]

Everything is so huge up close. Takes a long time to start an EMD GP9. Keeps you busy and your brain working. Older EMD's were, and are always my favorite locomotives.

[@Shane-Singleton]

Love these old EMD diesels. I realize it had only sat for a day or so but she fired right up as soon as he rolled her over. Glad that they showed the blow-down in this video as well. I love watching this stuff. Don't think i'll ever get the opportunity to witness this in person but I hope to some day.

[@scottkapel8690]

Great video. The 567 has long been my favorite prime mover, and getting to peek behind the curtain with this much detail is great. Thanks for this

[@Am0re98]

When I bored, I watch these train videos for no good reason and I started to find them interesting

[@TexasRailfan2008]

Amar Haiqal same

[@whorayful]

That starts up so smooth, a healthy well maintained engine.

[@rodneyjweltham150]

I love the 'furnace filter' side intake filters... 8:02

[@henryvesala6835]

This is one of the best starting movies i ever se-vell done

[@isfeldt34]

Thank you Mr Kettering. Nothing quite like the beautiful song of the Roots blown 16 cylinder two-stroke 567 series General motors locomotive engine. Fun fact, there was a paper published in 1951, which goes into great detail called The History and development of the 567 series General motors locomotive engine, published of course by EW Kettering himself., Edit box, Add a comment...

[@BenjaminEsposti]

9:50 The two rockers on either side are for the exhaust, the middle one is for the injector. There is no intake valve - the piston itself uncovers a port in the piston liner, which is the intake.

[@Muggar62]

What's that mean in English LOL :)

[@kpkndusa]

I was wondering about that, thanks.

[@P61guy61]

Thank you for posting

[@lancelot1953]

Thank you for the outstanding description of the components and the explanations of the starting procedures - it brings back a lot of memories of part of my life long past. Thank you so much for the details, it is almost like "being there"! Ciao, L

[@EH-nw6bu]

Did anyone else notice that the engineer was wearing a Vintage Casio "databank" calculator watch??

[@Locomotive450]

@and0243 Yeah, this locomotive is 51 years old. Every diesel used to need this kind of prep before starting. The process actually took about 1/2 an hour, but i cut out most of it. Autostart sure is a vast improvement over these manual starts.

[@myamazingworld]

Great video! I never knew there were so many steps to start one. Love the shot of the valves working. Something you don't see everyday.

[@AshtonCoolman]

This is a good skill to have during the Zombie apocalypse. Trains can be a means of escape!

[@TexasRailfan2008]

JohnnyNismo and they have the ability to run over them.

[@tubatriplett]

Love EMD

[@Twin_Flyer]

that engines runs sweet , great video. Thanks!

[@Steveshappylittletrees]

"Geeps" are my faves.

[@alcopower5710]

Incredible detail. Thanks for sharing

[@HawksFootSection]

Another awesome video.. Just plain cool! This guy's very knowledgeable, great to see that he's taking care of the locomotive more than properly.

[@rythym2347]

Most excellent video! Very educational. The museum must maintain that loco well because it started right up.

[@Creeperboy099]

wow that is one heck of a blower there

[@jamesshanks2614]

That engine I noticed is not equipped with a crankcase low water protector device that balances water pressure versus crankcase pressure. It will shut down the engine if a cylinder goes bad or when the water is too low for safe operation of the locomotive engine. Well worth the investment. On Conrail we never had to check the air compressor oil as they were modified to run off engine oil pressure. When pre tripping a locomotive I simply looked for the oil supply and return lines to verify the air compressor was so modified. 99 percent of the time the engine ran from the time it left the shop from a service visit to when it returned to the shop for service. It took over a year for Conrail to replace all the bad locomotive batteries which is why in the summer they never shut them Down. I was taught run the fuel pump until the air bubbles disappeared in the fuel sight gauge closets to the engine block, if fuel appeared in the second fuel sight gauge report it to the engine house as the fuel filters need changing. I can remember a short line that had just started up operations that was changing out fuel filters every two days and couldn't figure out why. I happened to visit them the first weekend after they started up and after being informed told them they needed to drain the fuel tank and flush it to get all the algae and other crud that grows in a fuel tank. They were stunned by how much crud came out of the tank, it filled 5 55 gallon drums before it was clean. The fuel filters rarely plugged up after that miserable job was done . I then showed them which anti algae to put into the fuel tank to prevent a recurrence. It turned out the old fuel tank at their engine house was full of algae, added some antialgae, about 55 gallons did it then changed out the rack fuel pump screens every day for three months until no more dead algae showed up in the screens. The tank held 200,000 gallons of fuel and was 90 percent full when they took possession of the branch line. When I asked if they checked the main tank for water I had to show them the water paste we used delivering gasoline and diesel on tractor trailers. Turned out to have just under 10 inches of water in the tank, took a while to drain out until fuel showed up, water will destroy fuel injectors as well as freeze up in fuel lines and locomotive tanks. That short line survived and is making plenty on money today.

[@2353Engineer]

Wow well done and great tables.

[@Emslaender_Jung]

i admire your work sir!

[@jamesshanks2614]

EMD still supplies new cylinder heads for all three 2 stroke engines as well as new roots blowers and a host of other parts because when a Power assembly is pulled it goes through an inspection process and quite often they find cracks in the cylinder head between the valve seats which means that head is scrap. Yes they are thousands of power assemblies out there on the locomotive parts market and all three engine blocks have been scrapped as well usually from wreck damage as the violent crashing on a head on collision usually damages the engine block so badly it isn't worth rebuilding. They just strip it of usable parts then scrap the block. I've hauled in one train 24 scrap 645 blocks which were on there way to a steel mill in Rhode Island sitting in gondolas filled with other scrap parts. National Railway Equipment might also be a good source to get a load box donated to the museum..

[@clank4001]

@TankCrusher210 yup, thats pretty much as I understand it. The roots provide positive pressurization, and as the piston reaches BDC, the cylinder wall ports are exposed, the pressurised air scavenges the cylinder, and before the ports are covered on the upstroke the exhaust valves close, and each cylinder then gets a little precharge before the ports are again covered

[@Locomotive450]

@jayfine01 These old locomotives require a lot of TLC. That is part of the reason why I included so much of the pre-start procedure in the video.

[@graverobber35]

very interesting, well done

[@Femmpaws]

Nice job with the start up... But I wish to correct you on the valves that engine only has four valves the one in the center is the injector for the fuel oil. If I'm not mistaken they are a two cycle engine just like the screaming Jimmys I have worked around.

[@Shane-Singleton]

Yes sir. Very much the same as say an old 671 detroit as far as the way it operates. Love the old GM 2-strokes. These big EMD units make such a glorious noise at around half throttle.

[@jamielacourse7578]

Ah yes......the sound of quality steel.......

[@Locomotive450]

Possibly. I've actually been meaning to reshoot a new HD video of 3873 starting for close to a year now.

[@lioness72118]

Wish he would get a video of usaf 2104 up there always wanted to see it in action

[@bertxblitzkrieg]

Sounds like she could use a bit of valve lash adjustment... she starts great though! If you don't empty out those carbon traps, you can end up shooting flames out the stack. Which, although fun to see, is not something you want if you are operating in the woods and its dry.

[@railroadskater2896]

Is there a way to do that on the GEVO "toasters?" Those are the ones that are shown more often with flaming exhaust.

[@htc6600]

Excellent video. Hope the parts supply for 567s lasts a good long time.

[@Romans--bo7br]

htc6600.... 567 U (cast, top deck) & V (fabricated & welded deck) pretty well non-existent, and too many "issues" with those two anyway. The A & B models were an improvement - somwhat, but parts are getting scarce. The 567 AC & BC were greatly improved with the water, liner & con rod issues and so are much more in demand and parts for the AC & BC engines are still "on the books" even from EMD themselves (owned by Cat since Dec. 2010). The most desirable 567 engines are the 567 C (first with the round hand hole covers and removal of the water deck feature, new style liners, etc.) and the D1 as far as roots blown engines and the D2, 3 & 3A axial flow turbocharged engines.... parts are still readily available in 2020 and not too hard to obtain. Many roads (esp. Short lines) with locomotives powered with any of the D2, 3 & 3A (turbocharged - all 16 cyl.) and most certainly "tourist" roads and museums with very light usage, normally will de-rate them back down to D1 or C specs by naturally aspirating them with roots blowers instead. Typical (currently) "basic" rebuild of the turbo is $15 to 18,000 dollars and upwards of $40,000 dollars for a catastrophic turbo failure, plus the cost of downtime, install time and any damage done internally, caused by the turbo failure and most shortlines, museum and tourist lines cannot afford that kind of maintenance & repair costs. Another reason for the potential future longevity of the 567C, & D series is that the 645 series power assemblies can be (and are, during upgrades) adapted to the 567C & D1, 2, 3 & D3A as long as the cam counterweights are changed to offset the heavier weight of the series 645 piston and rod assembly.

[@davidfrobel7582]

verey interesting video, thanks.

[@Thermionman1970]

Will you look at that equipment....just like my vacuum tube radios.....love it!!

[@Locomotive450]

It's possible, which is why we empty the carbon traps every day before we run the locomotive.

[@davescott2485]

Well done...thanks for the post.

[@13Anko]

7:22 I was thinking: Hell', its a steam loco! hehehe

[@TankCrusher210]

From what I understand (I may be completely wrong), one valve is for fuel, and the other six are for exhaust. Being that it's a two-stroke, pressurized air is pumped into the cylinder from the scavenging ports at the bottom, as the piston clears. It is also possible that the scavenging ports, and exhaust valves are open at the same time, to clear exhaust fumes more effectively, and therefore greatly increasing fuel efficiency. I'm not an expert, so don't take everything for fact...

[@Romans--bo7br]

Tankcrusher210.... you're correct except for the fact of FOUR (4) exhaust valves per cylinder... Not, "six" (6). Yes, the exhaust valves open at approximately 4 deg. of crankshaft rotation Prior to the uncovering of the intake ports, and remain open until 44 deg. ABDC for cylinder scavenging and fresh air intake.

[@LycoValleyRRFan]

Thank god I don't have to go through all that to start up my truck.

[@4gauge10]

HAHA!!.🤣👍

[@rodneyjweltham150]

I have a Casio "databank" calculator watch too...I wonder if they'd take a trade on the loco? (heh heh heh)

[@vivekshreeni7897]

That is a 567c with 645e assemblies

[@Locomotive450]

@abeemanator I belive that the air intakes are just drawn directly from the engine room air, and hence have to pass through the filters. The engine is fed air by root blowers, so I'm not exactly sure where the intake is.

[@Romans--bo7br]

Locomotive450.... as you stated in your reply to "abeemanator".... the intake air is drawn from the "engine room" air. There are pre - filter panels in the side panels on both sides of the cowling behind the cab as well as filter boxes mounted on both Roots Blowers on the Naturally Aspirated engines.

[@stephenswift5531]

Wait a minute i thought that the railroad through the GP9s in the scrap

[@tpvalley]

I believe another reason why u get oil consumption if not run hard enough is cylinder glazing.

[@Zombunist]

Only 4 exhaust valves per cylinder, no Intake valves as it is a two stroke. The center rockers trip the fuel injectors.

[@2353Engineer]

If you starting in less than a minute you must not know you need to blow down all 16 cylinders, we run on a mountain line and are required to check and clean the carbon traps before each run and write we did so on our shut down report.

[@jayfine01]

omg just start the thing

[@imapaine-diaz4451]

Sure a lot more to do than just turning a key to startup the engine!

[@dontstealmacosx]

None are available new, but many are available remanufactured. Not just from EMD, but even from GE! Most 567s have already been converted to "C Specifications", thereby becoming a 567AC or a 567BC, and any C-compliant 567 may use 645 power assemblies. In this way, a 567 may be retained almost forever. However, as EMD engines go, a 645 or a 710 is a superior engine, and will last almost forever. Very few 16-645s and almost no 16-710s have been scrapped ... too versatile and too reliable.

[@Romans--bo7br]

Peter Haas.... your correct about the ability to upgrade to the 645 power assemblies on the "C" compliant engines... As long as the cams are also changed due to the increased weight of the 645 assemblies.

[@dontstealmacosx]

This engine design ... 567 and 656E/645F and 710G all employ hydraulic "lash adjusters" from the start. These would not be used in automobile engines for several more decades. There are three rockers per cylinder, all of which have roller cam followers. The outer pair of rockers operate the four exhaust valves through spring-loaded "bridges". The inner rocker operates the "unit injector". Intake timing is fixed at about 45º BBDC to about 45º ABDC. Injection is fixed at 4º BTDC.

[@Romans--bo7br]

Peter Haas.... From 45 deg. BBDC to BDC, it's in the scavenging mode, Not "intake". Hydraulic valve lifters were already in use on automotive gas engines (inline 6 & V8's, etc.) by the time the Series 645 was introduced (1964). The "bridges" are Not - "spring loaded".... only the valves are.

[@novandas_]

Indonesia CC 202.. 🙏👍

[@SMVvids]

Greetings from Santa Maria, California. How's our #9 doin down there, eh?

[@Locomotive450]

+Satchel Hogan Right now, the #9 is in the shop having some work done including a replacement of the waterproof fabric on the roof. I don't know what the timeline is for reentry into service.

[@SMVvids]

Locomotive450 alright. Do you know when it'll be out? I'm hoping to visit in December.

[@Locomotive450]

At this point, I don't know. Are you planning to ride the North Pole Limited Train?

[@SMVvids]

I was unaware of that. I'll be down for my birthday in three weeks, so it really depends on what my parents are up for. Thanks for letting me know about the railbus, though.

[@rearspeaker6364]

no water treatment ibn the cooling system??

[@lioness72118]

Does 2104 the x us navy or army unit not sure which ever run any more at the museum

[@coloradostrong]

Is that a fire truck?

[@TheBeeMan1994]

I noticed that every door seemed to have a house air filter, Where is the air taken in on a locomotive? Does it go through an air filter like a car or does it intake air from the engine room?

[@4gauge10]

Three days later...(French accent)

[@zorancosic1237]

Gee! that's work, US should have more of electric locomotive in service just seat in and pull the lever and go by the business!

[@jamesspohn992]

its an old locomotive, GP-9s were built in the early 1950s

[@ballardja1972]

Everytime We Touch something was his greasy gloves he got it dirty not very good!

[@sandeepkumarraj4282]

what a too old and bored engine

[@BenjaminEsposti]

If well maintained (fuel injectors cleaned/repaired if necessary, oil checked and cleaned/replaced, etc...), this engine will last a long time. I know a railroad that has a 6 cylinder 567 engine in a little shunting locomotive - it was made in 1939 and is STILL in operation!

[@roadwolf2]

Old not obsolete