WbB GP-9 Question

[GTBob]

Am thinking about buying a new WbB GP-9, but need to find out the following-----If I understand correctly, all new WbB diesel locos start in FORWARD.  That being the case, is the cab of the GP-9 at the leading end (front) of the loco OR the trailing end (back)  Or can the shell be flipped around so one can have the cab in the front or rear of the loco???  Hope I'm making sense here...

Would be grateful for any input.  Thanks...

GTBob

[Joe Satnik]

Good question.

Some prototype railroads run cab forward, while others run long hood forward. 

Early diesels often ran long hood forward to mimic steam locomotives.  The engineers/firemen liked the "protection" or "comfort" of "tons of loco" between them and the crash.  The view is better, of course, cab or short hood forward.   

On the same vein, how would you run two (traditional AC controlled) motorized units tail-to-tail, which is quite a common configuration? 

One answer:  You don't.  You pull a dummy with a motorized unit. 

Second answer: You swap the polarity of the wires going to the (DC) motors inside the unit you want to start in reverse.

I think it is a requirement that the prototype railroads paint a letter "F" on what they consider to be "the front" of their loco.

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik   

[GTBob]

Joe--thanks for your input. 

But, I still need to know if a newer WbB GP-9 starts moving (at start-up) w/ the short hood OR the long hood at the leading end???

I'm sure someone out there has the answer........

Thanks,

Bob

[Joe Satnik]

Dear GTBob,

Most illustrations/pictures in the few Williams and WBB catalogs that I have show the GP-9 cab forward.  (There are a few exceptions.) 

If you know how to swap pins in the motor connector, or cut, strip, solder and heat shrink wires, the polarity (direction) is easily changeable.

It is possible that the you might just be able to turn the motor connectors around on the reverser board to reverse the motor polarities.

3rail will know more.

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

[DominicMazoch]

In the GP 9 era, you need to know what the real railroad did in terms of which hood was forward.  And some, which used the 9's in comute service, had DUAL controls in the cab, so EITHER way is correct.  SP was one of these.

[phillyreading]

As for running the GP-9 cab forward or not, the Pennsy ran the GP-9's and similar diesel engines with the cab at the rear like a steam engine normally did. Most other railroads run the GP-9's and others with the cab forward to be able to see the signal lights or track obstructions better.
FEC (Florida East Coast RR) runs all their engines cab forward that I have seen, one exception might be when they double or triple head smaller diesel engines to pull a load of 80 to 90 triple-bay 100 ton sand hoppers.

Lee F.

[GTBob]

Williams Train Lovers---

I really appreciate all the above info, but, I am not interested in what real RR ran the GP-9 w/ the long nose foreward or backward or both ways.

My original question was (is):  When the WbB GP-9 starts up is the short hood or the long hood at the leading end of the loco?  I'm sure someone out there, who owns a WbB GP-9, can answer my question......

Again, I'm thankful for all the input---But, I really would appreciate someone giving me an answer to my question.  Thank you very much....

Regards,

GTBob

P.S.  Perhaps "The Bach Man" could be of help here.

[the Bach-man]

Dear Bob,
As I recall, the ones I've run at shows start short hood forward,  but I'll check with Three Rail.
Have fun!
the Bach-man

[GTBob]

Dear Bob,
As I recall, the ones I've run at shows start short hood forward,  but I'll check with Three Rail.
Have fun!
the Bach-man

Bach-Man------Thank you very much.  This is the exact info I am looking for.

Regards,

Bob

[MB425]

Dear Bob,
As I recall, the ones I've run at shows start short hood forward,  but I'll check with Three Rail.
Have fun!
the Bach-man

My GP9 starts short hood forward. It is a WBB unit, not a Williams original.

[3rail]

Dear All,

All Williams GP-9's start short hood forward.  If you want to change this, you have two options.

Option 1.  Swap the connections of yellow and blue wires going to the motor(s).  You have to do this on both motors on dual motor units.

Option 2.  Do no change any wiring. Un-mount the motors and trucks and put the front motor in the rear and the rear motor in the front.  The mounting position of the reverse board may make this difficult for some locos due to the length of the wires.

You cannot just switch the cab because the handrails are part of the frame.

You can simply reverse the body shell on , SD-45's, FP-45's, FM Train masters, Budd RDC cars, BL-2's and E-60's.  Also on 44 ton, EP-5's and GG-1's, but why bother??

Regards,

3rail

[GTBob]

To All:

Thank you very much for the info you provided.

Regards,

GTBob

[Joe Satnik]

Dear All,

I took the body off of our (2004 era?) GP-38 to inspect the reverser board to motor wiring.

On first inspection, the front truck and the rear truck look identical, however, they are different in 2 major ways: 

1.)  They are wired opposite polarity from each other.  The motor's "red dot" terminal has a yellow wire on one truck, but a blue wire on the other truck.  The connector's wire color sequence is the same from each motor. 

2.)  One truck's wires to the reversing board are much longer than the other's.

The significance of (1) is that you can't just swap motor connector positions on the reverser board, the train will just travel in the same direction. 

The significance of (2) is that you will have a very difficult time getting the short wires to fit in the long wires position.  You will have to solder in a 4-wire extension to the shorter wires. 

So, that leaves

a.) reversing the body shell on those models 3rail mentioned, or

b.) pulling out the blue and yellow pins from the Molex connector(s) and swapping their positions.   From 3rail's post above:

"Option 1.  Swap the connections of yellow and blue wires going to the motor(s).  You have to do this on both motors on dual motor units."

Hope this helps. 

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik