Greetings:
The fleet has grown to five.
VRR purchased a former U.S.Navy loco built in 1953 from Glenn Campbell in August.
It has been sitting on a section of disconnected track under power lines at an industrial park in Meadville, PA.
Last week, Hulcher Emergency Services picked up the carbody with four side boom crawlers and carried it to a waiting trailer where it was blocked up and tied down. The trucks were loaded on seperate trailers.
It was unloaded yesterday, re-assembled and moved into the shop.
J.David

David, I'm a bit curious... Is business up there enough to justify a fifth diesel?

Did your lifting eyes work out ok ? Any pictures ??

I helped JDC get the locomotive ready to load. The following day I returned to record the event.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYGFLLpDkvs

https://www.flickr.com/photos/33523379@N03/albums/72157673296974792

Nice flick and photos Rick.
They make me appreciate our wrecker even more.

It's good to hear that somebody in the know has relations with Mr. Campbell regarding him selling a locomotive....

I watched the interesting loading video and am glad to hear that it arrived and was unloaded and re-assembled already.

I wonder what its USN number was before it was painted out?

I believe (correct me J. D. if I'm wrong) that all of those Valley RR 80 tonners are the "long" model powered by the Cummins L engine (6 cyl. 7x10"). These locos and those engines are getting scarce, particularly those built after about 1946 when GE introduced the "short" 80 tonner, which used a smaller but supercharged Cummins engine. The military was the principal buyer of the Long 80 tonner, up to about 1953. When you operate a rare model it's never a bad idea to gather in more of them as potential parts supply or future use whole.

Interesting to see 4 crawlers moving the loco vs two cranes. Was this done because of the distance the loco had to be moved to the semi trailer?

I found the answer to my question. It's ex-USN 65-00386, formerly of Naval Ship Parts Control Center (now Naval Support Activity) Mechanicsburg, PA. I believe it left there for Meadville in the early 1990s.

This is one of the reasons I assume.



-Hudson

Why "4" side booms?
As per Cat 583 specs show with a 20' boom :
Machine working weight = 91,000 lbs
Working range cut off capacity at 4' of boom overhang =72,000 lb
at 8' =60,000 lb
at 10' =50,000 lb
at 12' =40,000 lb

GE 80 tonner = 160,000 lb.
GE 80 tonner without trucks = ??
Even though CAT states a maximum lifting capacity of 140,000 lb in their specs , the capacity chart doesn't show at what boom overhang that applies too. Being a crane operator I can't assume anything when referring to a capacity chart. Our 40 ton capacity Ohio at IRM clearly states 40 tons max at 12' radius on outriggers or free over the ends .
Is there a side boom operator out there who would care to comment ?

I think it was 96,000 lbs. without trucks.

I believe JDC answered that very question in his 3rd sentence...powerlines.

Dear Dylan, et al:
It depends on the time of the year, day of the week and hour of the day...
This time of year of year, on Fridays & Saturdays, we have The Essex Clipper Dinner Train (usually with diesel 0900), Swallow cruises (either ours or Audubon Society) (usually with diesel 1606) and the "Lace Factory Shuttle" (to a venue specializing in weddings) all of which depart Essex within a 45 minute period. The Lace Factory train usually goes out with a steam locomotive but comes back with a diesel.
But business isn't the only reason to purchase another locomotive.
First, we need protection power for all of the above (usually diesel 0901).
Second, we need another diesel locomotive so we can take one of the others out of service for major repairs (even diesels and especially old ones need to be rebuilt once in a while).
And no, the latest acquisition ( now known as 0903) isn't a parts locomotive (we already have one of those, former USA 7145). Hopefully, 0903 will be serviceable by next summer.
And yes, we are aware that GE 80 tonners are older than one of our steam locomotives and that they have Cummins LI or LR engines which are hard to find parts for. However, they are the perfect size for our operation: light axle loadings (to keep our track department happy), capable of pulling our heaviest train (about 460 tons) over our line at track speed (20 MPH), and are durable, reliable, cheap to operate and easy to maintain (until its time to rebuild an engine!).
J.David
PS: We are always looking for parts AND someone who can rebuild LIs! JDC