from Yahoo listDave

Somewhere in the deep dark recesses of my mind is the belief that the traction motors of an RS 1 are intended to operate on 300 volts while those in the later model RSs operate on 600 volts. I also seem to recall that ignoring this has caused some otherwise unspecified operating problems on other restored RS1s.My instinct is that while you would have less chance of overheating, you will only be able to achieve about fifty percent of the theoretical maximums of speed and tractive effort.Perhaps somebody a little more knowledgeable can enlighten me.GME

Nope.Actually, most RS-1's had GE 731 motors, as applied to S series switchers.The option was 726 and later 752 motors, which were used on RS-2's and RS-3's.The 600V number that is stenciled on many locomotives is only a nominal voltage(medium voltage) per IEEE specs for such warnings.The actual no-load (max) voltage that an RS-3 could generate is about 860 V.Can't confirm- but believe the figure was similar for an RS-1. Dave K

I posed the question to our resident consulting engineer (as in P.E., not train driver) and he confirmed what I thought I remembered.The issue is phases of transition, not main generator output. Between 0 and ± 8 miles per hour the traction motors in an RS1 are in series. Given a nominal main generator output of 600 volts this translates to an effective 150 volts per motor. Transition into series/parallel should occur at ± 8 miles per hour. Given the same nominal main generator output of 600 volts this translates to an effective 300 volts per motor. As an RS1 does not transition into full parallel the traction motors do not receive the full output voltage.On RS2 and later models the first stage is series/parallel at a nominal 300 volts per motor and the second stage is full parallel at a nominal 600 volts per motor.GME

Actually, the issue here should be: Why is a museum removing the original fabric of the artifact? Answer: Because they want roller bearings so they can play with it on someone's railroad. I sure hope they save the original solid bearing trucks.

For those who haven't been following this - which I suspect is many as I only saw this story on a few regionally focused Yahoogroups --The Soo Line Historical and Technical Society acquired two nee-Green Bay & Western (GB&W) RS-2 (301, and 303) locomotives that were long stored in Southern Michigan (I do not know who owned them) for the goal of using one set of trucks on their RS-1 so that it can be readily interchanged. The fate of the GB&W units is uncertain - with talk that one or both may be scrapped. In response to this a committee of Green Bay & Western fans organized to try to preserve the units. However, on April 7, the committee which formed to raise money to acquire the 301 ceased their efforts as they had only raised $2,000 out of an estimated $15,000 needed to cover acquisition and movement costs. Reports state that they were not confident that either the National Railroad Museum at Green Bay or the Mid Continent Museum would be willing to accept the locomotive - and as a result they were basing their estimates on what it would cost to independently restore the locomotive as a static display.http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/TwinPortsRail/http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/GBWMy editorial:I think it is quite unfortunate that the Mid Continent Railway musuem did not accept this locomotive, since it would provide a very good companion to their Green Bay and Western 2-8-0. Displaying the two locomtotives together would provide a direct comparison (in performance, maintenance requirements, utilization, etc.) between a late steam era locomotive and its diesel replacement, illustrating the cost-benefit options facing railroad managements in the late 40's. I recongnize that the Mid Continent focuses on preserving late 19th and early 20th century equipment - however it is also important to show the technological developments that brought this era of railroading to a close in the 1950's. Moreover, while $2,000 may not be much - it is a commendable amount to be raised by an ad-hoc effort. http://midcontinent.org/collectn/steam/gbw49.htmlTom Cornillie