Hi All,I know these arent steam but for someone who wants them here is a listing of a couple of Diesels located in Ft Eustis VA.http://www.govliquidation.com/list/c748 ... htmlAndrew

As far as I know, these are not EMD locos, but former Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton RS4TC locomotives--a model that escaped inclusion in the august Kalmbach Diesel Spotter's Guides. Thees military locos were well-maintained by the Army, etc.--my best friend got to crawl all over the ones at Ft. Bliss, Texas during the late 1980s. Supposedly some of these were also cranked out by Davenport, but the original serial numbers listed in the ads match BLH.These particular locos were rebuilt with Caterpillar engines, reflecting the availability of Caterpillar engines/parts over the unavailability of BLH parts by then. Note that they're only 500 hp--too little for most short lines, too much for most industrial switching. But maybe an excursion line? It's basicaslly a replacement for the GE 70-tonner.Don't bother--I just forwarded this to several preservation-friendly professionals in the region......... How about the preservationists that have these locos (paging South Carolina!)....... do they have Cats or Baldwin power plants?More photos here: http://www.railimages.com/gallery/jerrylaboda?page=2

If you look through all of the photos that come with the on-line auction, the CAT builders plates are clearly shown as well as the plates for the rebuilder.Tom Cornillie

They are in the Second Diesel Spotters Guide as a Whtcomb design built by Davenport, though prior to rebuilding and without a model designation. See page 371 Mike Allen

The "Caterpillar" builder's plates are spec/serial number plates for the diesel engines, not the locomotives. I know where the BLH plates were on these locos; they're now gone, apparently replaced during rebuilding by Construction & Mining Services with the rebuild data plates (were they produced on a typewriter?) that lists what sure looks like the 1950s BLH construction numbers.

The RS4TC model was built new with a Caterpillar engine block - the once ubiquitous model D397 V-12 diesel with roots blower. I believe all except perhaps the 2 prototypes were built at Eddystone. I understand some of the rebuilt units may have received a Cummins engine.There are two of the orginal-engined locomotives at the Northwest Railway Museum: US Army 4012 and US Army 4024. Both are fully operational.

The only locomotive like this that I've been around, did indeed have a CAT under the hood. But it was the electrical cabinet and control stand that struck me. All EMD, relays controls, every thing. Better parts availblity maybe?

At least some of the original electrical components were Westinghouse, the control stand was non-standard and the air brakes were 6BL. I suspect there may be issues MUing the original design to non-BLH locomotives. When rebuilding the locomotives, they went to a standard control stand, 26L air brakes and electric components that are more readily available.

As I understand the above quote, the RS4TC were built new with the D397 Cat prime mover. During the rebuild of these locomotives that was refered to above, were these prime movers rebuilt and given a fresh coat of Cat yellow paint or replaced with new prime movers? If they were replaced, what Cat model prime mover was used? Thanks for any info.Ed

The engines used in the rebuild are Cat. 3508s, which are current production. One of the photos in the "slide show" is of a data plate from the rebuilder, providing this information.I suspect that the air is 26-FNL, which has a 26 stand and a 6-FNR distributing valve, on the old 6 combination reservoir/pipe bracket. This would be much easier to do than a full-blown 26L system.

We've got two RS4TC-1A locomotives from Shaw Air Force base. Shaw replaced them with GE 80-tonners. They still have one RS4TC at Shaw, also.The units are essentially a Whitcomb design built by BLH. Internally, they're something of a hodgepodge. The electrical gear is the original BLH Westinghouse stuff. The control stands are EMD with 26SL brake stands. The prime movers are "Clatter-pillars." We call them "honorary Alcos" because of the turbo lag smoke effects.Our USAF Nos. 1249 and 1276 were in generally good condition, but do have some problems. The 1276 can only be operated in notches 1-4, something's up with the throttle (Clif has fussed with it several times but the problem always returns in a few days). I think she has a flaky traction motor, too. The 1249 arrived from Shaw with a toasted main genny; a TEA-21 grant alowed us to fix this, but the coupling between the genny and air pump broke shortly after she returned to service. This repair was just finished. At the moment, we've got the 1276 in service, which will most likely continue through the Santa Trains.

Hi all, the Michigan Transit Museum operates a BLH RS4TC, former US Air Force 4040. We got it when it was declared surplus by Selfridge ANG Base (where we operate) after they closed their coal-fired power plant and replaced it with Nat Gas. The unit was totally rebuilt by the Toole, UT (sp?) Air Force Base and from what I was told had the original engine in it til it was rebuilt in the early '90's. It came to our possession only a few short years later and is in excellent shape.It does have a Cat prime mover, and an EMD control stand. Toole did a great job rebuilding it! I agree with the turbo lag smoking issue... we consider it an honorary Alco as well... it actually smokes MORE than our ALco S1!!The 4040 is my favorite of all our equipment for the thinnest of reasons... It being a Baldwin-LIMA-Hamilton, and I went to college in Lima, OH! I know, it's a weak reason, but we love running it, and it's fairly good on fuel as well!I do have one question for the paint shop guys here... The photo below was taken a few years ago, and the paint on 4040 is looking rather faded, although still in good shape. I brought my brother out to take a look at her to see what could be done to shine up the paint again. My brother makes powerboats (the big speedy ones that you see in races), and pretty much said what it is doing is oxiding. We should probably take a wheel to it and get all the oxidation off the paint, then throw a coat of wax on it. He can get us a good quantity of what we need for cheap, but my question is this: if the paint on a locomotive is "chalking up", will wheeling and throwing a coat or two of wax be a good, quality fix to make the paint shiny again, or is it something that will have to be done once/twice a year at this point. Our biggest problem is our equipment is outside and we cannot do this kind of work on the Base, so it's "washed" minimumly, mostly "spot washed" until we complete our off-Base work area, and I believe this has contributed to the paint chalking up like that. Does anyone have any recommendations beyond the wheeling/waxing, or is that what we should expect to do from now on. There are many things happening with our group, one of them is more attention is going to be given to the equipment. All of this happens in due time. Thank you in advance for any answers. Feel free to email me or just post here if you wish.Take care all, and happy Halloween!