California agency auction: 135 TON Locomotives for sale

[RJSV]

   (They don't say if they run).
   Too Dodgy, for regular topic, but technology related, and I can't resist helping others, have their fun.

   So,  I'm putting this out for someone who has the cash, but maybe didn't see the news of the sale.
   I thinks it's 20 diesel electric Locomotives, and they will have some sort of starting minimum auction bid.

I'm already fantacising:
   Small town gets into it, bids $1,  (one dollar), and shockingly WINS ...a messed up, rusty, 130 ton fuel guzzler, purchased with town funds, with idea of starting up a 'system'.
(I heard they also need 'rails'.

Responses, please place your own ideas here;  what amusing story, involving, uh...,involving 135 tons.   
And by the way, would that much weight even be supported in a typical backyard lawn ?
Kids would love it, but just the cab deck is way high...about 2 meters up off the ground.

Maybe you've had ongoing hassles, with neighbor (s).

Definitely Dodgy category.   Enjoy.
(Google on Caltrain Locomotive Auction 2024).

Rick

[Xena E]

I'm already fantacising:
   Small town gets into it, bids $1,  (one dollar), and shockingly WINS ...a messed up, rusty, 130 ton fuel guzzler, purchased with town funds, with idea of starting up a 'system'.

Project being run by Lyle Langley by any chance?

What's the price of mixed scrap in the US these days, that's where that dream will end...

[PA0PBZ]

Pickup only, no thanks 

https://www.caltrainstore.com/special-items/p/caltrain-emd-f40ph-2-locomotive-used

[schmitt trigger]

   (They don't say if they run).
 

The website mentions that as part of the transfer agreement, the engine must be disabled.

[ComfyChair]

According to the web store page (https://www.caltrainstore.com/special-items/p/caltrain-emd-f40ph-2-locomotive-used):
"Locomotive engine must be disabled per a state grant funding agreement"

Moreover you have to tow (?) this 130 ton beast to some place. No thanks.

Maybe it's a good idea for a café or a fancy restaurant, provided that you find a suitable place to park it 

[TimFox]

Although someone at Caltrans added some whimsical details about B&B, etc., this is a normal disposal of a surplus locomotive by a government agency.
The F40PH at one time (1980s) was the normal model for passenger trains, including Amtrak and various local transit agencies.
Properly maintained, a million mile useful lifetime is quite believable.
It might be able to move under its own power to a site for disabling/scrapping/imaginative re-use.

[RJSV]

   Re-use is not a new thing:
   I recall a children's book had an excavator Steam Shovel, that could talk and express emotions.   Eventually, the shovel was converted as it could not get out of the basement it had excavated!   Thing was converted into a BOILER, for building heat.

Seems like I'd prefer a passenger car, for a cute cabin or play space, out back of house.
OR, maybe a neighbor has complained about your old car parked.   Just simply 'park' the loco up near neighbor's fence....
(Don't,....there might be zoning and eyesore issues).

[jpanhalt]

Scrap mixed metal and junk  (e.g., appliances) sold locally in small amounts is $0.065/#.  The scrap yard probably gets at least double that for larger loads.  135 tons (270,000#) of relatively clean steal/iron is probably worth in excess of $30,000.  $1 may be off by 5 orders of magnitude, excluding transportation cost.

[TimFox]

When the US railroads eliminated cabooses from their freight trains, replacing them with “FREDs” (flashing rear-end devices) to monitor brake air pressure, they sold them as surplus with delivery to rail sidings.
Many were bought and transported by truck to rural properties for use as cabins.
I assume that they are gone now.
Typical caboose weight is 25 tons.

[Xena E]

Is Carney's restaurant still on Sunset in LA?

That's an economical reuse for old rollingstock!

[jpanhalt]

Is Carney's restaurant still on Sunset in LA?

Apparently, yes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carney%27s

That predates my cruising the Strip  in the late 50's.  We called it the boulevard of broken taillights.  It was a major reason the wash and wax the family car.

Edit: Small restaurants made from old rail cars (like Red Line cars) were not that unusual  in those days in East LA and related areas.

[johnk0gcj@gmail.com]

If you're undecided as to whether you want to buy, go to the Isaac Walton Lodge and try it out, spend a night
in one. Looks pretty nice, like to have one in my  yard, but no RR track within 8 or so miles.''

[xrunner]

Pickup only, no thanks 

https://www.caltrainstore.com/special-items/p/caltrain-emd-f40ph-2-locomotive-used

Perfect for your model trainset, ...

 

[themadhippy]

be fun to park it in your front garden  somewhere that  try and impose restrictions on what you can park  on your own property,bet theres nothing in there rules thats says no trains.

[guenthert]

I was more than a bit surprised to see old (maybe 60s or early 70s vintage) locomotives in commercial (freight) operation here in Germany this summer (after having been away for quite a few years).  There's even a market for those https://railmarket.com/eu/germany/locomotive-rental-leasing

Afaiu, the rail system is all (or the vast majority at least) owned by one company (inheriting from the former state monopoly), but these days there are a number of private train operators.

I would have guessed those would be most interested in this auction, so I don't quite understand the requirement for disabling the engine here.

[jpanhalt]

Re: Disabling

It is quite common in the US to disable surplus before it is sold for scrap or re-purposing.For example, military aircraft were sold without engines and critical electronics to prevent misuse.  Liability is another concern if a usable piece of equipment is sold.  It might be extreme, but consider what a renegade locomotive operated by a terrorist might do.

[forrestc]

I recall a children's book had an excavator Steam Shovel, that could talk and express emotions.   Eventually, the shovel was converted as it could not get out of the basement it had excavated!   Thing was converted into a BOILER, for building heat.

One of my favorite children's books from when I was a kid (like the age when I started to read).  "Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel" by Virginia Lee Burton.  I not only had the book, but also a cassette tape 'audiobook' complete with sound effects.   

Now, more relevant to the original post:  I know of at least one spot that you can stay in a converted locomotive:  https://www.gn441.com/

[RJSV]

   Now, what I DONT SEE, here, so far, is mention of th labor and materials, to render SCRAP into pieces suitable for the sales to scrap metal accepters.
   I would not underestimate the hassles, of dismantling big steel engine blocks etc.
Sorry, I didn't read all the details, but question if the CALTRAIN folks actually remove the motor and generator, or if they do something more like sabotage, like blowing up internal cylinder walls and seals, rendering the diesel engine without needed compression.
   Do they ruin the electric generator ?

   If I was to use the 'Shell' only, then I would prefer the locomotive be delivered WITHOUT those engine / generator portions.

[TimFox]

You need to contact the vendor.
Incidentally, when I was looking for Diesel generator sets twenty years ago, I found vendors that removed the chassis with Diesel (prime mover) and alternator/generator, renovated them, and sold them for use.
The F40PH used an EMD (formerly part of General Motors) 16-645E3 16 cylinder V-16 Diesel (645 in³ displacement per cylinder) and AR10D14 alternator:  3000 horsepower prime mover.
Some later models had a smaller Diesel for hotel power, with a smaller alternator (a few hundred kW) that could be run at constant rpm.

Historical notes:  EMC was an early manufacturer of Diesel-electric locomotives, before WWII.
General Motors bought them in 1941 and named the division EMD.
GM spun off that division in 2005, and they are now a subsidiary of Caterpillar (Progress Rail).
During that time, EMD lost a lot of market share to GE and Siemens.

[Xena E]

   Now, what I DONT SEE, here, so far, is mention of th labor and materials, to render SCRAP into pieces suitable for the sales to scrap metal accepters.
   I would not underestimate the hassles, of dismantling big steel engine blocks etc.
Sorry, I didn't read all the details, but question if the CALTRAIN folks actually remove the motor and generator, or if they do something more like sabotage, like blowing up internal cylinder walls and seals, rendering the diesel engine without needed compression.
   Do they ruin the electric generator ?

   If I was to use the 'Shell' only, then I would prefer the locomotive be delivered WITHOUT those engine / generator portions.

The usual way to ensure scrappage to prevent reuse of the motor in these situations is to run the engines with water glass resin in the oil until they seize.

The use of old carriage stock for homes and such was popular in the UK, as a novel and cheap option, but as everyone is now frightened of asbestos, old rolling stock from the 1950's to 1970's is uneconomical to strip the mineral from, unless you really want to pay of course.

One use that I've seen for an old passenger carriage is a mechanical engineering company I've delt with who house a large lathe in one!

X

[Stray Electron]

   Re-use is not a new thing:
   I recall a children's book had an excavator Steam Shovel, that could talk and express emotions.   Eventually, the shovel was converted as it could not get out of the basement it had excavated!   Thing was converted into a BOILER, for building heat.

  As a matter of possible interest, The HMS Erebus and HMS Terror that were lost in the Canadian arctic in 1848 on Sir John Franklin's expedition to find the North West Passage where both equipped with locomotive boilers and engines. The engine could be used to drive a propeller that was lowered into place when needed or raised and removed entirely while traveling thru ice and the boilers were used with steam pipes to heat all of the interior spaces of the ships.

     The Terror was originally built as a "bomb ship". That is a very heavily built ship designed to carry large mortars that fired very heavy shells in an almost vertical angle in order to fire them over the walls of large fortifications. Both ships were used to bombard Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland in 1814.  And for those of you that don't know American history, that bombardment was witnessed by Francis Scott Key and he wrote the song 'The Star Spangled Banner' after seeing that the American flag was still flying over Fort McHenry the following morning.  The HMS Erebus also fired on Fort McHenry during the same battle but it was a lighter built ship and designed to fire Congreve rockets.

  The HMS Erebus was just located a few years ago (2014) and the hull of the ship is largely still intact. 

  One of my distant cousins from England, James Frederick Elgar Rigden, was Franklin's personal coxswain on the HMS Erebus and was lost on the 1848 voyage.

[TimFox]

"And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air"
F S Key, after whom an unfortunate bridge was named.
Look up "Congreve rockets" for the first bit.
"Erebus" comes from Greek mythology for "darkness", "Terror" is obvious.
Mount Erebus is a volcano in Antarctica, named after the vessel, that much later was the site of a bad plane crash in 1979.

[RJSV]

   ?   Has anyone else viewed the workplace videos, showing India workers in a foundry?

   (Discussion on scrap metal from buying oldocomotive).   The skip over the scrap supply portions, but feature a technician in a sand area for building molds, say, for making a GEAR, having dimensions like a large round table (2 meter diameter).
   The worker, very fast, applies what appears to be primitive tools, but obviously gets all the sand down and surface shaped, using things like long pile on a swivel center, shaving and packing the sand.
   Heck;   I'd be very upright and concerned about accuracy, but the big wheel, gear, does go next into a big lathe for the next step, (of course after pouring the molten foundry metal.

   Idea is here they would take Xena's 'seized' and deliberate ruined engine and just chuck the whole block, into foundry melt bucket.
But there are so many steps skipped in that description, like the part where the team extracts the whole engine / alternator set (crane?),  and sets that down, before separating out, and possibly cutting up.
Also just the transportation of that bulk, to final foundry isn't trivial.
   Such things could really cause a negative 'GO' outcome, being expense exceeding scrap value....?   

   Hmmm, there's got to be some possible book or two, at local Library, on the whole scrap industry, including steel shipped to India foundaries.   That part, the shipping, is well established..
once you've gotten your metal portioned out into chunks.

[Kurets]

Re: Disabling
... It might be extreme, but consider what a renegade locomotive operated by a terrorist might do.

Remebering when Ali G asked if no one is concerned about terrorists running a train into the White house.

[5U4GB]

Those things develop 2.4MW, sounds like they'd make for a decent vaguely-mobile generator.  You'd just have to arrange for the disabling to be easily removable with a grinder or similar.