Earth shattering kaboom

[davefoxx]

Rapid unscheduled disassembly.

[peteski]

Rapid unscheduled disassembly.

Ah, the Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly Event?  Aka. RUDE. 

[nkalanaga]

GEs have a reputation for catching fire, but I've never heard of one actually exploding.

[Jbub]

The other story about the burning bridge in Salt Lake somewhat involved work for me. I'm now the SWPPP (Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan) inspector for my city and we are downstream from that bridge and now need to monitor the river for any contaminants (creosote and oil mainly). I went down to the trash boom and noticed a couple of railroad ties that managed to float down the river.

[Tristan Ashcroft]

So I'm guessing that the turbo did this...???  based on where the damage is.  Which, wha?....  This seems all kinds of extreme.  So, question: what's the orientation of the rotational axis for a turbocharger in an AC4400?

[p51]

Won't be long until someone has an article in RMC showing how to model it like that...

[nkalanaga]

Tristan:  I've never seen inside one, but I would assume the turbocharger shaft is parallel to the engine crankshaft.  Anything else would require extra gears, which would be more maintenance, something railroads hate.

[peteski]

Tristan:  I've never seen inside one, but I would assume the turbocharger shaft is parallel to the engine crankshaft.  Anything else would require extra gears, which would be more maintenance, something railroads hate.

I think you are thinking of a supercharger.  Turbo chargers are totally independent from any of the other moving engine shafts.  They are propelled by the exhaust gasses.

[sd45elect2000]

I've seen alot of these machines blow up, even caused a few. Never seen one quite like this.

[nkalanaga]

Peteski:  Thank you!  I never knew there was a difference,other than the name.  None of my vehicles has ever had either!

[Hawghead]

When I was firing I had an engine in a locomotive let go.  Had a hole in the side of the crankcase you could stick your head into.  The first ten cars of the train were completely covered in crankcase oil.  Wasn't as cool as this one though.

Scott

[Jbub]

My buddy went up to Evanston Wyoming today where the loco is parked. He took some good pictures of it and got some railfanning in as well.

[Lenny53]

Tristan:  I've never seen inside one, but I would assume the turbocharger shaft is parallel to the engine crankshaft.  Anything else would require extra gears, which would be more maintenance, something railroads hate.

I saw some more detailed photos, the prime mover is intact and the damage is to the rear of the exhaust stack.  Someone posted that it was the compressor that failed.
 

[Tristan Ashcroft]

I saw some more detailed photos, the prime mover is intact and the damage is to the rear of the exhaust stack.  Someone posted that it was the compressor that failed.

That sounds believable...  Which assume is also pretty weird.  But hey, whatever happened here, it was pretty weird.

[Philip H]

My buddy went up to Evanston Wyoming today where the loco is parked. He took some good pictures of it and got some railfanning in as well.

Not that I NEED another project to start and never finish but that looks like a fun kitbash