I read in Pennsy Power II that the E44 rectifier locomotives COULD be MU'd with diesels.
Does anyone know if that was ever done in actual practice?
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I am a E44 fan but I never seen it done, not saying it could not. I think it may be possible if the E44 could control the motors on the Diesels and also control the Generator/motor amperage output.
As the E44's were 'modern' units, they probably could be run in MU with diesels. Can't say whether it was ever done in practice, but I do know that the GF6C electrics used on the BC Rail could be and were MU'ed with diesel units.
Originally Posted by John Pignatelli JR.:
I am a E44 fan but I never seen it done, not saying it could not. I think it may be possible if the E44 could control the motors on the Diesels and also control the Generator/motor amperage output.
Well, various units in MU consists do NOT have their "generator/motor amperage output" controlled by the leading unit. The leading unit can ONLY control throttle position of those units trailing. Thus, it MAY have been a bit unusual for a diesel electric unit to be MU'ed with an electric locomotive during the 1950s/1960s on the PRR. I'm not saying it NEVER happened, but with the standard 27pin MU cable connections available at that time, that MAY not have been enough "wire communication" information for the poor diesel electric unit to control all the functions of an E44, or visa versus.
I guess my guess was wrong, I stand corrected. I saw hundreds of E44's some hooked up to other electrics but as I said never with a diesel.
E-44 Operating manual. I saw no mention of MU control of Diesel-electric units.
Having most of my engineer training on E44's I have never had one mu'd with a diesel. I do not believe it was possible due to the fact that the jumper cables between the two were completely different as was the throttle control.
As an engineer with PC and Conrail, yes you could MU the e-44 with diesels.
The was a special jumper cable that took the dual connection on the e-44 and connected it to the single 27 point jumper on the diesel. It was rarely done as the set up usually caused the diesels to burn up.
