Start Up Of New York Central E-8's 4068 & 4080

Sounds like the 4068 is going to need a new set of batteries soon. She cranked awfully slowly and it sounded like they had at least a few of the test cocks open to release some of the compression during the cranking process. That's one way to get an EMD with weak batteries turning over a little faster, but it's not good practice to start 'em that way.

You know your being as hard on a diesel as you can be when you see white smoke coming out of the stack. I hope with all that white smoke they weren't shooting ether in the old girl. Her rings and rod bearings won't last long from that kind of pressure.
coarse I'd hate to think what a set of batteries would cost for that one.

David

White "smoke" is only unburned diesel fuel and is related to a cold engine, and thus is NOT "hard on a diesel", at least an EMD anyway.

Ether, or starting fluid, is NOT a problem on EMD normally aspirated or turbocharged engines, so long as you let the engine "suck it in" through the air intake filters. Straight ether is pretty hard to come by and is EXTREMELY dangerous, thus one or two cans of staring fluid tend to work pretty well in colder weather, and causes no issues with the piston rings nor rod bearings.

However, it did sound like they had at least one test cock (compression relief valve) open, while starting the engine.

Ether can:

1.  Knock a person out.  Used to be used to knock people out for surgery.

2.  Extemely easy to catch fire!

E8's have two prime movers.  Stupid question of the day.  I assume they started only one of the prime movers at a time??? Or do both start simultaneously.  

Just one at a time, since there are two completely separate "engine control panels".

Thanks Jack

read the side of a can of starter fluid where it says : Caution contains Ether.

Which means in very cold weather- Ether it's going to start or it won't.
One of my Dads old jokes as we stood beside that great diesel tractor that was so good on fuel and didn't need spark plugs with our fingers so numb we couldn't feel them.

David

Starting has always been interesting. I broke my arm at 13  hand cranking the Farmall C. I once experience an old Cat D7 Dozer that we started up backwards pushing it with another dozer.  It immedately emptied the oil air filter all over everything.  Reverse on the main transmission and Reverse on the Forward/Reverse bar was not the combination to push it backwards.  

On the John Deere A you had to open the cylinder pet cocks and grasp the flywheel and give it a spin to start it on gasoline and then switched over to kerosene.
The B model had a starter but the voltage regulator would stick and half the time the battery was dead. Park em on a hill.

Pop said now that we had a new diesel we wouldn't have all those problems anymore. Nope, we had a all new set of problems.
Couldn't let it run out of fuel. Had to change the fuel filters instead of just emptying the little glass bowl. Hard as heck to get started in cold weather until we finally figured out what a block heater was.

We bought a dozer to clean up around the farm. We thought it'd be great to use to push snow because the road into the farm is a 1/4 mile long. Well part of self taught dozer 101 is never get on a hill sideways when it's covered with ice because if you do you've just made a 15 ton sled. Wow what a ride. I'm just glad there was nothing in the way and no trees to hit. LOL

David