RMweb Gold russ p Posted March 3, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 3, 2016 One problem with Baldwin, but not enough to put them out of business was that their locomotives were not compatible with other makes. Baldwin used an air throttle system, very similar to the popular blue star system here in the UK. The others used the AAR system appearing widely in the UK some 70 years later Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave1905 Posted March 3, 2016 Share Posted March 3, 2016 I often wonder what went wrong with Baldwin. A company that built its success on quickly turning out thousands of locos based on a range of standardised designs and components, they seemed to lose the plot completely when it came to designing and building diesels. Baldwin and Alco had a huge share of the switch engine market (which was the first diesel market in the US). EMD had the road passenger market. The big deal killer was actually WW2. The War Production board restricted road diesel production to the EMD FT, so both Alco and Baldwin were locked out (the Alco "Black Maria" was to be their FT). The big thing with US roads is reliability. EMD had a more reliable engine and electrical system than did Baldwin or Alco . Alco engines had issues. EMD also standardized while Bladwin was still in the steam engine, customized power mindset. By the time the production restrictions were relaxed EMD had a big headstart in procuction capacity, proven designs and market inroads. Balwdin, Alco and Lima became odd men out. The killer was when Westinghouse ceased making electrical parts and the non-EMD builders had to turn to GE for parts, which was by now looking at its own locomotive production. There developed a situation like where only Chevy and Ford made auto engines, so Dodge had to buy its engines from Chevy. Obviously that puts Dodge at a disadvantage. Baldwin actually had a lot of inovative approaches. The modern concept of a "gen-set" was used by Baldwin in a locomotive that was a predecessor to the Centipede. It had 8 palletized motor generator sets set crossways in each the carbody of a 2-D-D-2 locomotive. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold TravisM Posted March 3, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 3, 2016 One problem with Baldwin, but not enough to put them out of business was that their locomotives were not compatible with other makes. Baldwin used an air throttle system, very similar to the popular blue star system here in the UK. The others used the AAR system appearing widely in the UK some 70 years later Yes, I remember that Baldwin had that but also remember that other builders had their own unique systems; F-M's could only run with other F-M's and ALCo RS's were the same (I think). I don't know who pioneered the 27 pin MU cable which became the AAR standard but I think it was EMD when they marketed the GP7 and others (ALCo and GE) quickly followed suit so mixed builder lash ups became the norm after the late 50's. F Units were retrofitted as the either the MU socket was fitted near the headlight or under a hatch in the same location. Julian Sprott Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave1905 Posted March 3, 2016 Share Posted March 3, 2016 By the way, Baldwin offered a conventional electric throttle MU as an option. The RDG AS16's had air throttles and the PRSL AS16's had electric. The CNJ leased old RDG AS16's to MU with their old BLW babyface units and the ex-PRSL baldwins were some of the last to bite the dust on the RDG. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold russ p Posted March 3, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 3, 2016 I've read that some centipedes were retro fitted with electric throttles to make them compatible with other makes. The centipede predecessor 2DD2 was to have 8 engines but apparently only 4 were ever fitted Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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