So I found these pics from last summer in my mother's collection. My uncle just retired from BNSF in Fort Worth and has been a rather rabid rail fan for as long as I can remember, so she probably took them on his behalf. What I can tell you about these is that Great Plains is apparently an excursion line. I'm not real sure where the shots were taken, although I'd guess either south central Kansas or north central Oklahoma, all told within a 100 mile radius of Wichita. I'll now attempt to figure out how to put them on the site from FB.
Alright, here goes nothing. A bit of background and ancillary detail. The passenger cars in my moms photos have SEKR (Southeast Kansas Railway) reporting numbers, 9201 (Kaleigh Ann,) 9202 (Afton Leigh) and 9203 (Fallyne Marie.) At least one still bears the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority sign on the end of the car. All appear to have an observation or skylight type bulge on top that has been covered up with expanded metal mesh for safety I would presume. The heraldry amid car reads Great Plains Passenger Train around the large GP which is legible. Not sure what the context of this particular trip was, but they were under power by WAMX 4123, which was pushing the three cars solo, making me think that they were destined for a specific home rather than on a run. I'll get in touch with mom and see what more I can find. Let me know if you'd like to see the rest of the series of pics, as I just downloaded one.
Those cars, all former B&M RDCs, are owned by Watco (a large, shortline railroad/car/locomotive shop/transload company) and are used for private/public passenger excursions a few times each year. These excursions are operated (car hosts) through the volunteer efforts of the Heart of the Heartlands group and the locomotives which haul them (usually one on each end) and the crews are provided by each individual Watco railroad in the Central (Kansas, Oklahoma) Region. I have been an engineer on several of these excursions. Barry
Chris, welcome to the TrainBoard, we're happy to have you aboard, especially on the B&M Forum. :thumbs_up: What you may not know is that the B&M had the largest inventory of RDCs of all US railroads with 108. This is ironic because neither Con-Cor nor Kato ever lettered any production RDCs for the B&M. :tb-sad:
Welcome Chris, thanks for posting your pictures. Yup, Hank is right B&M had those RDC's and a lot of them. Fun bit of trivia, after the blizzard of 78, the B&M pulled these with a Geep 9 or a GP38-2. While Con-Cor and Kato never offered these in B&M amazes me, but there are decals!
Where there is a will, there is a way. The RDC had two engines: one to power the drive train, the other for electrical power for the coach itself. The bulge on the roof contained radiators and the exhaust. EDIT: See posts #8 and #9 below. I always thought it ironic that while the B&M had the largest fleet, neither Kato nor Concor did them with B&M colors but, I suppose their market research said there weren't enough of us out there.
ABSNut, that's a lovely photo of two excellent Minute Man RDCs. One correction...the two 275HP Detroit Diesel motors each powered one truck independently, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budd_Rail_Diesel_Car. Also, I was wrong earlier...the B&M owned 109 RDCs, not 108.
Hytec, My comment was based on an explanation from a friend who owns one: "there were two detroit 110s underneath, one to drive and one to power heat/electrical. cooling lines ran up to the radiators. also the exhaust went up through center bulkhead to the hump as well". But, your explantion actually makes more sense.
