What was just above the headlights on some of these locos? Antennas? Great pics BTW, sure glad you were taking photos of all this.
On the D/E's like 6009, 8001, 8501, 6000, 4007, 3038, on top the cab just behind the headlights. I am thinking antenna, but maybe not??
Later engine purchases received a newer model; a Prime PM-733. Which looked like several squared bell end horns. A bit more obvious, many thought it was a horn, but those folks apparently never saw and heard either of these in action. Both of these emitted a "doink, doink" type sound, rather than a clear bell/clapper's obvious metallic peal. In later years all of these were slowly removed and replaced with a standard air ringer bell. The reason being the electronic bells would fail in cold, snowy weather, getting packed full of snow and ice.
The electronic bells were a strange sounding affair. Doink doink most describes the sound. I'll take a real bell instead
Yeah, the running boards don't seem to line up and it looks like level track. Unless the front of 8001 is dropping into a depression raising the back or something like that.
I'm struck by how clean the equipment seems to be. A lot of railroads, especially the ones in financial trouble and especially in the 1970s, ran a lot of very dirty equipment. The Milwaukee, whatever its troubles and mistakes, continued to look pretty sharp, at least on the surface.
It did not start to get really bad until winter of 1977-1978. One of the things they did was get rid of as many people as possible, long before the end. So there was nobody left to even do the work.
