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 Trains / 10290
    How the heck do I find out what model that engine I see going by is? —James Brown
   I figured I'd ask that here, since so many people are tossing around model types, I figure someone ought to know... If I see a train go by, and want to know what model it is, how do I find out, short of slogging through hundreds of pictures & model (...) (23 years ago, 14-Mar-01, to lugnet.trains)
   
        Re: How the heck do I find out what model that engine I see going by is? —Larry Pieniazek
     (...) If you really want to be able to tell, get a copy of Second Diesel Spotter's Guide. But it's not a critical thing to be able to tell every variant. ++Lar (23 years ago, 14-Mar-01, to lugnet.trains)
    
         Re: How the heck do I find out what model that engine I see going by is? —James Brown
     (...) I'm not interested in the 'every varient' thing, but I would like to know if there is some way to tell (other than sheer volume of knowledge base, which is how trainheads do it, I assume) what an engine I'm looking at is. Beyond the basic (...) (23 years ago, 14-Mar-01, to lugnet.trains)
   
        Re: How the heck do I find out what model that engine I see going by is? —Tony Hafner
     (...) I've recently discovered the joys of a Walthers catalog. Walthers is a model railroad distributor, and they publish a very large catalog every year. There are a lot of B/W side shots of rolling stock. This is great for browsing and IDing (...) (23 years ago, 14-Mar-01, to lugnet.trains)
   
        Re: How the heck do I find out what model that engine I see going by is? —Christopher Masi
     (...) If your close enough to read it the engine might have the class painted on it. I watched a SD40-3 go by the other day. It looked just like an SD40-2 and I was very surprised to see a -3. I am not a train spotter at all, I just didn't know (...) (23 years ago, 14-Mar-01, to lugnet.trains)
    
         Re: How the heck do I find out what model that engine I see going by is? —James Powell
       (...) I (...) know (...) a (...) That's fine, but up here, the engines tend to being DRS-xx-x or such... (Diesel Road Switcher, I think...) Get a copy of 2nd diesel spotters guide, it is a good resource for use. Otherwise: 4 axles (GE=B, GM=GP) 6 (...) (23 years ago, 15-Mar-01, to lugnet.trains)
     
          Re: How the heck do I find out what model that engine I see going by is? —Christopher Masi
      (...) James, I was just being a sea fish. How often do you get a chance to read the letters of the engine as it goes lumbering by. Chris (23 years ago, 15-Mar-01, to lugnet.trains)
    
         Re: How the heck do I find out what model that engine I see going by is? —Harvey Henkelman
     (...) An SD40-3 is an updated SD40-2, these locomotves were rebuilt with microprocessor controls among other things. -Harvey (23 years ago, 15-Mar-01, to lugnet.trains)
   
        Re: How the heck do I find out what model that engine I see going by is? —James Brown
     (...) Thanks for the responses, folks. Unfortunately, the answer is what I suspected: "you can't". :/ My level of interest isn't up to the whole slogging through photos thing yet, whether they're photos in a book, or photos on a website. You'd think (...) (23 years ago, 15-Mar-01, to lugnet.trains)
    
         Re: How the heck do I find out what model that engine I see going by is? —Larry Pieniazek
     (...) Ah. Yes, it does. It's called the "builder's plate" and if you can find it and read it you'll know a lot about the locomotive. (who built it, what model it is, when it was built) However, railfans (not GOOD railfans) have been known to prise (...) (23 years ago, 16-Mar-01, to lugnet.trains)
    
         Re: How the heck do I find out what model that engine I see going by is? —Josh Baakko
      (...) Ah, but the WC is great, as long as your not ripping things off, or getting in the way! Josh (...) (23 years ago, 16-Mar-01, to lugnet.trains)
    
         Re: How the heck do I find out what model that engine I see going by is? —James Brown
     (...) Heh... Yah, I guess that GE isn't too concerned about making sure people know that sleek machine going by is a (whatever), so they know what to ask about at the dealer. :) James (23 years ago, 16-Mar-01, to lugnet.trains)
   
        Re: How the heck do I find out what model that engine I see going by is? —Josh Baakko
   This'll be long: EMD, has an angled cab roof, and a 6 axle EMD is a SD, and a 4 axle EMD is a GP. GE, has a rounded cab roof (with the exception of the Dash 9, AC4400, and AC6000, i'll explain them later), a 6 axle is a C, and 4 is a B. EMD has (...) (23 years ago, 15-Mar-01, to lugnet.trains)
   
        Re: How the heck do I find out what model that engine I see going by is? —Josh Baakko
     And for more... My Favorite train site: (URL) off, the EMD SD's and other 6 axles... SD7, high nose: (URL) curved roof, curved fuel tank, little Dynamic Brake housing (angled vent half way along the long hood). SD9: (URL) Curved roof, curved tank, (...) (23 years ago, 16-Mar-01, to lugnet.trains)
    
         Re: How the heck do I find out what model that engine I see going by is? —James Brown
     (...) <snip> (...) Thanks for the info, Josh! I'll confess that I haven't done more than skim it, I got lost after the first couple acronyms. :) I've bookmarked it though, so I'll certainly come back to it when I'm feeling less intimidated. The link (...) (23 years ago, 16-Mar-01, to lugnet.trains)
   
        Re: How the heck do I find out what model that engine I see going by is? —James Powell
   (...) Nope. The -2 means that the electrics/electronics (the control gear) is based on circuit boards, that are individually replaceable and more reliable than the older control gear. Most dash 2 models were new builds, rather than rebuilds. (...) (...) (23 years ago, 16-Mar-01, to lugnet.trains)
 

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