A LITTLE AHEAD OF ITS TIME? You're looking at a Baldwin Centipede, generally viewed as an evolutionary dead end from the early days of the diesel era, when "diesel-electric" involved more emulation of electric locomotive technology than current best practice does.

Photo courtesy North East Rails.

The production Centipedes mounted two turbocharged inline-eight 1500 hp diesels for a freight engine the equivalent of a cab and booster set from Electro-Motive or Alco, or a passenger engine with 1.5 times the power of those builders' standard passenger unit. Had it been a reliable locomotive (those early turbochargers and big cylinders posed lots of engineering problems, and Baldwin's pipefitters never figured out that joints in lubricating lines ought be kept at a distance from the wiring harness) it would have allowed economies in dieselizing many passenger trains that were a bit much for a 2000 horsepower diesel but overpowered at 4000. (Yes, fantasize about one of these babies storming through Sturtevant at 110 with nine on the Afternoon Hiawatha.)

But the Centipede was an attempt by Baldwin to salvage some of their investment in an even more ambitious project, to pack 6000 hp into a single diesel carbody. The plan envisioned mounting eight 750 hp modules comprising a normally aspirated V-8 turning a small generator, with the electrical cabinet and radiators mounted on the same skid with the engine and generator. These modules were to be installed crosswise, instead of the usual longitudinal axis configuration on single- or double-engine diesel-electrics. A Swiss-born engineer, Max Essl, developed the modular concept for Baldwin.

I think in contemporary usage we'd call such a module a "genset" (referring to the engine-generator-electronics on its own skid.) And Union Pacific has purchased some 1400 hp switchers powered by twin Cummins gensets from National Railway Equipment Company, with some 2100 hp triple-genset ... Union Pacific calls 'em yard engines, but they look like ... road switchers on order.

The advantage of the small gensets is that with modern control systems, the engines can be fired up or powered down as required, reducing the emissions compared to the standard single-engine driving one alternator. Mr Essl didn't have that technology at his disposal.

And then the irony ... Union Pacific was negotiating with Baldwin for a large order of Centipedes, until word of the units' troubles on Pennsylvania filtered back to Omaha. Union Pacific instead replaced its big steam with gas-turbine electric units that were fine as long as exhaust and noise emissions weren't problems. But perhaps the last laugh will be Baldwin's, if the genset technology can be scaled up to an eight-pack of 750 horses, although the package would probably look more like one of these.

Clinton, Iowa, 26 March 2005
Courtesy Rail Pictures.

BOEING'S CENTIPEDE.

The new 787 Dreamliner would not be mistaken for Baldwin's attempt to pack the power of a heavy electric locomotive into a single diesel carbody.  It didn't work out, because the internal plumbing of a diesel-electric locomotive requires more care in its arrangement than the external piping of a steam locomotive.

Had it been a reliable locomotive (those early turbochargers and big cylinders posed lots of engineering problems, and Baldwin's pipefitters never figured out that joints in lubricating lines ought be kept at a distance from the wiring harness) it would have allowed economies in dieselizing many passenger trains that were a bit much for a 2000 horsepower diesel but overpowered at 4000.

Those who do not remember the past ...

Another Japan Airlines 787 at Boston's Logan Airport aborted a scheduled takeoff after a fuel leak appeared. And the Wall Street Journal is reporting that United Airlines, inspecting its own new 787s in response to the fire, found "improperly installed wiring" near the after electronics bay.

The aft electronics bay, which stretches along the underside of the fuselage just behind the Dreamliner’s wings, is one of the 787’s vital nerve centers. It’s filled with generators, batteries, and wiring that allow the new Boeing jet to rely upon electrical power more than any aircraft ever built. For example, where cabin ventilation systems traditionally make use of thrust-draining "bleed air" piped in from the plane’s engines, the 787’s air conditioning runs on electrical power provided by generators. To save weight, many of the 787’s control surfaces are moved by electronic servos and sensors rather than heavier hydraulics.

That additional electric power comes from lithium-ion batteries, which recharge more quickly, but have a propensity to overheat under quick-charging conditions.  And some airlines might be taking a page out of Union Pacific's manual.  Ferroequinologists will recall that Union Pacific was negotiating with Baldwin for some freight Centipedes, but either failed to place or cancelled the order after word of the type's troubles on The Pennsylvania Railroad.

While it is not unusual for a brand-new type of aircraft to encounter teething problems as it enters the world’s commercial fleet, 787 customers were already bristling that their planes were being delivered 3-1/2 years late. Some have demanded billions from Boeing in compensation for the delays, and others have cancelled their orders outright. Boeing has 800 more orders for the 787 on the books, worth about $200 billion, so you can bet the aerospace giant is rushing to try to eliminate these embarrassing incidents.

The company is putting the best possible face on the situation.

"I want to reiterate that we continue to have extreme confidence in the 787 airplane and the 787 ideas," Mike Sinnett, vice president and 787 chief project engineer, said during a conference call with reporters Wednesday.

Sinnett acknowledged, however, that "clearly there are issues." But none of those issues are devastating enough to make Boeing believe that the aircraft is unsafe, he said.

"Just like any new airplane program, we work through those issues … We're not satisfied until our reliability and performance is 100%," he said.

We wish Boeing well. We also note that the Centipede was originally a genset locomotive with modular power plants, ideas that could not be brought to fruition for another sixty years.  Composite hulls plus electronic control systems plus a number of other new ideas might give two generations of aircraft designers something to work with.

But the Dreamliner still loads and unloads through one door.

CONSIDER THE MARKET TESTS. A University of Minnesota (motto: Lake Wobegon's children are in Madison) professor goes public with her frustration over a cancelled search.

I invite the University community to consider how the administration’s cancellation of faculty searches comports with the University’s core mission and stated goals, the larger financial picture and the annual tuition hikes. Note that we are not talking about increasing the numbers of faculty through incremental hires, but simply about preserving what we had up through last spring.

The essay goes on to detail the work wasted in conducting the search. Yes, there is waste. That's also true of the product development for the Baldwin Centipede. (Keep scrolling). At least Baldwin got a locomotive (after a fashion) out of it. We could be talking about the wasted effort of Bethlehem Steel in identifying all the reasons a thin slab caster wouldn't work. Oops. (Again, keep scrolling). In a world of costly information, dry wells, misbegotten locomotives, incorrect understanding of technological possibilities, and failed searches happen. I don't like it that my department's was also cancelled, but I can deal with it.

I have more trouble dealing with the standard academic complaints, which tend to be arguments from envy.

The time and effort put forth by faculty, students and staff to conduct the search had been wasted.

For what? To save the cost of hiring a starting assistant professor, whose salary would be in the range of $55,000 per year, plus benefits. Compare that to the salaries of top administrators and athletics coaches. It’s nice that the University’s top brass froze executive compensation upon imposing the hiring pause. But it doesn’t hurt to have your salary frozen at several hundred thousand dollars per year.

See that big house? See those hovels? Isn't that awful? (Yes. Find the profit in making better houses for sale to hovel-dwellers.)

University Diaries picks up the Minnesota story, offering an argument from an opportunity cost as commentary.

No ancient religion, of course, can hope to compete on her campus with the Glory of the Gridiron.

Some glory. The Axe remains in Madison. Yes, resources that subsidize football are resources not available to Classics, or to Minnesota's well-regarded economics department. But where there is an opportunity cost, perhaps there is a business case.

Amidst all the talk about running universities like businesses, it would sometimes be nice if people actually ran universities like businesses. Take, say, accounting for faculty hours. How much does an hour of faculty time cost the university, and how many hours did Professor von Dassow and her colleagues spend on a search that has now been cancelled? That’s a cost, and it would be nice if it were occasionally considered as such.

To take another example, if a university spends, say, $1,000,000 on a start-up package for a natural scientist, who then leaves because the university can’t pony up $45,000 a year for a spousal lectureship, then that seems like an unbusinesslike and inefficient use of resources.

Yes, some so-called productivity measures drive productive faculty out, or make them less willing to accept offers from universities obsessed with raising contact hours and class sizes. But by the same token, there is lost enrollment when students who can't complete their schedules drop out, or enroll elsewhere.

I suspect the notion of a business case for a department's tenure-track positions is beyond the comprehension of administrators. There must be a logical explanation why the game of departments-close-the-sections-students-referred-to-the-dean-who-blames-the-legislature (or the endowment manager) persists. I just don't know what it is.

I'll conclude with one more observation: Union Pacific isn't running 844 and 3985 for the play value.

SCRATCHBUILDING AT TWELVE INCHES TO THE FOOT.

Great Britain is observing the bicentennial of the railways, and how better to celebrate than to roll out a stable of steam locomotives all built in the 21^st century?

That lineup entertained visitors at Bluebell Railway as the summer tourist season wound down.  Left to right, Southern Region Atlantic 32424 Beachy Head, built 1911, extensive restorations completed in August 2024; Northeastern Region Pacific 60163 Tornado, numbered one higher than any of the original Peppercorn Pacifics, completed in 2008; Great Western or Western Region 4-6-0 6880 Betton Grange, numbered one higher than any of the original Granges, assembled out of Swindon standard parts and first steamed in April 2024; Great Western or Western Region 4-6-0 2999 Lady of Legend, numbered one higher than any of the original Saints or Courts, reverse-kitbashed out of 4973 Maindy Hall (another of the Hall series, 5972 Olton Hall, stars as Hogwarts Castle in the movies, to the annoyance of Great Western enthusiasts) and in steam from 2020.  The whistle on Lady of Legend is off 2910 Lady of Shalott.

There's something about a steamer, even one without cowcatcher, bell, or Mars light, that continues to entertain children of all ages, including seventyish children.  Yes, the British have a few of their unusual diesels still operating in preservation, as do we Stateside, and yes, a pair of Alco PA-1 passenger cab units might be returning to excursion service, and we're still awaiting the Mark Twain Zephyr.  But a scratch build of a Baldwin Centipede or a Fairbanks-Morse Erie-Built seems unlikely.

PRIMEVAL GENSETS. Somebody was doing some research on Baldwin Centipedes and came across my work, including the post on early genset locomotives. That research also turned up an instructive report (.pdf) Michael Iden of Union Pacific presented to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. There is a great deal of content on North American diesel locomotive practice. The report also includes a number of historic genset locomotives, including the Centipede, and predecessor hybrid locomotives including the North Shore's trolley-battery motor and New York Central's diesel - third rail - battery electric switchers for the West Side of Manhattan. A careful reader will also discover that the genset concept is not yet a good idea for a road locomotive.