So what happened?
That’s their new prototype hybrid, it burns both diesel AND oil!
Vic Smith said:
That’s their new prototype hybrid, it burns both diesel AND oil!
So what? So does my Dodge pickup truck! 
Of course, I have to ask the technical questions.
What exactly was burning?
Would it be possible to disconnect the 2 engines and back the rest of the train away using the good one? How complicated is it to run one engine once paired? I am totally ignorant about MU’ing engines.
Yeah, asking the same questions. Was that a “turbo fire”, or an engine fire where the oil in the crankcase is somehow burning?
Greg
More then likely the turbo blew a gasket and oil caught fire, this was in Dunkirk NY - western Ny like half way between Buffalo and Erie Pa, funny thing is a BNSF caught fire about the same place the day before this engine did
Greg Elmassian said:
Yeah, asking the same questions. Was that a “turbo fire”, or an engine fire where the oil in the crankcase is somehow burning?
Greg
Greg,
It could be either a turbo fire, or carbon build up. Carbon buildup is more common on switch engines that sit around for weeks, or months without getting a good rev on the motor. All of a sudden when you throttle up to Notch 8 all that left over stuff in the stack catches on fire! I’ve had a couple of stack fires on GP’s and SW’s, but never on a 6 axle unit. The GE’s are commonly known to have turbo failures and the result is what you see. A lot of the time the evidence of a turbo fire is a replaced, or burnt to the crisp engine panel on the side of the loco. Based on the pic (and the GE loco) I’d say it was a turbo fire!
Mebbe it was a closet ALCo.
So, the seals fail on the turbo, and the cooling/lubricating oil catches on fire?
Greg
Before the flames erupted, I was actually thinking that it was doing a real nice imitation of a coal burner.
Greg Elmassian said:
So, the seals fail on the turbo, and the cooling/lubricating oil catches on fire?
Greg
Yeah she blew a gasket and started sucking too much air, here;s a good explanation fromt he youtube thread
“This is actually a runaway engine and I’m surprised no-one else has said this.
The engine is burning and running off it’s own engine lubrication owing to a compromised seal somewhere (not always the turbo btw).
The engine is running in an uncontrollable manner, meaning that as long as theres oil from the crankcase entering the combustion chambers, it will continue to rev higher and higher depending on the amount of oil being consumed either until it runs out of oil, explodes or disintegrates.”
That explains why I thought I heard the engine running. Was wondering why they hadn’t shut it down. Guess they would have if it hadn’t been out of control.