Prototype MU diesels from different builders

[peteski]

George Ellwood's site says Erie Baldwins had air throttles, whatever that is.
Looks like up high next to the MU cables there were 4 extra air hoses.

Operated pneumatically (compressed air)?

[Chris333]

http://baldwindiesels.railfan.net/throttle/index.html

I guess while air throttles were standard Erie ordered them with electrical MU plugs.

[thomasjmdavis]

On the question of BL2s running with FAs, afraid I can't help.  The couple railroads I follow that had BLs, did not own any FAs.  That said, if someone were to produce a photo of a Monon RS-2 with a BL-2, it would not shock me.

The combos I have photos of are passenger consists.  For example, Wabash paired E units with PAs in the 1960s (I think perhaps Erie did too, but I could not find a photo in the couple books I checked).  NKP paired geeps with both PAs and RS-36s.

On the question "did BL2s always run in the front position?  I will give a qualified "no, not ALWAYS".  I've also read that railroads were concerned about the strength of the BL2's construction, but there are some J Parker Lamb photos of C&EI consists with the BL2 in second spot, although with GPs and Fs. not Alcos (but then, CEI's only road Alcos, IIRC, were some RS-1s).

You can see photos here: (61 and 62 of the 207 photos listed- sorry, their site does not let me link directly to the photo, or I can't figure it out)
http://www.railphoto-art.org/collections/lamb/group-two/#!jig[1

[nickelplate759]

Rummaging around Flicker I found a photo of a NH C-liner leading a DL109
https://www.flickr.com/photos/alcomike/20866238386/   

[Point353]

On the question "did BL2s always run in the front position?  I will give a qualified "no, not ALWAYS".  I've also read that railroads were concerned about the strength of the BL2's construction, ...

[brokemoto]

I guess while air throttles were standard Erie ordered them with electrical MU plugs.

You could buy an adapter so that you could run the Baldwins with the others.  That road that I mentioned that had the B-unit yard goats was not a Chicago transfer road, it was Oliver Iron Mining.  They had Baldwin, ALCo and EMD yard goats.  They bought the adapters.  I was trying to find a photograph of a mixed motive power consist for Oliver Iron Mining, but I can not find one, now.  I have seen photographs of Baldwin "A" unit yard goats as they worked with TR-6 "B-units" and Electro-Motive SW-9s as they worked with Baldwin S-8 "B-units".  There was an external cable between the master and slave units.

Most roads did not bother with the adapter.  Thus, many ordered Baldwins without an MU capability or only MU-ed them to other Baldwins. 

The Sharks did not have MU connexions on the noses of the A units when they left Eddystone.  Perhaps PRR added some later, but I can not be sure.  As far as I know, NYCS and B&O never added MU nose connexions to the Shark As.