A cowl unit is a body style of diesel locomotive. The terminology is a North American one, though similar locomotives exist elsewhere. A cowl unit is one with full-width enclosing bodywork, similar to the cab unit style of earlier locomotives, but unlike the cab unit style, the bodywork is merely a casing and is not load-bearing. All the strength is in the locomotive's frame, beneath the floor, rather than the bridge-truss load-bearing carbody of the earlier type.
Cowl units were originally produced at the request of the Santa Fe, had a full-width 'cowl' body built on a hood unit frame which provided all the structural strength; the bodywork was cosmetic, rather than a load-bearing bridge truss frame as in cab units.
Most cowl units have been passenger-hauling locomotives. In this service, the cowl unit's full width bodywork and sleek sides match the passenger cars, do not allow unwanted riders, and allow the decorative, advertising paintwork desired by passenger operators. An additional benefit is that the locomotive can be more easily cleaned by going through the passenger-car washers. The cowl unit allows the basic structure of the locomotive to be identical to a freight-oriented hood unit type.
The main disadvantage of the cowl unit is low rear visibility from the cab of the locomotive. The EMD SD50F and SD60F, GE C40-8M and BBD HR-616 were given a Draper Taper (named after its creator, William L. Draper, a former Canadian National assistant chief of motive power) where the body is narrower immediately behind the cab, and gradually widens further after, although the roof remains full-width the length of the locomotive. This improves rear visibility somewhat, but the locomotives still cannot lead a train in reverse as a hood unit can because they do not have vision in the rear or ditch lights in the rear.
The LMS Diesels 10000 & 10001, later classified as British Rail Class D16/1, were introduced in 1947. These were Great Britain's first mainline diesel locomotives, coming about a decade after America's first cab units. Despite their streamlined exterior, they are actually cowl units rather than cab units. It is easy to misinterpret this as in North America, cowl designs are more angular, while cab designs have a similar curved streamlining.
^"1956 0421 MRR Roadswitchers". Retrieved February 15, 2020.
January 21, 2023
cowl, unit, cowl, unit, body, style, diesel, locomotive, terminology, north, american, though, similar, locomotives, exist, elsewhere, cowl, unit, with, full, width, enclosing, bodywork, similar, unit, style, earlier, locomotives, unlike, unit, style, bodywork. A cowl unit is a body style of diesel locomotive The terminology is a North American one though similar locomotives exist elsewhere A cowl unit is one with full width enclosing bodywork similar to the cab unit style of earlier locomotives but unlike the cab unit style the bodywork is merely a casing and is not load bearing All the strength is in the locomotive s frame beneath the floor rather than the bridge truss load bearing carbody of the earlier type Santa Fe EMD FP45 Cowl units were originally produced at the request of the Santa Fe had a full width cowl body built on a hood unit frame which provided all the structural strength the bodywork was cosmetic rather than a load bearing bridge truss frame as in cab units Most cowl units have been passenger hauling locomotives In this service the cowl unit s full width bodywork and sleek sides match the passenger cars do not allow unwanted riders and allow the decorative advertising paintwork desired by passenger operators An additional benefit is that the locomotive can be more easily cleaned by going through the passenger car washers The cowl unit allows the basic structure of the locomotive to be identical to a freight oriented hood unit type The main disadvantage of the cowl unit is low rear visibility from the cab of the locomotive The EMD SD50F and SD60F GE C40 8M and BBD HR 616 were given a Draper Taper named after its creator William L Draper a former Canadian National assistant chief of motive power where the body is narrower immediately behind the cab and gradually widens further after although the roof remains full width the length of the locomotive This improves rear visibility somewhat but the locomotives still cannot lead a train in reverse as a hood unit can because they do not have vision in the rear or ditch lights in the rear Contents 1 Passenger oriented cowl units 2 Freight oriented cowl units 3 Export license built cowl units 4 LMS 10000 amp 10001 5 ReferencesPassenger oriented cowl units Edit Amtrak EMD F40PH EMD FP45 EMD SDP40F EMD F40C EMD F40PH EMD F40PHR EMD F40PH 2 EMD F40PH 2CAT rebuild EMD F40PH 2M EMD GP40FH 2M MK MPI rebuild EMD F59PH EMD F59PHI EMD F69PHAC EMD DE30AC EMD DM30AC EMD F125 GE U30CG GE P30CH GE P40DC GE P32AC DM GE P42DC MPI F40PHL 2 MPI F40PH 2C MPI F40PH 3C MPI MP36PH 3C MPI MP36PH 3S MPI MP40PH 3C MPI MP54AC Siemens Charger Bombardier ALP45DP EMD Alstom PL42ACFreight oriented cowl units Edit EMD F45 EMD F45 EMD FP45 EMD GP40FH 2 EMD SDP40F SDF40 2 GMD SD40 2F GMD SD50F GMD SD60F GE C40 8M BBD HR 616Export license built cowl units Edit Pacific National EMD AT42C in Australia EMD AT42C EMD FT36HCW 2 GE UM12C Philippine service 1 LMS 10000 amp 10001 EditThe LMS Diesels 10000 amp 10001 later classified as British Rail Class D16 1 were introduced in 1947 These were Great Britain s first mainline diesel locomotives coming about a decade after America s first cab units Despite their streamlined exterior they are actually cowl units rather than cab units It is easy to misinterpret this as in North America cowl designs are more angular while cab designs have a similar curved streamlining References EditPinkepank Jerry A and Marre Louis A 1979 Diesel Spotter s Guide Update pp 70 79 Kalmbach Publishing ISBN 0 89024 029 9 1956 0421 MRR Roadswitchers Retrieved February 15 2020 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Cowl unit amp oldid 1132101808, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
