VGN EL-1A "Squarehead" Electric Engines Questions

[NW Mailing List]

I believe that the "transverse grab irons" that Abe mention as missing 
in the photograph that he attached were the short grab irons under each 
front window as shown in the August 23, 1940, photo on P. 6 of /The 
Virginian Railway, Volume 2,/ by Liljestrand and Sweetland.

Gordon Hamilton

On 5/29/2023 4:17 PM, NW Mailing List wrote:
> Abe:
>
> My speculation will follow:
>
>> On May 29, 2023, at 9:56 AM, NW Mailing List<nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>  wrote:
>>
>> We young whippersnappers are really grateful for you Old Geezers who so willingly answer our questions.
>>   
>> Now, since the Virginian bought out the N&W in 1959, I guess it is permissible to ask a few VGN questions in this august forum.  So here goes...
>>   
>> In the University of Pittsburgh Historic Pittsburgh Collection, I found the first attached image, which appears to be a Westinghouse image taken before the engine was delivered (witness front platform transverse grab irons are not yet installed, and the front roof high-current electrical bus cable is not installed.)  I was unable to download a good copy of this file, so what I have attached is only a screenshot dipped in the Photoshop bath a couple times.  Translation:  It ain't very sharp.
> The platform railings were apparently added sometime after the units were built. Now it may have been much sooner but here is a 1946 drawing depicting the application:
>
> https://www.nwhs.org/archivesdb/detail.php?ID=78670
>>   
>> FIRST QUESTION:
>>   
>> The first thing that caught my eye in this photograph is the double classification lamps (two on each side, in an over/under arrangement.  Don't understand the application, but love it anyway.  The more lamps, the better.
> This is total guess, but N&W electrics also initially featured two sets of lamps. My guess is there was a set for actual classification lamps (white or green) and a set for running as a pusher, with red or yellow lamps. This seemed to disappear sometime later.
>>   
>> The next thing to catch my eye was the adjusting hand-wheels on both sides of the front drawhead.  Where they for adjusting lateral alignment of the drawhead?  Also note the transverse pipe-like structures on both sides of the drawhead, which may contain springs or a screw/ratchet arrangement.  (My guess is that a fine example of Westinghouse's standard marketing policy:  Convince the customer to buy more than he actually needs ! )
> Those are referred to on drawings as coupler centering devices. This VGN drawing from 1927 shows the conversion to a closed spring system:
>
> https://www.nwhs.org/archivesdb/detail.php?ID=78665
>
>>   
>> The second photo attachment shows a better view of this arrangement on Eng 107 (from the Barriger collection) but the side adjusting wheels have been removed, perhaps indicating the railroad figured out they did not need all the contraptions Mr. Westinghouse had charged them for.
>>   
>> SECOND QUESTION:
>>   
>>   After someone explains to me the gizmo contraption with handwheels down near the drawhead, the second question will pertain to those flamboyant loop guards attached to the right and left ends of the pantograph in later years.  (Also shown in the second photo attachment.)  They remind me of the feather plume on the helmet of a Seventeenth Century Dragoon soldier.  Almost certainly placed there to keep the engines from "running out from under the wire" on curved track, and I can understand that.   But what, pray tell, did that do to the clearance issue in the VGN's plethora of tunnels?  Were any tunnel modifications necessary when those ungainly pantograph extensions were hung atop the EL-1A Engines ?
> The pantagraphs (VGN spelling) were purchased from outside source, I suspect it was a design change by the manufacturer, not so much of a VGN specification:
>
> https://www.nwhs.org/archivesdb/detail.php?ID=78751
>
> I’ll be glad to hear opinions from others on these suggestions.
>
> Ken Miller
>
>
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