| Chicago Burlington & Quincy Railroad SD9s 443 at Galva Illinois on August 26, 1966, Kodachrome by Chuck Zeiler Built on EMD Order 5549, twenty of these SD9s model were delivered to the CB&Q between August and September 1957. They were assigned road numbers 440-459 (later, BN 6187-6206), and were unique to the Q in a few aspects. They had a single fuel tank, a single control stand (thus the suffix 's' in the SD9s model designation), and they had a single Mars light. Previous SD9 orders all had two Mars lights and two fuel tanks, some equipped with steam generators, and one tank carried waterProminent in this photo is the rectangular exhaust stack partially covering the second (from the rear) radiator intake grill. This was for the Vapor Clarkson standby heater which was installed in the carbody below the radiators. Its purpose was to provide heat and circulation for the diesel engine cooling water, allowing the diesel to be shut down in cold weather. This feature was seldom employed due to the difficulty in restarting the diesel prime mover with cold batteries. |