Cut-Away Diesel Tours Southern Universities

A diesel locomotive "B" unit, that looked as if it had gone "A.W.O.L." from General Motors Electro-Motive Division's assembly line before it was "hatched", has just concluded a tour of the Southern Railway System for the edification of college and university engineering students, Southern employees, and the public.

Students of engineering from the University of Tennessee viewed the cut-away Diesel locomotive unit when it ws placed on display at Knoxville.

During the course of its successful tour of the Southern's lines, the exhibit was placed on display at ten cities, for special study by students of twelve colleges and universities. At each point, however, swarms of visitors turned out to see for themselves what makes a modern "Iron Horse" "tick."

The exhibit locomotive, a full-size Diesel "B" unit, weighs 189,000 pounds and is 51 feet long. At most points of the Southern it was accompanied by a power car that furnished electricity to operate the unit's Diesel engines, generators and other machinery. The unit was constructed by General Motors for exhibit at the Chicago Railroad Fair, and is said to be the largest slow-motion, cut-away, portable mechanical exhibit ever built.

At Knoxville: (left to right) E. B. Shehee, general Diesel instructor, Western Lines; N. W. Dougherty, Dean of the university of Tennessee College of Engineering; F. E. Stubbs, general Diesel supervisor; and Bemis Tatem, student.

One side of the unit was cut away so that visitors could see the placement of engines, generators and other mechanical apparatus. The outer covering of the 1500 horse- power, two-cycle Diesel engine was removed at various points to provide "portholes" through which visitors could observe the moving machinery. Facilitating this, lights and mirrors were installed inside the engine and other apparatus.

At Lexington, Ky., Jack Rayburn chief clerk in our traffic office, and G. E. Snyder, general Diesel supervisor.

When the unit was operated in slow motion it was possible for students and other visitors to "follow" the full cycle of operation, observing pistons moving up and down, wheels turning, and fuel and water circulating. Southern Railway Diesel supervisors accompanied the exhibit at all points to explain its features to visitors.

Comments on the display were full of praise. Typical was a letter from Professor Herbert Kuenzel, head of the department of Mechanical engineering of the University of Alabama, who wrote:

Garey White (in foreground) and Lyle Back, engineering students at the University of Kentucky, inspect the cut-away Diesel at Lexington.

"I must tell you that the exhibit was highly successful ...the students expressed interest and amazement at the thoughtful way that the whole engine was displayed. .. I am sure they gained a much greater understanding of the Diesel locomotive construction and functioning than we could have presented in our classrooms with many, many lectures."

The unit was started on its tour at Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on February 27. It was taken next to Atlanta, where it was visited by groups of students and faculty members from Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, and then went on to Knoxville, Tenn., for the University of Tennessee, and to Lexington, Ky., for the University of Kentucky.

Visitors from the University of Alabama at the showing of the unit at Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Moving east, it was displayed at Durham, N. C., for Duke University; Columbia, S. C.., for University of South Carolina; Charleston, S. C., for The Citadel; Clemson, S. C., for Clemson College; Raleigh, N. C., for North Carolina State, and Charlottesville, Va., for students of the University of Virginia and Virginia Military Institute. The tour ended April 12, and the unit was taken to Potomac Yards, where it was turned over to another railroad. * * *

The touring Diesel on display at Pegram Shop in Atlanta, Ga., where it was visited by students from Georgia Tech and E'mory University.

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