Thanks Phillip!

your welcome

In terms of Diesels, I agree that nothing beats the sound of an old Alco's engine, but in terms of trains in general, absolutely NOTHING beats the sound of the UP 4884 Big Boy's whistle.

haha yeah, back when engines were engines...

Yeah air brakes are noisy. Especially emergency

Interesting parallel. Interesting how despite the differences, there remain certain similarities.

Nigel Terry As I understand it, the 539T is a Turbo straight 6. Also a 4 stroke engine and not a 2 stroke.

Indeed that's what happens when a man knows his machine, though it certainly helps that 23 has an old school pull cord.

Thanks! It's owned by the current resident engineer, and he did a good job fixing it up.

Dave Bolyard Thanks!

Thank you! Always a pleasure to share.

Toby Rowe Indeed

Thanks Dave!

+Nicola636128 Thank you!

So do I. I find it fascinating witnessing the physics in action.

+Samuel Tannenbaum You're welcome man. That makes sense. I can't see any ship coming into the port for any other reason other than special recreation.

Indeed it is. I think they use it for earthquake warning... right?

Pretty sure they're for earthquakes, yeah.

Thanks Mark!

I was born and raised in SF in the '60s and '70s (Telegraph Hill, hence Belt Line, Schweitzer Malting Works etc). Fuckin' awesome! Like starting up a Hughes 500 helicopter. Deeply satisfying. And great sound! Thank you.

It's a great horn. I love hearing it when visiting the SFBR.

Damn right!

+Patrick Yu Thanks! I am always grateful to meet local crews that are as friendly as these guys are. Dirt is the largest of the commodities they handle. They take the UP dirty dirts in, and send them out. After the dirt trains arrive in South SF, a local called the "South City Switcher" hauls the cars up to the SFBR. The South City Switcher also comes to take outbound dirt trains to South SF, where the road power will take them the rest of the way. Thanks for viewing!

+AlwaysTrainsHD Thanks! Had always wanted to see a Union Pacific train traveling on the peninsula!

+Patrick Yu You're welcome. The South City Switcher runs on a regular basis, and isn't very difficult to catch. I have another video of it on my channel. Feel free to check it out if you like. The mainline dirt trains also run on a fairly regular basis as well. In addition, UP also runs a "Mission Bay Local" out of South SF. Plenty of opportunities to take advantage of. One of these days, I'll go back and try to catch them all.

+AlwaysTrainsHD Oh I also do know the Mission Bay Local! I have seen it a couple of times in Mountain View Caltrain Station in the ~8:00 evening, the train which pulls Graniterock hoppers and Southern Pacific/ Union Pacific SD40/GP38 units. This is the only freight train I saw on the Peninsula Line, I also do have a couple of videos of it passing Mountain View, of which I may upload sometime soon....

Thanks. If I recall correctly, they still have the engine's original single chime horn in a box kept in a supply closet. However, they don't use it anymore.

The men who run this railroad put their best into the alcos, all nods to them.

RS-2 and 3s are my all time fav road switchers. Jack of all trades they could just about do anything asked of them.

+Dan Hubbell Thanks Dan! They sure don't waste any time doing what they have to do. This video was taken just after the main conductor repainted the unit. Thanks for viewing!

+mythicmesa Certainly a far cry from what it used to be. Thanks for viewing!

+AlwaysTrainsHD True, but it's still cool to see. A lot of people have no idea there's still a working port, industrial areas, and freight train action in SF. The stereotype is that it's 110% gone and replaced by white collar yuppie stuff, heh. Nice video!

Right on!

I don't know how often they use it now, but you are correct in that one of them got retired.

What happened to it?

Not sure. I'm sure there are some Alco-related forums on the internet, but I don't know if any of them are devoted specifically to the S2.

The SFBR runs 5 days a week I think, if not more. As for the times, I don't know.

Yup, it's a mixture of biodiesel and standard diesel.

+DeserT BoB It's remaining time is uncertain. I know the conductor, who also helps maintain this engine. Based on what he's told me, it would seem like the engine is not going to last much longer. But it's still doing well for its age, being over 70 years old and what not. It still remains their daily switcher, until they find the money for a new unit.

AlwaysTrainsHD The 531/539 was a pretty tough engine, compared to the lousy 244. Seems I see more of these old 539s still toiling than I do the 244-engined stuff, with the exception of the few MRS-1s out there, and they run good because they're still essentially new. Enpro still has the 251 in production, itself amazing.

+AlwaysTrainsHD sounds healthy to me. compared to others I've been aroubd.

***** Yeah, it's pretty amazing that some of them even run at all. I've seen them start on one or two cylinders and spew atomized fuel and smoke for almost a half hour before the other cyls start firing off. Some of that's just neglect, true, but 539 parts are getting pretty hard to come by, for sure. There ARE a number of 539Ts out there still in service that are in dandy shape, mainly because of parts gotten from MLW, who was producing the 539 for years after Alco quit building them in the early 1950s.

DeserT BoB Doesn't FM still make 539s for stationary use? I know they make ALCo 251s for the same purpose.

Provided my channel name is listed as a source, absolutely! I look forward to seeing the end result

@@Alwaystrains Of course! Thanks!

Updated, some Transport Fever 2 trains use this horn

In the intro? That's what's called a "gyra light." In the early days of diesels, units were equipped with oscillating gyra beams as a means of warning people down-line that a moving train was approaching. Gyra-lights were then phased out by flashing strobe lights, and later on, ditch lights.

Yes you're correct Richard. The belt trackage is largely paved over, making the little yard that the SFBR operates the only remaining trackage from the original belt.

So sad.

Nope. Just your standard diesel electric.

Patriot Works Might sound like that because it has a massive turbo and it’s a 4 stroke.

What you're hearing is the flanges squealing. Believe it or not, only a very small surface area of the train's wheels (about the size of a dime) is actually touching the rail at any given time. The location that the wheels touch is located on the inside of each rail, a location known as the "flange." As trains go around curves, up and down grades, or pull heavy loads, the wheels will squeal as the wheel adjusts to the curvature in the rail. Heavy loads in freight cars can also further amplify this effect.

He did a super job of answering your question. Just to add that those rusty old siding tracks don't help any!

Hey Bill would you be willing to send me some pictures of them? I'd like to create replicas of 23 and 25 builders plates to put on the engines again. Thanks!

+Samuel Tannenbaum Oh yeah, I forgot about that.

how? no they do not

@@OntarioRailfan992 the turbo charger on them thats how. It makes it sound kinda like them when there moving

Unfortunately there's not much I can help you with in the way of detailing, as I am only learning it myself.

Dave Bolyard Christine Braden is the person to contact for things like that

+Alex Robison There's no fooling you. That ship is docked at Pier 94, but for what reason I don't know. Thanks for viewing!

+Alex Robison In the words of Vizzini: "Inconceivable!"

Personally I think they had forgotten such a thing was there. Well, as of now, one of the units has been replaced by a newer one. One alco remains while the retired one is set to become a static display.

Thanks Russ! Although it's unfortunate that this is all that's left of the old belt, it's still cool to have a place where alcos are still used as revenue power.