EMD GM6 locos - an Irish what-if?

[Mol_PMB]

@jhb171achill mentioned this class of loco to me on the Achill tour at the weekend, so I thought I'd post the info I had on them. I hope this is a suitable part of the forum.

The EMD GM6 were a shortened version of the 121 class with a rigid 6-wheel chassis and a 6-cylinder version of the standard EMD 567 engine.

At the time that CIE ordered the 121s from EMD, they also invited bids for a batch of 6-wheeled diesel shunters which actually emerged as the E421 class. But CIE could have chosen the equivalent EMD GM6 design instead - they are similar in size, power and capability to the E class. They have drive by cardan shaft like the E, but are diesel-electrics rather than diesel hydraulics. So this is a plausible 'what-if' loco for CIE.

I have an EMD Export catalogue from that period which gives the technical specifications of the GM6. 

(not sure why these images have been slightly corrupted - sorry)

 

 

Thanks to this excellent thread (and unique model railway) over on RMweb, here are some photos of the GM6 locos supplied to Lebanon:

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/topic/181696-les-caves-du-roy-beirut-lebanon-in-the-1980s-chemin-de-fer-de-letat-libanais-cel/

 

[jhb171achill]

Always thought this would be a good thing on a layout. 

They’d almost certainly have been designated “E”, thus would probably have been the E441 or E451 class. 

I got one of those old whitemetal MIR 121 bodies some time back either the (long term!) intention of shortening it and sticking it on top of some old 6-wheel power bogie to see what could be done. Those whitemetal bodies are extremely crude indeed by today’s standards, and would not compare well to an IRM 121 on a siding beside it; but, I thought, potentially an interesting exercise. 

[Mol_PMB]

More pics here:

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/topic/181696-les-caves-du-roy-beirut-lebanon-in-the-1980s-chemin-de-fer-de-letat-libanais-cel/page/10/#findComment-6268397

[Mol_PMB]

Proper scans of the catalogue pages for the GM6:

 

Here's the slightly larger B-B variant the GA8:

 

[Mol_PMB]

And to complete the set, here's the GL8 which was the basis of the 121 class:

 

[Mol_PMB]

While I've got the scanner and the EMD Export catalogue to hand, here's the next size up, the G8:

 

Why is this relevant? Well it's another Irish what-if...

In the IRRS Archives is this EMD drawing dated 16 December 1955, comparing the size of the G8 to the Irish GNR(B) gauge:

[Mol_PMB]

The larger sizes were as follows:

G12: 1425hp 12-cylinder engine as a Bo-Bo (18t axleload) or an A1A-A1A (13t axleload)

GR12: 1425hp 12-cylinder engine as a Co-Co (15t axleload)

G16: 1950hp 16-cylinder engine as a Bo-Bo (22t axleload), an A1A-A1A (16t axleload) or a Co-Co (17t axleload)

DT16: 2600hp turbocharged 16-cylinder engine as a Co-Co (19t axleload)

(note: I've rounded the axleloads to the nearest whole number).

 

The G12 A1A-A1A or perhaps the GR12 might have been of interest to Bulleid if Ireland had any dollars in the mid-1950s. The others would have been too heavy.

Here's a G12 still in use, photo by my friend Rick Skateboard on Flickr:

And from Neil Smith on Flickr, here's a G8, the type considered for the GNR:

 

[Mol_PMB]

Here's the G12. The GR12 was very similar but 4'4" longer and Co-Co. I'm going to put the scanner away now!

[jhb171achill]

I see that 6-wheeled yoke to which I initially referred was 650 hp. Had anything similar actually come here - and as Mol intimates, it might well have done - that horsepower would have put it in the "C" rather than "E" class, presumably; thus, the C251 class perhaps?