What Happened to B-UNITS?

AmtrakGuy365
AmtrakGuy365
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Published 2024-04-30
The Booster, or B-unit, was once a staple of most diesel-powered American trains throughout the mid-20th century. They were cheaper cabless variants of their A-unit counterparts, and meant to supply extra horsepower. Steam locomotives were still more powerful than the diesel, but the diesel was far cheaper and more flexible. But what happened to the boosters? Why don't we see them on freight and passenger trains anymore?

Music:
OMORI - I Think My Dad Shops Here
Deltarune - Dialtone
Super Mario RPG - And My Name's Booster
OMORI - Finding Shapes in the Clouds
Deltarune - My Funky Town
Deltarune - Green Room
Deltarune - Girl Next Door
Deltarune - Game Main Theme (Piano Sketch)

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All Comments (21)
  • @YourLocalHistorian
    The AT&SF also converted locomotives that were involved in catastrophic wrecks, destroying the cabs into B units
  • @hungrymoose7627
    FUN FACT. Canadian National and Canadian Pacific's E and F B units had primitive control stands in them so they could be shunted under their own power.
  • @davidmolin8944
    I cannot believe that Spamton G Spamton was the salesman’s for the B unit on all the big locomotive builders, bro must’ve really been raking in that cash
  • @JJRol.
    I really love these videos. They sort of remind me of bedtime stories I heard when I was a kid, always about trains. These videos are super relaxing, especially the ones talking about older history!
  • @vettebecker1
    My favorite diesel locomotive has always been the EMD F and E units, we currently own a 7.5 gauge A&B Southern set for our outdoor railroad.
  • @jeesmith99
    My dad was a conductor/brakeman for Santa Fe. In his tenure, he called them slugs. He was too late to the a unit and b unit world. He didn’t like them. Especially when the head end was bad order and the slug wasn’t a replacement leading the consist.
  • @844SteamFan
    4:20 Supposedly ATSF wanted a B40-8B to go with their B40-8Ws, but it would’ve costed the same as a B40-8W so they didn’t.
  • @pavelsovicka5292
    Just as an interesting sidenote: In eastern Europe, especially russia, the term "booster" means a frame with only traction motors and balast (no cab but also no engine). This booster is connected to the main locomotive by power cables in series with its own motors. This basically doubles adhesion and given there are twice as many motors in series it means that the entire unit has double the tractive effort with half the speed. They are only used as shunters.
  • @berkshireerielocomotive3322
    Interesting presentation. Even though a vast majority had operator's controls and we're self-propelled, having a cab just made everything easier. As the operator's station in was located on one side of unit near a door, in which the operator had to lean out of to see.
  • @motorola762
    Surprised you didn't Segway into talking about slugs. How the problem went from needing more horsepower to needing more traction.
  • @H-24-66
    You always answer the questions I have about railroading I don't know how to find the answer to.
  • @F40M07
    Great video Jared!!! Love the information on this!!!!
  • @MarioYoshi4723
    I’ve always asked myself this. I once found fanart of an ALC-42 B-Unit and I thought it looked pretty nice. I sent it to a train meme page and got a resounding: “Absolutely the ** not”.
  • @1Nanerz
    Still my faves are BN’s B30-7A cabless units. Not even a BN fan, but they look awesome.
  • @Slipperyisimproving
    B units are pretty iconic. I usually think of the F and E units when I see B units. Railroads definitely got creative with B units from the streamliners. Classic B units