Southern Pacific 9010 - Purpose and Service As A Camera Car

Purpose and Service As A Camera Car

SP 9113 (ex-9010) was converted into a "Camera Car" between 1968 and 1969 at the Sacramento General Shops. Its purpose was to record picture and audio to create the background motion plates and sound effects for a computerized locomotive simulator for engineer training, developed by Conductron-Missouri, a subsidiary of McDonnell-Douglas. This pioneering six-axis-of-motion locomotive simulator was housed in a fixed base operation in Southern California. Called the "Southern Pacific Engine Service Training Center", it was located in Cerritos, California.

SP 9113 when being rebuilt carried the unofficial identity 'SPMW #1'. The railroad's traffic computer required 4 digits, and so it emerged from the shop bearing a small SPMW 1166 stencil. In June 1969 it was renumbered to SP 8799, in standard Southern Pacific locomotive lettering configuration. The most drastic change in appearance was the locomotive's short hood (or "nose"), which had been removed. In its place, a custom structure was fabricated to house twin Mitchell 35-millimeter film cameras and Nagra III timecode magnetic recording equipment, with stand-up headroom and two seats salvaged from another KM for operators. Heavy, thick steel was used for collision protection and to replace lost weight. The front Voith L830rU transmission was removed to create space for the camera enclosure, while the Number 1 radiator compartment was emptied of radiators and ancillary equipment to house an Onan skid-mount generator to power the camera equipment. The two engines and rear transmission were simply disabled, principally being retained for weight. All gearboxes and Cardan (universal) shafts were removed; gears were left in place on the six axles. All of the controls remained in the cab so that it could control a locomotive pushing behind it, much like a cab car is used on a commuter train. The camera car could be put on the lead of any train, but it primarily operated as special trips with just one locomotive behind it for power. Known locomotives used for power are a single EMD F7 B-unit, an EMD GP-9, an EMD GP35, and a Cotton Belt (St. Louis Southwestern) SD45T-2.

Initially re-assigned to Roseville, California and making filming runs over portions of the SP's Donner Route, it was relocated in the 1970s to what became its permanent home at West Colton Yard in Southern California.