Slug (railroad)

A railroad slug is an accessory to a diesel-electric locomotive. It has trucks with traction motors but is unable to move about under its own power, as it does not contain a prime mover to produce electricity. Instead, it is connected to a locomotive, called the mother, which provides current to operate the traction motors.

Basic principles

Slugs are used in situations where high tractive effort is more important than motive power, such as switching operations in yards. At low speeds, a diesel-electric locomotive prime mover can produce more electric power than its traction motors can use effectively. Extra power would simply cause the wheels to slip and possibly overheat the traction motors. A slug increases the number of traction motors available to the locomotive, increasing both the pulling and braking power. Slugs carry ballast to increase their weight and improve traction. Large blocks of concrete are frequently used for this purpose, substituting for the weight of the now-absent prime mover.

Slugs can be built new or converted from existing locomotives. Conversion has enjoyed popularity as a way to reuse otherwise obsolete locomotives.

Types

There are several types of slug, distinguished by intended use. Note that as with diesel locomotives in general, this division is not absolute, and characteristics of one type may appear on the other.

Yard slugs

A yard slug is designed for switching, and therefore is built to increase visibility in low speed operation. It has a low body and no cab, allowing the engineer or driver in the powered unit to see past it.

Hump slugs

A hump slug is designed for even slower operation than a yard slug. They are often 6 axle slugs and are often paired with lower powered six axle locomotives. They are designed for the specialized purpose of pushing a long cut of cars over a hump at 2 to 3 miles per hour, while yard slugs would normally operate at up to 10 to 15 mph.

Road slugs

Road slugs are intended to serve as part of a regular locomotive consist for road haulage, and as a result have certain adaptations to suit them for this service. They usually retain dynamic brakes, a feature useless at the low speeds encountered in switching service, and they may be equipped to serve as fuel tenders for the attached "mother" locomotives.

In operation, they are used to provide extra traction at low speeds. As speed increases they are disconnected from the power circuit and function as a control cab if they are in the lead, or simply as an unpowered car in the consist. In braking they augment the powered locomotives, both during dynamic and air brake application.

Road slugs may take several forms. A group of GP30 and GP35 locomotives were converted by CSX and operated as half of "mother-slug" pairs. Externally they retain the general appearance of powered diesel-electric locomotives, though they can be identified by the lack of radiators and the removal of most of the access doors on the side of the body. They retain the cab and its controls, and therefore multiple unit control allows them to function as the lead in a string of units. The TEBU units created on the Southern Pacific Railroad from General Electric U25Bs, on the other hand, were cabless; this potential operational deficiency was compensated for by putting them as the center unit of a set of three. BNSF Railway has a number of road slugs that were converted from old GP7 and GP9 locomotives, retaining their cabs and high short hoods, but with their long hoods cut down.

When at one end of a set, locomotive crews will often go to great lengths to arrange for the slug to be the leading unit, as the lack of a diesel prime mover provides them with a quiet and vibration-free ride.

MATE

MATEs appear similar to slugs, but their design is different. Instead of siphoning off power as a slug does, the axles in a MATE are fully connected into the transition series in the locomotive it is connected to. A double ended MATE (a MATE with connections on both ends) turns two four axles into two fully fledged six axles. A single ended mate turns a four axle locomotive into an eight axle locomotive. MATEs do not cut out at speed as the motors are fully included in the series parallel transition stages. SCL's GE U36B fleet is the prime example: they were delivered new with special electrical cabinets to handle the 2 to 4 extra motors in a MATE. On a double ended MATE U36Bs were equivalent to U36Cs in every way. On a single ended MATE they were an 8 axle 3600HP locomotive.

Some railroads emulated this concept by using two GP40s, then swapping in a six axle Dash 2 electrical cabinet, and then connecting the GP40s to a double ended mate rebuilt from an old locomotive. The result is the equivalent of an SD40-2.

Terminology

Slugs are known by other names as well. Some are:
*Drone (used by the Santa Fe)
*MATE (Motors for Added Tractive Effort, used by GE)
*RDMT (Road MATE), used by CSX Transportation
*TEBU (Tractive Effort Booster Unit, used by Morrison Knudsen and SP)
*TEBC (Tractive Effort Booster Cab, BN/BNSF cabbed slugs)
*TEBCU (Tractive Effort Booster Cab Unit, BN/BNSF cabbed slugs)
*RDMATE (used by EMD).

The CCRCLs (Control Car Remote Control Locomotives) used by Union Pacific are sometimes called slugs. This designation is incorrect as the CCRCLs do not have traction motors.

Slugs should also not be confused with snails, a term sometimes used to refer to the power source of a rotary snowplow.

See also Cow-calf.