An EMD FP9A owned by Mackenzie Northern Railway.

An A unit, in railroad terminology, is a locomotive (generally a diesel or electric locomotive) equipped with a driving cab, or crew compartment, and the control system to control other locomotives in a multiple unit, and therefore able to be the lead unit in a consist of several locomotives controlled from a single position. This terminology is generally used in North America, since only there was it commonplace to build B units—cabless locomotive units which normally could not lead a train.

Typical features[link]

Typical driving cab features, and therefore A unit features, include windshields, rectangular side windows, crew seats, heating, and sometimes, radios, air conditioning and toilets. B units always lack all of these features, except that some EMD F-units have an extra porthole-style side window(s) for a hostler (an employee permitted to move a locomotive in a yard only — not on the road).

Terminology[link]

This terminology has fallen out of use for newer locomotives, since it only really applied to the cab unit style of locomotive. Thus, the term cab unit is used only when an A unit has a carbody design. Hood unit "road switcher" types were generally equipped with driving cabs and the term "A unit" was not generally applied to them, although the rare cabless road switchers were still called B units.

Conversions[link]

In some cases, A units were converted to B units. If the unit had been involved in a collision which damaged the cab, it was sometimes more cost-effective to rebuild the unit without the cab. In rarer cases, B units were converted to A units. The Chicago and North Western Railway converted several E8B units purchased from the Union Pacific Railroad. The cabs on the rebuilt units were referred to as "Crandall Cabs." The BNSF also experimented with a single GP60B to make it a "A unit" by using a Ex-UP SD40-2 cab on a GP60B frame and body, also required to move was the Dynamic blister from the front of the unit to the middle of the unit to make room for the cab.

References[link]

• Pinkepank, Jerry A. (1973). The Second Diesel Spotter’s Guide. Kalmbach Books. Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 66-22894.

Ted Price is the President and CEO of Insomniac Games, Inc. - an independent game developer which he founded in 1994. Since its inception the company has grown to approximately 210 people. Insomniac Games is headquartered in Burbank, California and has a second division in Durham, North Carolina.

Insomniac’s first game was Disruptor, a critically successful first person shooter released for the PlayStation in 1996. While Disruptor was not an overwhelming commercial success, Insomniac’s subsequent games have been. Insomniac created Spyro the Dragon and two sequels for the PlayStation. The company then went on to create Ratchet & Clank for the PlayStation 2. Insomniac followed up with three sequels on the PlayStation 2 and has released the most recent installments, Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, Ratchet & Clank: Quest for Booty and Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time for the PlayStation 3.

Going back to its first person shooter roots, Insomniac also created Resistance: Fall of Man as a launch title for the PlayStation 3. Resistance: Fall of Man and its sequel Resistance 2, released in 2008, have been two of Insomniac's most successful games.

Overall Insomniac’s games have sold over 35 million units worldwide.

From 2005 through 2007 Insomniac Games was ranked in the top 10 on the “50 Best Small & Medium Sized Companies to Work for in America” list. This list is compiled by the Great Places to Work Institute, best known for producing Fortune magazine’s annual “100 Best Companies to Work For“ list, which ranks companies with more than 1,000 employees. In 2008 and 2009 Insomniac also won several "Best Workplace" awards for both the Los Angeles area and the state of California. Price's responsibilities at Insomniac include directing the company's day-to-day business and long term strategy as well as overseeing its projects and contributing to their design.

Price is a board member and former chairman of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Price has also been active and outspoken in defense of the videogame industry’s right to freedom of expression in state level court cases since 2005. More recently Price assisted in industry efforts during the U.S. Supreme Court’s hearing of Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association.

Price attended St. Christopher's School in Richmond, Virginia and holds a degree in English from Princeton University. He is married and has four children.

Works[link]

• Disruptor - 1996 (PS)
• Spyro the Dragon - 1998 (PS)
• Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage! - 1999 (PS)
• Spyro: Year of the Dragon - 2000 (PS)
• Ratchet & Clank - 2002 (PS2)
• Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando - 2003 (PS2)
• Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal - 2004 (PS2)
• Ratchet: Deadlocked - 2005 (PS2)
• Resistance: Fall of Man - 2006 (PS3)
• Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction - 2007 (PS3)
• Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty - 2008 (PS3, PSN)
• Resistance 2 - 2008 (PS3)
• Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time - 2009 (PS3)
• Resistance 3 - 2011 (PS3)
• Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One - 2011 (PS3)
• Overstrike - 2012 (PS3 & Xbox 360)
• Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault - 2012 (PS3)

External links[link]

• Insomniac's website

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Fodé Bangoura is a Guinean political figure, once a key aide to president Lansana Conté.^[1][2][3]

References[link]

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