I am modeling BNSF operation in Fort Worth and Saginaw, TX in the early 2000's. As a part of that I model interchange traffic with the Fort Worth & Western at Hodge Jct. In so doing I am modeling GP38-3 #2003 in FWWR livery. I have done a lot of internet research, but there are still details about the life of this locomotive that I would like to know if anyone out there can help me.
Here is what I know. The locomotive was originally delivered by EMD to SP as GP35(phase 1b) #7753 in June, 1965. SP renumbered it as #6650 in 1966. It was powered by a 567D3A prime mover. At some point FWWR acquired the locomotive and it was eventually rebuilt with updated electronics as a GP38-3. I have photos from 2000 in which the locomotive look fairly newly updated and painted. The turbo charger had been removed and replaces with a PAF housing. I have photos from the late 2000's that show the locomotive quite faded and chipped and the snowplow had been removed. Finally, I have photos from 2014 which show the locomotive with a fresh coat of paint and new AC units on the cab.
So, here are my questions. 1) When was it acquired by FWWR and were there any intermediate owners since SP? 2) When was it upgraded and what all upgrades were made when it was upgraded to a GP38-3? 3)Was it repainted at the same time as the upgrades? If not, when was it originally repainted into FWWR livery? 3) When was the locomotive repainted again and upgraded with AC units? Were any other upgrades made at that time?
Thanks in advance for any pertinent info you can offer. If you have any details about the locomotive that I have not inquired aboout here, please share them. Thanks again.
Ron
Owner and superintendant of the N scale Texas Colorado & Western Railway, a protolanced representaion of the BNSF from Fort Worth, TX through Wichita Falls TX and into Colorado.
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Hi Ron if you use the EMD serial # 30160 you may have luck finding more out. I looked up EMD gp35 roster found the serial # then found that omnitrax was in the mix. Then put omnitrax serial 30160 in google found that as of 8 Jan 2014 it was with the still as gp35. Good luck with any further investigation, but using the serial# is a good tool.
Dan