So, in the downfall of EMD thread. I got us off into the weeds on ATSF EMD purchases.
I have to wonder. Outside of financing, what was ATSF and BNSF's opinion on the SD75I/M that was essentially built for them? Why did they skip the SD70M? Just wanted the extra horses? The units survived on the roster, I've never heard of any specific issues with that model that are unique to it.
Anyone have any details? Was it just that BNSF decided to go all in with GE for DC?
I beleave CN and ON also purchased SD75I,s
They bought SD75Is which, correct me if I'm wrong is a followon.
It may be a case where the SF wanted an EMD to match a specific GE in output. Alco had a C424 and C425. The Erie Lackawanna ordered the C425 special because they wanted an ALCO with the same output as the GE U25B
The SD75Is were built 1994-96 and were the last new locomotives Santa Fe bought as well as some of the first locomotives BNSF recieved. They were fine units, but the BNSF merger probably killed further orders and they got stuck as a small class size as BNSF standardized on EMD AC power and GE DC power.
The 75s were designed to more closely match the horsepower of the Dash 9-44CW. Not sure why there was never an SD75MAC as the later SD70MACs were 4300 HP. I guess BNSF didn't think it worthwhile?
MichiganI believe CN and ON also purchased SD75Is
And for what it may be worth I saw a SD75m in NS paint leading a train on the 9th...
NS picked up 7 of them after BNSF returned them to their lessor. I expect they'll be rebuilt at some point, being a small class size, but it is good to hear that they are out on the road.
Interesting. Progress Rail Tacoma has 4 of the first 5 SD75M's parked here since last summer. They have shuffled them around, so I suspect they have gone over them to come up with a game plan on rebuilding them. Possibly to make them SD75MACe units as the first SD70MAC rebuilds seemed to have been successful?
Never say never when they're rebuilding early Dash 9's into C4 style AC units, but I personally doubt it.
They have a very large fleet of SD70MAC's that already have AC capabilities and which is getting well worn. And nothing has been said about such a conversion despite the presence of overhauled SD75's in fresh BNSF paint.
From the perspective of this railfan, if they want rebuilt AC C-C power, dumping more resources into pushing out more SD70MAC rebuilds at a faster pace instead of going to the additional expense of performing an AC conversion on SD75's, is more logical.
SooBoy61 Interesting. Progress Rail Tacoma has 4 of the first 5 SD75M's parked here since last summer. They have shuffled them around, so I suspect they have gone over them to come up with a game plan on rebuilding them. Possibly to make them SD75MACe units as the first SD70MAC rebuilds seemed to have been successful?
the SD75M's which are in Tacoma are owned by Progress Rail, they are from the group of units BNSF returned at the end of the lease a couple years ago. Progress Rail owns 40 of them.
the BNSF SD75M's are rebuilt/upgraded in-kind; they will still be DC traction units. It would be far more expensive to upgrade these units to AC traction than it would to simply upgrade additional existing SD70MAC's to MACe's.
Bryan Jones
Editor Emeritus, This Week at Amtrak
So the SD75M's are still being used is small quantiles?
ATSFGuy So the SD75M's are still being used is small quantities?
So the SD75M's are still being used is small quantities?
I saw a photo of an SD75M Cab, it had no screens, only gauges. Without a screen, you have to know your territory.
Since the SD75M's are DC, can they MU with SD70Ace's and ES44AC GEVOs?
It's like riding a dirtbike without a speedometer, you have to guess your speed.
EMD offered a cheaper cab settup with analog gauges.
Anything with the standard AAR MU setup can multiple unit.
I heard some engineers hated the Dash 8's/9's because of computer problems.
Were the screens really that bad?
ATSFGuy I heard some engineers hated the Dash 8's/9's because of computer problems. Were the screens really that bad?
They are obnoxiously bright at night even turned all the way down. The 2 screens display the same info, but you can run separate counters if needed. The thing they did do was combine the HOT into the gauge display so you don't have a separate box on top of the console.
Are the GEVO screens any better?
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