Was the Dash8-40B a good dependable locomotive ?
They seem to have been well liked and long lived. Most survived until the more abundant and commercially successful C40-8's and C40-8W's were retired. As a railfan, the only major complaints I ever heard from those that worked on them were that they were slow to load and the Santa Fe safety cab examples seem to have had a reputation as rough riders.
In fact next to Canadian National's declining fleet of C40-8's and C40-8W's, perhaps the biggest group of active Dash 8's today on Class 1's are the remaining B40-8W's at BNSF. I believe I've seen some popping up lately as retirement and sale candidates on the monthly BNSF roster update on Loconotes, but 56 were rostered as recently as of June 15th.
I believe most are active (Two B40-8's were also still on the roster as of earlier this summer). Some of these have received some significant work as I recall in recent years and should have a few more years left if business conditions warrant their survival. They quite possibly will be the last group of Dash 8's on a Class 1 and may outlive the other pockets out there by a few years.
CSX still rosters a large number of C40-8's and C40-8W's and may slightly edge BNSF out on the count of active Dash 8's, but the majority are stored (Although there have been some reactivations in 2021). The B40-8 fleet though was an early casualty of PSR, but pre-Harrison CSX liked the model enough back just prior to the recession in the late 2000's to pick up some 2nd hand examples to expand their fleet when the leases expired on the ex-Conrail examples at NS.
southernalco Was the Dash8-40B a good dependable locomotive ?
BNSF is still running most of their "W"s, after getting them from Santa Fe over 25 years ago, so I would say yes.
I kind of missed the demise of the non-W's, which I aesthetically prefer. Since the guts are the same, I guess it was a close call for them.
Ed
I commented to a friend when Conrail received their B40-8's with their boxy styling that they would look better with a pantograph on top.
7j43kBNSF is still running most of their "W"s, after getting them from Santa Fe over 25 years ago, so I would say yes.
Overmod 7j43k BNSF is still running most of their "W"s, after getting them from Santa Fe over 25 years ago, so I would say yes. There is a sort of reason in that the line where these are used cannot conveniently take typical C-trucked units -- hence the dramatic pictures of cabs-out consists with 5 B units in them. Not that you hear me either disparaging or complaining...
7j43k BNSF is still running most of their "W"s, after getting them from Santa Fe over 25 years ago, so I would say yes.
There is a sort of reason in that the line where these are used cannot conveniently take typical C-trucked units -- hence the dramatic pictures of cabs-out consists with 5 B units in them. Not that you hear me either disparaging or complaining...
Recently spotted in Denver, Albuquerque, Romeoville IL, Mount Pleasant Iowa, Amory Mississippi, Catoosa OK, Galesburg, Central Valley (?) CA, Little Rock, Joliet.
That must be a long line.
I also see that the B40-8's are still running on BNSF (I thought they were gone). Last year, for example, spotted on the old SP&S line. Which I view as a very good thing to model. They seem the worthy successor to the C-430, visually.
These two models have been running now for about 30 years, though I'm not sure how many have left.
Compare their tenure with that of GE's U33C on the BN, about 15, and gone.
I believe BNSF is happy with them.
7j43kThat must be a long line.
I was thinking of B30-7s of course.
There's a persistent story that Santa Fe wanted B40-8 B-units, but GE didn't want to do a custom design and raised the price so that they would have cost more than a unit with a cab.
Greetings from Alberta
-an Articulate Malcontent
SD70DudeThere's a persistent story that Santa Fe wanted B40-8 B-units, but GE didn't want to do a custom design and raised the price so that they would have cost more than a unit with a cab.
Obviously EMD was able to keep the costs down enough to make a small production run of 23 units feasible, or were simply more willing to give the customer what they wanted.
Both builders should have had B-unit templates 'on the shelf', so I'd be interested to know how GE ended up with a higher cost per unit.
Or did Santa Fe only want a very small number of them?
The RC Beacon makes it look like this could have been a photo from the 1970's
https://railpictures.net/photo/782084/
One of the interesting things about the GP60B is that it had no hostling arrangements whatsoever; you had to MU to them. There are some good pictures on the Web showing the arrangements of equipment in the 'machine room' replacing the cab.
The me, the shorter the low short hood, the better I like the look.
I prefer high short hoods, though. This page (scroll down) has a good shot of the Norfolk Southern version with the high short hood. Very cool.
Now, if I get my high short hood, I'm okay with that being longer, like on a GP7 or similar.
Still in training.
For a really short high short hood, consider the N&W/C&NW C628's.
www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=411219
CSSHEGEWISCH For a really short high short hood, consider the N&W/C&NW C628's. www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=411219
Note where they placed the "F".
Judging by photos, I suspect the N&W bought them with dual control stands.
Running one frontwards would certainly remind one of steam days. And the safety protection would be incredible--"Hit a dump truck? Are you SURE?"
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