The Beaverton, Fanno Creek & Bull Mountain Railroad
"Ruby Line Service"
Nothing lasts forever, so we all have our favorites that have disappeared, including entire railroads (Erie Lackawanna and Monon in my case). Recent disappearances include TR sets (cow-calf) and C424's on BRC and E8/E9's on Burlington suburban trains. Earlier disappearances are R2's and Joes on the South Shore. As you get older, you accept that change is inevitable and your favorites will vanish or become quite rare. I currently live near Clearing Yard and I'm still fascinated by BRC, even without cow-calf sets and Alcos.
I miss the MLWs...especially the sound of them idling..they had that peculiar rattle, coughing, and wheezing sound that almost made them seem alive, like steam. I'm also partial to the SD40 locomotives...back in the 70s and 80s they were everywhere up here...well..except CP's Shortline and the CN Sherbrooke/Berlin divisions where the MLWs ruled.
KBCpresidentI am only 17, so it's ironic that I'm writing this, but...in the good old days. My Dad and I go out to Maupin each year to View railfan and fly-fish.In 2007, all of the trains were lead by patched cascade green, or orange SD40-2s, and C44-9Ws, a few warrbonnets, and GP60s in blue and yellow. We missed 2008, and came back last summer. All I saw were Orange C44-9Ws, AC4400CWs, ES44Acs, and the occasional warbonnet. I've heard of rail-fans experiencing such disappearances, but never has it happened to me. My children will probably think of the 40-2s the same way I think of Fs. Is this the end of the line for the old engines on class Is. Secondly, does anyone else want to share there memories of favorite locomotives disappearing from the railroads? It must have happened before, I'd like to hear about it.
It is now the beginning of an end of an era for the SD40-2 model for the 1st class railroads. They started working for the railroads in the 1972 era and the last were built in 1984 for Canadian railroads according to the order sheets. This makes the older units almost forty years old and the rest of the units at least thirty years old. They will be rebuilt into new ECO units in some cases, but don't expect them to continue on mainline first class railroads since the regulations now will make them useless unless they are rebuilt with new engines and computer controller Tier II or III software. That is the reason we are seeing so many of the new models since they meet the later regulations. We lost our SD40-2's in California last year and the UP is using SD70M's on many of the local and work trains. The GP-38's seem to be used locally for industry switching but they are on a short rope also. I read the UP is having some of the SD60M's rebuilt into the new ECO 3000 HP units with computer controlled software and they will be tested in California for use here. If this works as planned, they will take the place of the SD40-2 model at least in California.
You can read about the ECO models on the EMD web site. KCS already has some of the 2200 HP versions being tested that have the new engine and controls.
Steam locomotives are exempt for now but I do expect some kind of regulation in the future that will eliminate any operation of steam except in approved excursions or display types of operation. We are now moving into a phase of clean diesel operation in California that will eliminate all older diesels both on the railroads and Interstate trucking.
When I first started watching trains with my dad, we watched steam being replaced and then the F units and Geeps before the SD-40-2 came along. The second generation of diesels wiped out all of the early diesels but that is the way it goes. You get used to it because it is time moving on.
The best advice is watch what is running when you get the chance because they will all be retired at some point in time.
CZ
its very depressing indeed..thankfully i live where we have an ic&e yard where 90% of their units in the yard are 40-2s. as stated...watch and photograph as much as you can as they are disappearing fast
KBCpresidentMy children will probably think of the 40-2s the same way I think of Fs. Is this the end of the line for the old engines on class Is. Secondly, does anyone else want to share there memories of favorite locomotives disappearing from the railroads? It must have happened before, I'd like to hear about it.
-Don (Random stuff, mostly about trains - what else? http://blerfblog.blogspot.com/)
Back in the day I lived next to the Chicago and Northwestern North Line, even commuted on it for a summer job downtown and to get to school. Do I regret not taking photos of the F-7's and E-8's on the push-pull commuter trains. Not really. There are so many photos and models of those things, and I saw them every day.
One time the Alan Pegler's Flying Scotsman came flying through the North Line. The one regret is that I took a (blurred picture) of it --should have just stood back and experienced it instead of squinted at it through a viewfinder.
My big regret is that when I moved to Madison, Wisconsin in 1982, there were these tall-hooded short switch engines in Milwaukee Road colors. Must have been F-M's with those tall OP diesel engines in them. Those engines, the Milwaukee Road, and the track in question are long gone. Should have gotten some pictures of those relative rarities, but who knew?
These days we get the odd SD-40-2 on the Wisconsin and Southern. But the SD-40-2 is well documented by better photographers than me, so I guess I don't worry.
If GM "killed the electric car", what am I doing standing next to an EV-1, a half a block from the WSOR tracks?
Paul MilenkovicBut the SD-40-2 is well documented by better photographers than me, so I guess I don't worry.
An SD 40 in Madison:
And rarer in Madison, an E8 and FM "Erie-built":
C&NW, CA&E, MILW, CGW and IC fan
Well, the SD 40-2's were so common in Altoona when I was a student at PSU-Altoona during the late '80's. So common, some of us spent more time chasing the helper SD45-2's.
I now drive by Enola Yard at least twice per day to and from work, and while you still see a few SD40-2's, I do not usually see them in the road sets with the new first line power. I do not recall the last time I saw a 40-2 as the lead unit on a big mainline freight train.
Now, when I see them, they're usually in a storage line or occasionally idling at the sand area. Where they go and when they go--I don't know.
John
UP has de-rated a number of SD40-2's to 2000 HP (UPY 800 series) for hump and pulldown duties, BRC hump pushers consist of SD40/slug sets with the slugs having been cut down from SD40/SD40-2's, I've seen BNSF SD40-2's as pulldown engines at Barstow, etc.
CAZEPHYR It is now the beginning of an end of an era for the SD40-2 model for the 1st class railroads. They started working for the railroads in the 1972 era and the last were built in 1984 for Canadian railroads according to the order sheets.
It is now the beginning of an end of an era for the SD40-2 model for the 1st class railroads. They started working for the railroads in the 1972 era and the last were built in 1984 for Canadian railroads according to the order sheets.
I believe the SD40-2F's for CP were the last 40-series built, in 1988.
enr2099 CAZEPHYR It is now the beginning of an end of an era for the SD40-2 model for the 1st class railroads. They started working for the railroads in the 1972 era and the last were built in 1984 for Canadian railroads according to the order sheets. I believe the SD40-2F's for CP were the last 40-series built, in 1988.
I skipped the other variations when I looked up the last units and only listed the standard SD40-2 model. You are right about the 25 SD40-2F's being new in 1988.
UP 4-12-2 Well, the SD 40-2's were so common in Altoona when I was a student at PSU-Altoona during the late '80's. So common, some of us spent more time chasing the helper SD45-2's. I now drive by Enola Yard at least twice per day to and from work, and while you still see a few SD40-2's, I do not usually see them in the road sets with the new first line power. I do not recall the last time I saw a 40-2 as the lead unit on a big mainline freight train. Now, when I see them, they're usually in a storage line or occasionally idling at the sand area. Where they go and when they go--I don't know. John I go to Altoona several times a year. For the past several years NS has used SD40-2 mainly in helper service over the Alleghenys between Altoona and Johnstown. However, now we are seeing less of them in helper service as they are getting replaced by SD40-E, which are rebuilt SD50s. The SD40-E sound totally different. It just isn't the same without 2 - 4 SD40-2s shoving in run 8 over the hill. At Allentown Yard the hump engines are now SD40-2s, replacing SD38-2s In my own area, our local commuter trains went from GP-7s, RS-3s and E-8s to big GE U34CH 6 axle units and new Pullman Standard built commuter cars. Now the U-boats and the coaches are gone. Railroads are constantly changing. Enjoy them for the present. Don't take anything for granted. What you love today may not be there tomorrow.
I go to Altoona several times a year. For the past several years NS has used SD40-2 mainly in helper service over the Alleghenys between Altoona and Johnstown. However, now we are seeing less of them in helper service as they are getting replaced by SD40-E, which are rebuilt SD50s. The SD40-E sound totally different. It just isn't the same without 2 - 4 SD40-2s shoving in run 8 over the hill. At Allentown Yard the hump engines are now SD40-2s, replacing SD38-2s
In my own area, our local commuter trains went from GP-7s, RS-3s and E-8s to big GE U34CH 6 axle units and new Pullman Standard built commuter cars. Now the U-boats and the coaches are gone. Railroads are constantly changing. Enjoy them for the present. Don't take anything for granted. What you love today may not be there tomorrow.
It's a certainty that their time is coming to an end when museums are started to accept them. CNW 6847 was my dream donation, with WC 7525 behind my second-biggest desire. IRM has my whole past showcased :D It's ironic to see that the first ever donated SD40-2 was CNW. It's almost too good to be true.
But I feel that at least 2 more should find homes in museums. SOO Line 6617 and the former KCS 637, the first and last SD40-2s ever built. 6617 is also the last remaining SOO SD40-2 still running in SOO paint.
But this is true about SD40-2s dying of of class 1s. But it is, by no means, the end of their era. Being reliable machines, I would expect to see them filter down into regionals and shortlines and live another few years. Norfolk Southern is rebuilding a LOT of theirs and I heard somewhere UP is doing a rebuild program for a few of their own.
Your friendly neighborhood CNW fan.
CNW #6847 was not the first SD40-2 to be donated to a museum. UP donated a former MoPac SD40-2 to a museum in Barstow,CA in late 2005 or early 2006. The unit was UP #9950, atleast at the time of retirement.
Bryan Jones
I remember that now. What's a MOP unit doing all the way in CA? :P
Are they gonna paint it blue again?
Lord Atmo I remember that now. What's a MOP unit doing all the way in CA? :P Are they gonna paint it blue again?
It's on display at the Barstow station, on a disconnected track next to the Beep. It's on display in full UP colors and will probably stay that way. I would guess that the lack of dynamic brakes contributed to an early retirement, which made it a likely candidate for display.
Rumors of the impending demise of SD40-2s are greatly exaggerated. The UP has just authorized a rebuilding program for SD40-2s at North Little Rock shops. It is unclear exactly what form the rebuilding will take. Thirty units are to be done in 2010. Some of the units allocated to the program were already retired and awaiting sale. Also some former C&NW units are listed for the program.
beaulieu Rumors of the impending demise of SD40-2s are greatly exaggerated. The UP has just authorized a rebuilding program for SD40-2s at North Little Rock shops. It is unclear exactly what form the rebuilding will take. Thirty units are to be done in 2010. Some of the units allocated to the program were already retired and awaiting sale. Also some former C&NW units are listed for the program.
I guess UP's rebuilding of SD40-2s could be similar to NS's rebuilding of SD50s into SD40Es at Juantia.
Lyon_Wonder beaulieu Rumors of the impending demise of SD40-2s are greatly exaggerated. The UP has just authorized a rebuilding program for SD40-2s at North Little Rock shops. It is unclear exactly what form the rebuilding will take. Thirty units are to be done in 2010. Some of the units allocated to the program were already retired and awaiting sale. Also some former C&NW units are listed for the program. I guess UP's rebuilding of SD40-2s could be similar to NS's rebuilding of SD50s into SD40Es at Juantia.
Maybe, but my guess is more like the KCS SD22ECO program.
My office window overlooks the UP track through Austin. Two years ago 40-2s were as common as Volvos and I saw 5 or 6 a day. Now it's been a year since I have seen any kind of engine except SD70 and C44s. Always the EMD is in front.
And something new: UP mixes intermodal freight with anything now, bulk, autos, box and flat cars. The only uniform trains I see are coal trains.
Something else new - The AMTRAK Texas Eagle runs on time between here and Dallas almost every day. It went from never on time to never late. Hopefully the economy will return and UP will once again need to call on some of the reliable old engines to move their trains.
CSSHEGEWISCH Lord Atmo I remember that now. What's a MOP unit doing all the way in CA? :P Are they gonna paint it blue again? It's on display at the Barstow station, on a disconnected track next to the Beep. It's on display in full UP colors and will probably stay that way. I would guess that the lack of dynamic brakes contributed to an early retirement, which made it a likely candidate for display.
Ah bummer. That's no way to showcase MoPac history! Wrong paint, wrong location. Quite an unusual donation though. I just don't see the logic behind it. Why CA would want something the midwest better recognizes. And why they would display it in UP paint. not much of a history lesson there
I think you will see SD40-2s, and GP38-2s, around for a long while. Like the 1939 LaSalle, GM got them right! The rest of the "Jimmy Junk" (50s, 60s, 70s, and 90s) will be long gone before the 40s/38s. The "Fs" wouldn't have come to prominence if it weren't for the War Production Board, but that's another story.
Hays
BNSFwatcherI think you will see SD40-2s, and GP38-2s, around for a long while. Like the 1939 LaSalle, GM got them right! The rest of the "Jimmy Junk" (50s, 60s, 70s, and 90s) will be long gone before the 40s/38s. The "Fs" wouldn't have come to prominence if it weren't for the War Production Board, but that's another story. Hays
Mechanical Department "No no that's fine shove that 20 pound set all around the yard... those shoes aren't hell and a half to change..."
The Missabe Road: Safety First
Eh SD70s are reliable enough, SD60s just look nice. But indeed they ran like crap. Still it's sad to see them go. Especially when they haven't frequented my area since the CNW days :(
The 40's have quite some time left on them, but I think the GP38s don't have as much time left, the SD40 will probably be pushed into its roles on locals and whatnot.
I remember a dispatcher telling me once "If you really need to get a certain train in a certain place at a certain time you put 5 SD40-2's on the train and it will get there on time with out any problems".This is very true.The SD40-2's were the perfect locomotive.They had a big comfortable cab,large nose area,excellent heaters,and they loaded up very fast.They loaded up so fast you could use them for switching cars in a yard like a SW-1200 or similar.You couldn't do that with most six axle GE's.Their loading time was so slow you could read a novel by the time they starting moving.The SD40-2's rode very well and had very good visability.Lots of room to haul your gear to the cab with out it getting stuck on things.
As a railfan and photographer I was happy to see some of them disappearing.I saw the SD40-2's on nearly every BN and BNSF train for 20 years.They were everywhere.They always put on a good show but seeing new power on the railroad is a welcome site.One thing I will miss about the SD40-2's is how the older ones used to sit for sometimes days and get really loaded up on unburned fuel in the exuast manifold.Once they left town with a train and if they were pulling hard you would see a massive cloud of white smoke and sometimes fire coming out the stack from all the unburned fuel from sitting around so long.Those older C30-7's also used to get loaded up pretty good espcially if they were full throttle and then went down a small grade(at idle) and went full throttle again.See fire shooting out 6 feet out of the stack!
AmfleetII The 40's have quite some time left on them, but I think the GP38s don't have as much time left, the SD40 will probably be pushed into its roles on locals and whatnot.
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