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Your favorite locomotive.

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  • From: Louisiana
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Posted by Paul of Covington on Thursday, November 3, 2011 11:03 AM

  Quote from episette:

  " Why did EMD return to vertical windshields and add the slight hump in the nose above the door on the SD70ace? Id think that the vertical windshield would get dirtier easier because it wouldn't be cleared of rain and snow by the aerodynamics, and its aerodynamically inefficient. The hump on the nose would decrease forward visibility in exchange for the small amount of headroom that it adds at the exit door."

_________

   I think I remember something in TRAINS about the new windshield being cheaper/easier to replace.    As for the nose shape, someone in the know will have to answer.    Personally, I like the old bevel-sided nose.

_____________ 

  "A stranger's just a friend you ain't met yet." --- Dave Gardner

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Posted by big steve on Wednesday, November 2, 2011 3:22 PM

Baldwin RF-16 sharknose & Alco PA series

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Posted by Yardmaster01 on Wednesday, October 5, 2011 8:42 PM

MILW 265 because I got married in the cab.  Otherwise, anything massively steam!

                                                                                                Pat.

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Posted by EMD#1 on Wednesday, October 5, 2011 7:36 AM

I operate trains out of Atlanta.  NS keeps the SD80MACs up north in coal country so I haven't had the opportunity.  I have operated UP SD9043MACs though that has run thru on different trains.  Like the SD80MACs the SD90MACs and the SD9043MACs have desk top control stands which I loathe.  Good engine but I'd like to slap the person that decided it was a good idea to put a control stand that belongs in a subway on a freight locomotive!

The worst locomotive that I have ever operated was the GE B23-7.  It made my day when NS retired all of the U-boats and the GE Dash 7 line of locomotives.  It took forever just to get them to move once you moved the throttle.  The Dash 8 locomotives aren't that much better either, especially the old Conrail units.  They ride rough and they take forever to load too.  If I was in charge I'd replace them with ES44AC locomotives!

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  • From: antwerp (ex-seattle)
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Posted by crewshuttle on Sunday, October 2, 2011 9:48 AM

It would be the SD40-2 in BN green and black paint.

For yard service, the SW1500 or SW1200.

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Posted by Diggwadd on Saturday, October 1, 2011 12:20 PM

ITS ALL ABOUT THE GEVO BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

lol I keed I keed. I have only been a railfan for about 6 years now so this may be abit hard for me.

 

Modern power:

SD70ACe

Older power:

GE Dash 7 series (I don`t remember seeing one in service)

Old EMD high nose stuff(SD9, GP7)

  • Member since
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  • From: Cincinnati Oh
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Posted by Dan The Man on Saturday, October 1, 2011 11:06 AM

Yeah I've seen more Union Pacific engines than BNSF at Glendale, only other place I've seen more BNSF is at Fostoria.

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Posted by episette on Friday, September 30, 2011 3:43 PM

I also live in Ohio  and occasionally Ive seen the rare BNSF or UP mixed among NS consists on the Ft Wayne line that is a few miles away.

 

Slight thread hijack,

   Why did EMD return to vertical windshields and add the slight hump in the nose above the door on the SD70ace? Id think that the vertical windshield would get dirtier easier because it wouldn't be cleared of rain and snow by the aerodynamics, and its aerodynamically inefficient. The hump on the nose would decrease forward visibility in exchange for the small amount of headroom that it adds at the exit door.

  • Member since
    August 2006
  • From: Cincinnati Oh
  • 129 posts
Posted by Dan The Man on Friday, September 30, 2011 11:46 AM

Thanks episette, I figured it out.  SD70Ace's are not rare in Glendale Ohio, have seen many in MU's with Norfolk Southern, but BNSF is very rare.

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Posted by episette on Thursday, September 29, 2011 10:46 PM

You can copy and paste the url (the address across the top of the page starting with http:// for the website or  you can the link to your Photobucket or other photo hosting site.

  • Member since
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  • From: Cincinnati Oh
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Posted by Dan The Man on Thursday, September 29, 2011 2:14 PM

My favorite would have to SD70ACe, how do you post pictures? Having trouble.

 

watch?v=N 9jP5Dac

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Posted by episette on Wednesday, September 28, 2011 10:50 PM

@EMD1, Your post is the kind of post that I was hoping from because I wanted to hear from those who operate and work around/on these locomotives as their career.

 

Did you ever operate the SD80macs?

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Posted by Sunnyland on Tuesday, September 27, 2011 12:54 PM

I'm going to be nostalgic with my favorites:

STEAM;

Frisco #1522 for obvious reason that my parents worked for that RR

CB&Q #4960 because my parents and I took steam excursions pulled by her. She's now owned by GCR and I did get to ride behind her once again.

UP #844-because I got to ride behind her on last fall's steam special and also saw her visit our town this summer. She did a double header with #1522 after NRHS 1990 taking #1522 back to our MOT.

DIESEL;

Again-nostalgia- E and F units, because those were the ones I'd see as a kid with Dad visiting Frisco yards and pulled the passenger trains we rode.

I know very little about modern diesels, I see different names mentioned, but my knowledge is very limited, so that's I'm going with "old school."

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  • From: South Central Virginia
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Posted by VGN Jess on Monday, September 26, 2011 8:18 PM

Virginian Class AE: 2-10-10-2

Virginian Class BA: 2-8-4

Virginian Blue Ridge : 2-6-6-6

Virginian DEs: h16-44 & H24-66

GP9, SD40-2, SD70ACE, ES44AC, Dash9-44CW

  • Member since
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  • From: South Central Virginia
  • 204 posts
Posted by VGN Jess on Monday, September 26, 2011 8:16 PM

Virginian Class AE: 2-10-10-2

Virginian Blue Ridge: 2-6-6-6

Virginian DEs: H16-44 & H24-66

GP-9, SD40-2, SD70ACe, 9-44CW, ES44AC

  • Member since
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  • From: Adelaide, Australia
  • 20 posts
Posted by NRdriver on Monday, September 26, 2011 8:01 PM

In Australia it's hard to go past the Alco World Series DL 500 loco, did everything asked of it, and in modern times the NR class CV40-9i Aussie built GE, can't beat the throb of a big 4 stroke, instead of that screaming 2 stroke going through your head, thankfully their is soundproofing!

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  • From: 4610 Metre's North of the Fortyninth on the left coast of Canada
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Posted by BATMAN on Monday, September 26, 2011 8:00 PM

 

                                BrentCowboy

Brent

"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."

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Posted by mp09 on Monday, September 26, 2011 7:54 PM

UP BIG BOY- UP 6936

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Posted by jumper on Monday, September 26, 2011 6:52 PM

EL EMD SD45

CNR Alco RS13

Any Berkshire 2-8-4

any small 0-4-0 tank engine

Big 4-6-2 Pacifics espeically some of the streamlined ones

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  • From: Hamilton, New Zealand
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Posted by jase nzr on Monday, September 26, 2011 6:39 PM

Mine would be New Zealands DFT class of locomotives otherwise knowen as EMD'S GT22MC.

They are from the seventies and were turbo charged in the 1990's.  

They have a similiar look to the  SD40's but narrow gauge.

  • Member since
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  • From: Oklahoma
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Posted by Acela026 on Monday, September 26, 2011 5:48 PM

SD70ACe or SD40-2

AC-12 Cab Forward

GG1 or Electroliner

 The timbers beneath the rails are not the only ties that bind on the railroad.
           -
-Robert S. McGonigal

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Posted by nssd70m on Monday, September 26, 2011 4:31 PM

My favorite locomotive is the twenty cylinder SD45, especially the high hood versions of the Southern and N&W. I have quite a few of these on my HO scale layout. The SD40-2 comes in second, also the high hood version.  Earl...

Modeling the Southern, Norfolk & Western and Norfolk Southern in HO scale.
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Posted by cbqer on Monday, September 26, 2011 3:59 PM

I have to admit my favorite is the Milwaukee SDL39 and Milwaukee's 261

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Posted by EMD#1 on Monday, September 26, 2011 3:39 PM

I wasn't alive when the big steam engines plied the rails but I still do admire them.  For steam...my favorite locos in the following order are:

4 - 8 -2 Frisco #1522 

2 - 8 - 4 PMKT #1225

2 - 8 - 2 SOU #4501

On the other hand I do get the chance to run diesels so my preference of choice is in the following order:

EMD SD40-2 (Two good running SD40-2s are by far the best locomotives to switch with.  The SD40-2 has both power and acceleration.)

EMD GP60 (The best locomotive ever produced to pull intermodal trains.  The GP60 is the locomotive equivalent to a Corvette.  Give me three to four good running GP60s on a mile long pig train and it will be track speed the whole way!)

EMD SD70M-2 or SD70ACe (If the GP60 is a Corvette these brutes are Cadallac Escalades)  They may not be as fast as GP60s but they are strong and comfortable to ride in for 12 hours.  The two stroke 710 sounds smooth as butter compared to a four stroke GE which sounds like a washing machine.)

GE ES44AC (I'm not necessarily a GE fan but I am fond of these units especially when there is some tonnage to pull.  This is by far the best diesel locomotive model to ever come out of Erie, PA.  Night and day difference between this line of locomotives and their predecessors!)

Tim G.

NS Locomotive Engineer

  • Member since
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  • From: Trade City, Pa
  • 121 posts
Posted by Rikers Yard on Friday, September 23, 2011 8:03 PM

Good thought, for me its PRR K-4s 1361. It was the frist steam loco I ever saw in the "flesh" so to speak. It was on a 6th grade class trip to Altuna, to see the Shrine Cricus with the all important stop at the Horse Shoe Curve. 1361 made a HUGE impression on this 12 year old son of a B&O engineer. To think my Dad ran such a monster as this, even bigger ones, like a 2-8-8-4, Wow!

Diesel is easy too. Baldwin RF-16, Sharknose, just cause they look so darn good, especialy in B&O blue and grey. Of course any thing in that paint looks great

I think that is what you had in mind.

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  • From: springfield mo
  • 14 posts
Posted by thayer north sub on Friday, September 23, 2011 7:47 PM

sd-45 long hood forward

brian de spain
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  • From: springfield mo
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Posted by thayer north sub on Friday, September 23, 2011 7:45 PM

Southern Rwy  

brian de spain
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  • From: Norfolk Southern Lafayette District
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Posted by bubbajustin on Friday, September 23, 2011 9:27 AM

GE:

  • Dash-9 44/40 CW
  • Dash-8 40CW
  • C30-7
  • Dash-9/8 "Top Hats"
  • ES44/40AC/DC

 

EMD:

  •  SD40-2 High Hoods
  • GP38-2 High Hoods
  • SD70M -(My absolute favorite locomotive ever)
  • SD75M
  • SD70ACe
  • SD70M-2

Alco:

  • C425
  • RSD15
  • RSC-2

The road to to success is always under construction. _____________________________________________________________________________ When the going gets tough, the tough use duct tape.

  • Member since
    January 2009
  • From: Norfolk Southern Lafayette District
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Posted by bubbajustin on Thursday, September 22, 2011 9:57 AM

Diesel:

  •  EMD SD70M
  •  EMD SD40-2
  •   Alco: RSD15
  • GE ES44AC/DC/40DC
  • EMD SD45
  • D-9 40C
  • Dash-8 40CW
  • Dash 9

Steam:

  • NKP 2-8-4 Berkshire i#765
  • SP&S 4-8-4 Northern #700
  • Southern 2-8-0 Consolidation #401

 

The road to to success is always under construction. _____________________________________________________________________________ When the going gets tough, the tough use duct tape.

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