Locomotive Modifications for Trade In

[Anonymous]

NorthWest

Hello all,

The Milwaukee Road placed several RS2s and RS3s on Blunt trucks, so that their AAR-B trucks could be used on the truck donor S-2s. The S-2s were traded in on GP30s, which rode on the refurbished AAR-Bs.

Those Milwaukee Road GP30 were considered by the crews to be hard riding.

[Overmod]

I am not sure this is a 'modification made specifically for trade-in' so much as it's a cheap way to get the locomotives and the trucks to 'where they were going'.  So I interpret your question as being 'what modifications were made to non-traded locomotives to facilitate the trade-in process?'  Most of the "truck re-use" examples I can think of (e.g., trucks under the U-50s) were taken directly off the engines that were traded in.  

Consider any alternative way to get the AAR-Bs to La Grange, if the trucks hadn't been swapped.  (And what would you then put under the RS donors?)

Situation would be further complicated if there were an interchange question regarding the bearings.  If the Blunts were friction bearing but the AARs roller-bearing, it might have been far easier -- if it were done today, necessary -- to run the S2s dead-in-train wit roller bearings.

There are doubtless some tax or accounting considerations to doing it the way they did it, but I can't speculate, let alone comment with any authority, on how that might have been structured.

[Overmod]

I am not sure this is a 'modification made specifically for trade-in' so much as it's a cheap way to get the locomotives and the trucks to 'where they were going'.  So I interpret your question as being 'what modifications were made to non-traded locomotives to facilitate the trade-in process?'  Most of the "truck re-use" examples I can think of (e.g., trucks under the U-50s) were taken directly off the engines that were traded in.  

Consider any alternative way to get the AAR-Bs to La Grange, if the trucks hadn't been swapped.  (And what would you then put under the RS donors?)

Situation would be further complicated if there were an interchange question regarding the bearings.  If the Blunts were friction bearing but the AARs roller-bearing, it might have been far easier -- if it were done today, necessary -- to run the S2s dead-in-train.

There are doubtless some tax or accounting considerations to doing it the way they did it, but I can't speculate, let alone comment with any authority, on how that might have been structured.

[Redore]

Soo did much the same thing, taking trucks from under FA's and using them on new GP 30's.

[NorthWest]

Hello all,

The Milwaukee Road placed several RS2s and RS3s on Blunt trucks, so that their AAR-B trucks could be used on the truck donor S-2s. The S-2s were traded in on GP30s, which rode on the refurbished AAR-Bs.

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=3413723 

So, does anyone else know of any  locomotive modifications made specifically for trade ins on new locomotives?