A friend sent the following linked article. Linked @ https://jalopnik.com/three-miles-of-unused-locomotives-is-undeniably-hauntin-1823659965
RE: "Three Miles Of Unused Locomotives Is Undeniably Haunting"
by Kristen Lee
From time to time it gets mentioned in these Forums, tales of long lines of parked power. Stored by their owning railroads for a variety of reasons. The linked article also contains a video embedded and it shows a whole range of types, EMD's, GE's of many types, many bear the scars of previous fires that have left scars on the exteriors, and places where they have painted over those evidences as the units are stored.
Many of them have probably been cleared out recently. Most of the Dash-8s have been sold back to GE and many are now on lease, most of the Dash-9s are probably back in service, and many of the SD60Ms as well. I've been seeing a lot more of them lately, and even managed to find a standard cab SD60.
The locomotives are parked out there because it is an easily secured location. One private road in the area that is patrolled with minimal security surrounded by miles of desert. This deters vandals and scavengers.
Back in the Great Recession, UP had a similar idle line in Colton along the freeway. Millions of dollars of damage were committed within a week by scrap metal rings dropping people off on the freeway.
Great drone video. What branch line or former main line are they parked on?
Ed Burns
It may be on a very long siding or storage track along the Sunset Route. I remember seeing an obscenely long line of stored locomotives while riding the "Sunset Ltd" through Arizona this past summer. The storage track is some distance from the main line in a few places.
In some respects, those locomotives look like the fallout of the drop in coal demand. At one time many of these units were the first-line PRB power. Of course, they were displaced from PRB service by newer units, which when coal traffic fell off were moved to other duties, which in turn pushed these units to the storage track.
If there is 3 miles of track out there and figure 80 feet per locomotive, there are at least 200 locomotives out there. That would equate at 3 units per unit train to approximately 65-70 unit coal train sets. That is a lot of carloads and a lot of revenue that will likely never come back, which will have to be replaced by other business.
One could posit that if railroads ever return to total tonnage hauled in a year equivalent to tonnage hauled in the peak year of 2006 when there was voluminous coal tonnage underpinning overall railroad tonnage, at that time railroads will likely be hauling record total loads, with numerous intermodal and lighter tonnage making up for the lost coal tonnage.
If that ever does occur, hopefully that will be a turning point for the railroad industry.
kgbw49One could posit that if railroads ever return to total tonnage hauled in a year equivalent to tonnage hauled in the peak year of 2006 when there was voluminous coal tonnage underpinning overall railroad tonnage, at that time railroads will likely be hauling record total loads, with numerous intermodal and lighter tonnage making up for the lost coal tonnage. If that ever does occur, hopefully that will be a turning point for the railroad industry.
If that does happen with the current rail managements - GRIDLOCK will be the result! At least for all the carriers except BNSF with the Oracle of Omaha looking at it through long term eyes.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
NorthWest Many of them have probably been cleared out recently. Most of the Dash-8s have been sold back to GE and many are now on lease, most of the Dash-9s are probably back in service, and many of the SD60Ms as well. I've been seeing a lot more of them lately, and even managed to find a standard cab SD60.
I saw multiple Dash-9s in the Roseville shops on Monday evening which was a surprise as they usually try to keep them out of Ca.
I also saw a number of 3-window 60Ms. Those had been missing for at least a year. Year+ ago, the 60Ms were holding down turns with the 59MXs. But now those jobs are SD70M/SD59MX, so it's not clear to me where these units are headed. They were on the Sand Track, not the Fueling racks. So that usually implies laid up.
kgbw49 If there is 3 miles of track out there and figure 80 feet per locomotive, there are at least 200 locomotives out there.
If there is 3 miles of track out there and figure 80 feet per locomotive, there are at least 200 locomotives out there.
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