Good afternoon, this is my first post. I recently got a back issue of trains magazine (the special ALco issue). In the motive power review, the author notes that 2020 was the first year that locomotive Rebuilds outnumbered newly built locomotives. This got me thinking about Rebuilds and when this trend started for diesel locomotives. When did we start to see Rebuilds from companies like IC Paducah, or NRE or even earlier companies. I know that the first GP10 was released in 1967 at Paducah.
Rebuilding locomotives is about economics and tax laws. Look further back at Trains May 1955 7th Annual Motive Power Survey by David P. Morgan. The title is "What comes after a Million Miles". Part of Morgan's topic of that article is about EMD upgrading F units with the latest technology. Rebuilding has been around a long time.
Ed in Kentucky
Exactly. In fact the concept goes back before diesels even became viable transportation power. Many if not most class one railroads and their subsidiaries rebuilt older steam power to suit new mp requirements. Sometimes nothing but the wheel centers and sections of the frame would be left while boilers and anything else that could be recycled went back to the blast furnace. External appliances were often reusable but just as often they were used to upgrade other locomotives.
Same me, different spelling!
MrchickenstripsGood afternoon, this is my first post.
Welcome to the Forum! Please continue to post with comments or questions!
York1 John
Was there any indication that the rebuilds outlasted the originals in # of years operating? Or did the Fs die to the hood units before their time was up?
Thanks for the warm welcome!
Many second generation EMDs were "rebuilds" for tax purposes. Early E and F Units were oten upgraded with new power assemblies, generators and other parts to fit better with newer models, or simply to fix issues with earlier designs.
It may not exactly fit the definition of rebuild, but I could consider the various re-powerings of the mid-1950's to be a first step to the rebuildings that began with IC's Paducah rebuilds and Santa Fe's CF7's.
MrchickenstripsWhen did we start to see Rebuilds from companies like IC Paducah, or NRE or even earlier companies
Would you
timz Mrchickenstrips When did we start to see Rebuilds from companies like IC Paducah, or NRE or even earlier companies If you actually mean rebuilds (as opposed to the things called "rebuilds" that were just new units using some salvaged pieces) then ... did anyone get into that business before Paducah? (I'm assuming we're not talking about RRs rebuilding their own units for their own use.)
Mrchickenstrips When did we start to see Rebuilds from companies like IC Paducah, or NRE or even earlier companies
If you actually mean rebuilds (as opposed to the things called "rebuilds" that were just new units using some salvaged pieces) then ... did anyone get into that business before Paducah? (I'm assuming we're not talking about RRs rebuilding their own units for their own use.)
Would you consider Norfolk Southern doing rebuilds or building new units at Altoona?
If it's possible to consider Altoona's products "new units" -- if that's not an obvious misnomer -- then I suspect we shouldn't call them rebuilds. But dunno what they actually do there.
In any case: nothing going on in Altoona these days bears on the original question, does it?
timz In any case: nothing going on in Altoona these days bears on the original question, does it?
No I didn't specify in the question, but for me that's kind of what prompted the question. The Trains article and reading a lot about dash-8s and -9s being "transformed" (rebuilt) into a GEVO or AC4400 equivalent.
Any current large road locomotive rebuilder would bend over backward to ensure their products weren't "new locomotives" as that would make them subject to current EPA Tier requirements. Which EPA staffers have said was intended to, and will continue to be intended to bring about the adoption of SCR with DEF for diesel-electrics to 'eliminate' NOx emission to the atmosphere.
If they were repowering with something like QSK95s or were trying to market something aggressively 'green', then yes, invoking 'new locomotive at less than new-locomotive price' might make sense, at a place like Kentucky Locomotive or RPS.
Quite a few railroad shops did diesel "rebuilding" before Paducah, but almost always with locomotives already owned by the railroad. ICG picked up used locomotives from all over the place for its rebuild programs.
I live in IC territory, the owner of my LHS was an Illinois Central man. So that came to mind for me
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