The SD45s are quite popular to railfans. It would be nice to see one painted in NP paint to go along with the GN 400.
It's not the railfans opinon that counts its the big man (CEO) that does the decisons to scrap them or not. It also depends on maintence on the engines if it goes to high you can sell, scrap, or keep losing money I would sell or scrap them, probaly what CN had to go through depending why they are getting rid of SD45's.
kevin
Your friendly neighborhood CNW fan.
Lord Atmo wrote:i know all that. kinda i mean. but i was referring to why the SD45s are more special than super 7s and the like and why they have more railfan support to be preserved.at least we have an SP one and a GN one (even though "hustle muscle" is a really corny phrase)
Just remember it was the first ever production SD45 and the name doesnt sound to bad.
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
If NREX has them they are going to spray paint N-R-E-X under the cab and either paint or leave the WC logo off the LH and spray paint the logo. Could be wrong since the DMVW?? has them but they should have a meeting of the leaser minds.
wctransfer wrote:Well lets see here. First off, Im almost more excited that the DMVW and NREX bought them. As all of the guys that will help Max and the guys with this project, want NP paint. Well, I find this really unreasonable, because, the WC ran MORE SD45s than the NP, they were clean, well equipped, reliable (yes, believe it or not, on the WC, these were good machines, so all of you people out there saying they werent arent very sure about the facts), crews loved them, management got all of the computers and other gadgets in them at one time, so not making it a long crisis on their budget. I really had a bad feeling about this the first time i heard of it as a possibility. NP was neat, no question at all, but why not leave it in WC paint? But, i guess this talk will go to waste, even though the WC was one of the most succesful regionals ever... Alec
Becasue wouldnt it look stupid to have a WC SD45 pulling NP streamlined cars? And WC wouldnt fit in our era.
It's been fun. But it isn't much fun anymore. Signing off for now.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any
wctransfer wrote:Max, i take it you've never seen WCs excursions back in the day? I rode a few when i was younger, and they had SOO passenger cars, ACR streamlined cars, and a few other odd balls. It didnt look stupid, and there is no reason why it would in front of the gorgeous passenger cars you guys have. Alec
Exactly, if we had ACR cars it would look beautiful. But wouldnt you rather have an NP SD45 pulling NP cars rather than a WC one?
Alec, you still have to come up and run the WC simulator.
jdirelan wrote:Hey, quick question. Not being from the area I be missing something, but whats the big deal about SD45s? There are pretty crappy engines, pretty much everybody who bought them hated them. I can think of a bunch of active engines I would liked saved over the SD45s. I'll admitt, I did drive like an hour to Butler once to see them on B&P but that was just because I was sick of NS Dash-9s one weekend.
There are pretty crappy engines, pretty much everybody who bought them hated them. I can think of a bunch of active engines I would liked saved over the SD45s. I'll admitt, I did drive like an hour to Butler once to see them on B&P but that was just because I was sick of NS Dash-9s one weekend.
The reasoning in your second paragraph is sound, to a point. Once most of the bugs were ironed out, the SD45 served for a long time ... I think it was the 20 cyl fuel consumption vs the minimal gain in hp that doomed them.
Anyway, back to your first sentence. The reason behind saving an SD45 (doesn't matter where it came from) is simple. Because once they are gone, they are gone forever and will never come back How many of you would absolutely go nuts to have one of the _______'s (insert favorite loco type here) from the __________ (insert favorite RR name here) around to photograph and/or see in operation today?
As a CB&Q fan, I would love to have been able to see an M4 or an original Baldwin O5, for example. Heck, I wouldn't be upset if there were more E5s around.
Fast forward to the modern(?) diesel era. There are plenty of engines that we have lost forever ... the orginal psgr SDP45 and the P30CH come to mind, for example (and this list is by no mean all inclusive ... feel free to add your own favorite to the list).
Props to those out there that are saving the 'old, rare, obscure' before we lose them for all time.
Regards,
Burlington John
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