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[EJE818]

Ok, good news to report, UP 3300 has been put back into service. It was retired from May 19th until yesterday at 5PM, when it was reactivated and moved from Metro-East Industries back to Valley Junction, where it will most likely be heading back to Proviso Yard where it is assigned. Thankfully,the whole fact of it being auctioned did not happen. Other posts on other sites said that 3300 was retired and going to Metro-East industries to be auctioned off to the highest bidder, even if it was a scrapper. The part about it being retired was true, but it was not retired to be sold off like many people thought would happen. Sometimes UP will put retired next to a engine because they don't want to list what it is getting done to it in a overhaul. Hey, you won't hear me complaning 3300 is still going!

[CAZEPHYR]

Here is some sad news to report. UP 3300, the United Way engine has been retired. It is now going to be put up for auction. I don't know what happened to it, but it was in for a overhaul at Jenks shop, then all of a sudden it was retired. I am thinking it probably had some sort of catastrophic failure while it was on NS (which is where it was before it went to Jenks). It is now in East St. Louis waiting for someone to buy it.

 It is an engine that would be great in a Museum, since it is a SD40-2 and would represent the great classic EMD that graced most railroads in the USA.  

[EJE818]

3300 isn't retired so we don't have to worry about this. The auctioning part was not true, and I am certainly glad it wasn't!

[EJE818]

Sometimes UP will put an engine's as retired just so they don't have to list why it is out of service. This is why 3300 was "retired"!

[coborn35]

It would be a great engine to a museum (IRM are you listening? :)) It sounds like UP will be auctioning it off, so it will probably end up going to a leasing company (HLCX or LTEX) or scrapped.

Why IRM?

[Railfan1]

Never seen the unit but always wanted to. Hopefully it will not be the end of the line for the 3300.

[EJE818]

3300 is currently lined up for 6/30's MPRCB. From what I have heard, it is scheduled to be third engine but things can still change.

[Anonymous]

What did they find down there in Jenks? Burned out Traction Motors? Frame failure? Blown Blocks? What?

[EJE818]

Nobody knows what happened to 3300, and that pretty much proves that there was just not reason to sell the 3300. 3300 is one of only 4 snoot SD40-2s that have CNW cab signals. It is therefore one of the only 4 snoots that are capable of leading on CNW territory. That would be the last SD40-2 I would think they would want to get rid of due to the cab signals.

[EJE818]

We don't have to worry about it going to a museum anymore, as it will be going back into service, not with a leasing company, but with UP. Whatever was wrong with it has been fixed. I am thinking it will head back to Jenks where they will proceed with the overhaul they were originally going to do on it before its temporary retirement. Like I said in a previous post, sometimes UP will put retired for a engine because they don't want to list all that is wrong with it and to keep what is wrong with it a secret. This must have been the case with 3300.

[challenger3980]

I am a UP fan, but admit that I am not particularly fond of DISEASLES, so I am not familiar with the 3300, I gathered that she is an SD 40-2, what makes this specific locomotive unique?

                                                                        Thanks, Doug

[EJE818]

3300 is painted in a special United Way paint scheme. Basically, it is a big rolling American flag. Here is a photo of the engine. Hope this helps. I can tell you are a fan of UP steam by your screen name.