Hi Guys,
I´m Pedro Rezende, from Brazil.
I´d like to ask about rebuilt units. Do you think the rebuilt program finished in North America since GE offered new models for good prices, like the GE dash 9 series? Here in Brazil the railroads are buying modern locomotives like SD70M and dash 9W, but they also are buying a lot of second hand units from leasers companies in USA, like NREX, HLCX. These units return to service here after a good overhaul and some modifications to adjust them to meter or broad gauge. The meter gauge railroads uses to add BB+BB trucks on them. This is the only way to add big motive power on narrow gauge lines like our railroads ALL, FCA and EFVM. FCA has a good fleet of BB40-2 and BB40T-2, bolth rebuild SD40-2 and SD40T-2 to BB+BB trucks. EFVM has 153 BB40-9, and about 70 DDM45, the famous standard SD45 on D-D trucks. Also, this company bought 65 B/C36-7 in US and rebuilt them to BB36-7. Four ex-BNSF SD45-2 were rebuilt to BB45-2 and are running in preatty good condition here. I´m wondering why other companies around the world do not do the same rebuilding second hand units and modernize them to microprocessor units as these brazilian companies have doing.
Since I can not post a picture here, see a BB4oT-2 here:
http://www.railroadforums.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/43808/cat/500/ppuser/3630
Just to help Pedro out...by the way, that is a photo he sent me, so you can see what he is talking about.
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Welcome, Pedro. To the Forum!
I for one, look forward to seeing some more of your photos. And hearing more about the railfanning in Brazil. One of my favorite phots is one Ed Blysard posted some time back of this Union Pacific conversion to meter gauge.. Also if you will look at the sticky post at the very top of the Forum posts by Bergie [Forum moderator] it explains pretty thoroughly the process to post photos.
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=105973
.I just realized that it is one of yours. You mentioned that there are some newer SD70's down there and are running on DD+DD wheel set-ups? Would like to see how that looks. Thanks, and again, Welcome!
samfp1943 wrote:I just realized that it is one of yours. You mentioned that there are some newer SD70's down there and are running on DD+DD wheel set-ups? Would like to see how that looks. Thanks, and again, Welcome!
I just realized that it is one of yours. You mentioned that there are some newer SD70's down there and are running on DD+DD wheel set-ups? Would like to see how that looks. Thanks, and again, Welcome!
Hi samfp1943!
The picture linked above is from my friend Gutierrez Lhamas. We always go together in search of new motive power in action near here.
About the brand new SD70M I can tell you that they are broad gauge and run on C-C normal trucks. These units run very far from here (about 3,500 km far) at EFC (Carajas rwy), an iron ore in Amazon area. EFC and EFVM belongs to the same mining company called CVRD, today the second biggest in the world (only the australian BHP is bigger than it, but do not have some many locomotives and trains). But EFC is broad gauge and EFVM is meter. The reason is simple: Since de 1980´s the brazilian government ordered that new railroads can olny be broad gauge, and EFC is from that time. EFVM is the oldest railroad still in operation in Brazil. It stated in 1904 and was open as a meter gauge line since that time. In Brazil, most of the lines are meter gauge, about 70 per cent of all network. new companies like EFC, Ferronorte (now part of ALL rwy) and Norte e Sul rwy are building as broad gauge. Thaks God my are is served by bolth meter and broad gauge, so I can see bolth trains running here. Here I can see MRSL as a broad gauge company and EFVM and FCA as meter gauge lines.
Today the biggest locomotives running here are FCA BB40T-2´s (26 meters long) and EFVM BB45-2´s (the tallest one).
edblysard wrote: Just to help Pedro out...by the way, that is a photo he sent me, so you can see what he is talking about.
Now there's a porch! Is the B+B set-up to reduce the axle loading on lighter track?
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
nanaimo73 wrote:I believe EMD began building the 28 SD70M locomotives during November 2006.
And I assume these are SD70Ms and not SD70M-2s?
Murphy Siding wrote: edblysard wrote: Just to help Pedro out...by the way, that is a photo he sent me, so you can see what he is talking about. Now there's a porch! Is the B+B set-up to reduce the axle loading on lighter track?
Mabee they are tunnel motor units and the bbq is on the back porch...Don't want to get smoked out in the tunnels.
Lyon_Wonder wrote:Were those SD70's built before or after Jan of 2005? If Brazil orders any futher EMD's would they based on the SD70ACe/M-2?
Hi Lyon_wonder,
EFC received the SD70M this year, from january to may. I do not know why EFC do not ordered SD70M-2. In fact, CVRD sent some engineers to US to test 6,000 locomotives from bolth GE and GM. I think they will buy some units this year. The model from GE is the AC6000, but I´m not surte about the GM model. It can be the SD90, I think. No one railroad in Brazil uses AC technology and I thonk EFC will be the first one with these future 6,000HP units.
pedrop,
For some reason, your posted pic shows up as a red-x'ed box. But I went over to railroadforums.com and looked at your pics. The Serra do Tigre is something else. Thanks for sharing.
I´m following the informations on how to post pictures here, but the photos do not open. So, I´m sending the links to you see how FCA line at Serra do Tigre is sinuous. All photos were taken from the cab of leader locomotive. Note the enginner sometimes can see the middle and the tail of the train at the same time, most of the times above him. That´s why FCA needs big locomotives with BB+BB trucks there!
http://www.railroadforums.com/photos/data/564/thumbs/Vis_o_da_lider_60.JPGhttp://www.railroadforums.com/photos/data/564/thumbs/Vis_o_da_lider61.JPGhttp://www.railroadforums.com/photos/data/564/thumbs/Vis_o_da_lider57.JPGhttp://www.railroadforums.com/photos/data/564/thumbs/Vis_o_da_lider_55.JPG
A few photos from Pedro, showing the FCA on the Serra do Tigre, (tigers hill)
note the curves and cuts, looks like fun!
Pedro asked I post these, he will comment on them later.
Lyon_Wonder wrote: nanaimo73 wrote:I believe EMD began building the 28 SD70M locomotives during November 2006.And I assume these are SD70Ms and not SD70M-2s?
Yes, they are SD70Ms not SD70M-2s. EMD will build locomotives that do not meet US Tier II emissions for those locations that do not require it. Note that the Alaska RR, a Class III carrier will be receiving a batch of Tier I SD70MACs next year. Being a Class III carrier they are not required to purchase locomotives that meet the current Tier II standards.
edblysard wrote:Pedro asked I post these, he will comment on them later.
Here we can see two EFC SD70M being loaded at Halifax Port. The photos were sent me by Geoff Doane, from Canada. The third one shows one of the locos at Sao Luis shops here in Brazil (photo from Ben Lam). The last photo shows a SD70M working at the iron cast yard of Maraba, at EFC. This photo was taken by a friend of mine that spend a month at carajas rwy teaching the guys there how to operate locotrol trains. EFC started with locotrol this year, and is running two blocks of 105 cars, each one leaded by a dash 9. For while, the Sd70M are not equiped with locotrol system. EFC plans to run 315 cars in 2007. it´s a big train but here at EFVM mainline the locotrol trains run 320 for a long time and they pan to run 400 soon.
Pedro
Thaks God I could post a picture here. I think I must use pictures from my album at Railpicturesarchives.net.
In the pic above we can see C44-9W #833 leading a 210 iron ore cars locotrol. At EFC the locos always are dirt because the trains run at 80 km per hour and they become dirt from the iron ore powder during the trains meeting.
Here is a meeting of two iron ore trains at EFC. The old C36-7 is an brazilian made C30-7 rebuilt to C36-7 some years ago. The other lcos are C44-9W, still wearing Ferronorte painting. EFC bought 20 units from that company.
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Here we see two locos at Carajas yard. #9012 is a C44-9W wearing the green painting of Ferronorte. #398 is a c36-7 wearing special painting commemorative of ISO 9002 certification of Carajas mines.
Here is a picture of a C44-9W in the middle of a 210 iron ore cars locotrol through Amazon forest.
Lionel collector, stuck in an N scaler's modelling space.
Interesting locomotives. It sparked my interest to find other photos.
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=152585
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=52750
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=85892
Mark
CSSHEGEWISCH wrote:One of the reasons that the locomotives were rebuilt from C-C to B+B-B+B was the change from standard gauge to meter gauge. Traction motors on meter gauge are necessarily smaller and two more motors are needed to absorb the horsepower. It's the same reason that the original DDM45's (EFVM 800 series) were built at LaGrange on D-D trucks.
Would that wheel arrangemnet be an advantage or disadvantage, on the curvey, hilly track in the photos?
Murphy Siding wrote: Would that wheel arrangemnet be an advantage or disadvantage, on the curvey, hilly track in the photos?
Well, the BB+BB wheel arrangment is a great advantage on the narrow and sinuous lines like you see in the photos of FCA at Serra do Tigre. The span-bolster can do the loco much more flexible, and thats why EFVM and FCA use them. Nowadays ALL is also rebuilding C30-7 locos to BB+BB too.
Here is one of EFVM BB40-8. These locos were built here in Brazil by Gevisa. Picture of my friend Marinho.
Here is ex-SP SD40T-2 #8314 rebuilt to BB40T-2! I´m wondering if somebody can model it in HO scale one day
A rear view of 4830...
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