UP SD70Ms

[AlcoRS11Nut]

aside from me, anyone else a fan of UP SD70Ms? while i know they're extremely common on the UP, i gotta say i love those machines! the sound of the 710 and the way the wings look on the nose. they're just really neat units! and though everyone hates me for it, i thrill to see them in altoona.

but i feel like i'm the only fan out there. so who else likes UP SD70Ms? 

 I like them...I live on a UP branch line and all we get up here are AC4400CW's and SD9043AC's, and AC6000CW (a true one with the 6000 HP prime mover) once in a blue moon on the power-plants coal trains. I like the SD70M's,  I REALLY like the ones with the flared raditors. But I can see how some people get tired of them. Like I am with AC4400CW's.

[YoHo1975]

Umm, the SD80MACs and the SD90/43MACs look identical.

 

I'm not a fan of the new safety cab for EMD though it's growing on me.

 

I'm also not really a fan of the Older style cab. I like Santa Fe's design from the GP60M. It's just slightly different and I think it looks better.

 

 

Also, don't get me wrong, I like any EMD and I like the 710 just fine. I'm just trying to cause trouble.

 

I will say this though, I've got a bunch of videos of SP Tunnel Motors/SD40s/SD45s going over Tehachapi and Donner and up the Shasta route and I've seen Dash-9s, SD70s and ACEs on the same route and if you think the 710 sounds better, it just means you've never really heard the throaty rumble of 4,5,6 645s in notch 8. 

[Lord Atmo]

CNW would've too, had UP not changed the order to those uglier (IMO) SD9043MACs

[chefjavier]

aside from me, anyone else a fan of UP SD70Ms? while i know they're extremely common on the UP, i gotta say i love those machines! the sound of the 710 and the way the wings look on the nose. they're just really neat units! and though everyone hates me for it, i thrill to see them in altoona.

but i feel like i'm the only fan out there. so who else likes UP SD70Ms? 

SD80MAC  20-cylinder engine and 5000-h.p. {710G3 under its redesigned hood. Conrail use only a few for demostration.

[Lord Atmo]

right on! that's my point. i love new stuff even if others hate it. cuz when it gets old, everyone will love it. i'll have beaten them to it!

[Cris_261]

Remember how everyone used to complain ad nauseum whenever a train would show up with an SD40-2 on the point? Nowadays, the 40-2's become a less than daily occurance, and people moan the loss, and take notice when one shows up leading a train. Before we know it, the SD70M's day in the sun will be over, and everyone will wonder where they went, so enjoy 'em while they last!

That being said, I like the SD70M, especially the ones with the flared radiator housing. The 710 engine has a nice sound to it when it's winding up, although it doesn't compare to the deep soul-satisfying, ground shaking rumble of a maintained 645. The SD70ACe? Well, I'm still learning to love that beast, although it does look good in the C&NW, SP, D&RGW, and WP heritage schemes.

[Lord Atmo]

which one? the DD35A or the DDA40X?

[chefjavier]

aside from me, anyone else a fan of UP SD70Ms? while i know they're extremely common on the UP, i gotta say i love those machines! the sound of the 710 and the way the wings look on the nose. they're just really neat units! and though everyone hates me for it, i thrill to see them in altoona.

but i feel like i'm the only fan out there. so who else likes UP SD70Ms? 

I would love to see the old DD40 from Union Pacific

[Lord Atmo]

well ya know, that's your opinion and i respect it. personally i like the sounds of all those big locomotives

[YoHo1975]

Whoa, User SD60M commenting on SD70s. Very Meta.

 

Anyway, I'm feeling frisky and troublesome tonight, so I'll continue to be contrary.

710s are boring, give me roots blown 567.

Also, the 265H-engine  90Macs were an impressive sound.

I never got to here an HDL up close. Only saw some AC6000s from across the yard. 

[SD60M]

I love the UP SD70M's too, but they are a common sight on NS rails here. I'll take a BN SD70MAC in Green and creme while i can!

[Lord Atmo]

i love the sound of the 710 revving up. dont get me wrong. but i dont think i'll ever see an AC6000 around here. would be nice though. i myself fancy the 710s on the SD90s. they sound like jets! but the SD70Ms also have a very unique sound i enjoy hearing

[bakupolo]

I like the sound of the big GE AC6000 best. It's hard to beat the noise 950 cubic inch cylinders and two giant turbos make through dual exausts.  

I'm more into the sound of the diesel, than the appearance of the hood.

[Lord Atmo]

...even a -9?

aw cmon you know my stances on those things.... >_>  zito works on the classic EMD power and the dash 8s.

hmmm all discussions really DO change to CNW sooner or later

i agree that armour yellow can set the mood to harsh. it's happened to me...frequently. but i find the wings on the nose are quite nice. the flags too 

[YoHo1975]

The CNW -9s are some of the best dressed GE's out there. Though the Heritage ACE's scheme is not bad at all.

[Andrew Falconer]

Both the Lettering and the Flag on the Sides are apparently retroreflective decals.

I love the Safety Yellow that CNW Employees and Contractors applied to Cars and Locomotives between 1980 and 1990. It looks great. It is a bright and cheery color.

Armour Yellow is a more serious and a rather harsh color, especially in very hot and very dry weather conditions. Colors actually can change the attitude of people.

Andrew

[CNW 6000]

...even a -9?

[Lord Atmo]

oh zito yellow makes ANYTHING look great!

[CNW 6000]

I think they'd look neat in Zito yellow and Forrest green....hehe.  They are nice units tho.

[YoHo1975]

Again, you're trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

Flag, no flag, it's still a frackin UP unit and should be mocked and hated by all...Now, if they were in Southern Pacific Paint, or CNW paint or.... 

[Lord Atmo]

no no. the text is UNDER doing it. i've always seen it as a "lack of paint". now if it was speed lettering or with swoosh effects added in, THEN you might get me interested

i will agree i dislike the burning flags though. 

it's actually been a while since i have seen an SD70M. they were common roadrailer power till UP just went with the NS stuff (which i prefer anyway). so i dont get much for SD70Ms

but i'll get enough when i'm in Rochelle 

[wctransfer]

I also prefer the writing on the hood. The flags are overdoing it, plus, they are all getting burnt and peeling off now anyway.

Alec

[Lord Atmo]

i hear ya on that, zuggy! i LOVE those SD70ACEs. most noteably the 1995, which i AGAIN missed in Altoona (was failing school. grades prevented trip. my fault comepletely. but there's always a next time! )

[zugmann]

I like the big windows on the 70Ms.... gives you a nice view down the track.  

But the latest round of 70Aces/M-2s are impressive in their own right.  They are simply beasts. Esp. if you get a trio of them together... 

 

 

[Lord Atmo]

interesting. i thought it was just the ex-SP ones

[silicon212]

There are a good number of 4000 class SD70Ms, built in 2002 and with flared radiators, that were factory equipped with P3 horns instead of K3LA horns.

[Lord Atmo]

oh man i LOVE the 710s! arguably more than even the 645.

as for differences, there are several:

-radiators. some flat, later ones flared

-noses. the later models had a more blocky angular type of nose. almost like an ACE

-flags. the later UP units have the flags on them. all the units with the aforementioned angular "notch nose" configuration have flags

-horns. the ex-SP units have P3 horns rather than the traditional K3LA horns UP loves ever so much 

[nsrayman]

There are at least 1000 Union Pacific SD70M Diesel-Electric Locomotives. 

Andrew

 

seems like 500 of them are on NS

[silicon212]

As common as they are I would rather listen to an EMD 2-cycle than a GE 4-cycle prime mover.

 

+1

 It's a musical sound.