What can the Union Pacific do with retired SD90MACs?

[BNSFwatcher]

If I was "Uncle Pete", I'd purge all who were involved with recommending the purchase of the "Jimmy Junk".  Other than that, one would look cool in your back yard, painted in your choice of prototype scheme.  You could kennel your Rotweillers in it and they'd never get out, depending on the size of the rust holes, of course.

[Lyon_Wonder]

creepycrank

The technology of solid state inverters is on going and the Siemens equipment furnished with the SD90's is unique to that design locomotive. Parts, if available at all are going to be very expensive hence the policy of cannibalization to keep the others running. Their might be a possibility that the 4300-hp units can use inverters from EMD that are used on the latest 70MACe's but if their is any problem with these units, just park it and drag out a couple of SD 40's. Probably one reason UP announced a program to remanufacture 500 SD 40's undoubtedly with the Tier 0 upgrades to their engines.

 

What type of inverters does the 20-710 SD80MAC use?  Just asking since the SD80MACs have the same type of frame and body as the SD90MAC.

[creepycrank]

The technology of solid state inverters is on going and the Siemens equipment furnished with the SD90's is unique to that design locomotive. Parts, if available at all are going to be very expensive hence the policy of cannibalization to keep the others running. Their might be a possibility that the 4300-hp units can use inverters from EMD that are used on the latest 70MACe's but if their is any problem with these units, just park it and drag out a couple of SD 40's. Probably one reason UP announced a program to remanufacture 500 SD 40's undoubtedly with the Tier 0 upgrades to their engines.

[Tugboat Tony]

Now we only have 307 more of the stupid SD90s to get rid of.  When they are working, nothing else can touch them for braking or power, unfortunatly that doesn't happen very often. 

[GP40-2]

A cutting torch works great on unneeded junk.

[Lyon_Wonder]

UP had two batches of 265H-engined SD90MACs.   SD90MAC-Hs with the standard SD70M/MAC-series teardrop window cab, and the later SD90MAC-H Phase 2 with the newer square-window cab that's used on the SD70ACe/M-2.  The Phase 2 SD90MAC-Hs were returned to EMD in 2006, while the Phase 1 90MAC-Hs were retired and sent to East St. Louis for scrapping.  Supposedly these SD90MAC-Hs were dismantled with parts taken that could be used as spares for UP's 16-710 powered SD9043MACs.  Maybe UP should have turned some of their SD90MAC-Hs into slugs.     

[enr2099]

Andrew Falconer

What sort of things can the Union Pacific do with the retired SD90MACs?

Didn't they already return them to EMD?

 

They could repaint the shell or hood in paint schemes of the Chicago & NorthWestern and the Wisconsin Central to see what it would have actually looked like if CNW and WC had SD80MACs.

 

Why? I'm not trying to rain on your parade but UP is in the business to make money, not to repaint retired locomotives they're never going to use again. 

 

[RRKen]

Sent them back to leaser.  Worthless otherwise.

[Andrew Falconer]

What sort of things can the Union Pacific do with the retired SD90MACs?

They could repaint the shell or hood in paint schemes of the Chicago & NorthWestern and the Wisconsin Central to see what it would have actually looked like if CNW and WC had SD80MACs.

They could take the bodies off the frames and build new locos or passenger cars upon them.

They could take the bodies or shells from the frames and put them on a GIMBLE platform surrounded by large video display screens to make an authentic Locomotive Operations Simulator.

 

What else can they do with them?

 

Andrew