I just spotted NS 7205 (SD80MAC) at Landers yesterday with the "AC Radial" decal.
A little off topic, but:
As I noted in another thread, I recently visted Port Hedland Western Australia, where Fortescue Metals Group operate seventeen SD90MAC locomotives.
The first nine units (or some of them) were refurbished or rebuilt at Altoona, 901 to 904 being SD90MAC-H and 905 to 909 being rebuilt with 710G3 engines.
Having seen these in real life for the first time, I found that they all had on the cabsides "Radial AC" decals and 901 to 904 had SD90MAC decals while 905-909 had SD9043MAC decals.
I thought this was a really nice detail and someone in Altoona really cared.
I don't think EMD put "Radial AC" decals on any SD90MACs.
And they aren't just longer than an SD70ACe, they are taller too....
I hope NS put the AC Radial decals on their SD9043MAC rebuilds...
M636C
Some are stored pending repairs, repainting, etc. And some, like SD60's that regularly show up as stored, enter that status due to entering one of their rebuilding programs.
And I believe a number of these former UP units have yet to turn a revenue mile for NS due to their as-delivered condition. So rather than storing a running unit, some simply just haven't yet gotten the shop time yet to get them up and running after necessary repairs have been done.
And just speculating here, but I wouldn't be surprised to hear that Altoona is slowly modernizing a couple of them as they prepare their plans to thoroughly rebuild their 2nd hand late model EMD's. That could easily explain why two or three of these SD90's have been sitting on the sidelines.
Haven't seen any such reports, but rebuilding has been part of the gameplan for this acquisition from the start. And if they're not, now would be a good time to start when there's a minor traffic down-turn, if the proposal is far enough advanced.
They likely won't be missed as they work on them over the next 12 months or more.
I understand that these are stored primarily because of the recent decline in traffic, and not entirely road failures (though reliability has apparently been poor) and the need to install cab signals so they can lead.
Some of the older Dash-9s are also being stored, per Chris Toth.
Trouble is now 23 of those 81 are in storage...
Posted in the wrong thread, sorry.
I've seen them turning up at 59th Street and Landers on a regular basis. So far, I've only seen them in Armour Yellow.
caldreamer Northwest: Great. Maybe I can catch one on a run up to the Enola yard or going over the Rockville Bridge.
Northwest:
Great. Maybe I can catch one on a run up to the Enola yard or going over the Rockville Bridge.
Plenty of them hanging around Enola.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.
Pretty much anything. They've been on manifest, coal, oil, intermodal, autorack, and ethanol trains. To NS, they are just another 4300 HP locomotive. They can probably be spotted all over the system.
Does anyone know what types of service the SD9043MAC's will be assing to and in which divisions of the railroad?
the 7 remaining BHP AC6000CW's were indeed offered for sale but there were simply no buyers. You have to remember that CSX and Union Pacific were the only other railroads to order the model. There simply wasn't any interest by other railroads for 7 oddball locomotives which is exactly what these units were.
Bryan Jones
I guess they were too problematic as far as a maintenence department would be concerned.At least the 9043's are getting a good home and a second life.I cant wait to see them in a thouroughbred paint job.
andyhjnWere they scrapped or are they just sidelined and waiting to run again?
They were scrapped, to the extent of cutting up the truck frames (to keep parts out of the hands of competitors, I think).
Very upsetting pictures document this; I won't copy them here. Peter Clark (M636C) provided some on this forum, and can confirm details.
[quote user="M636C"]
Leo_Ames Too bad that the AC6000CW's over there didn't escape as well to a 2nd life.
Too bad that the AC6000CW's over there didn't escape as well to a 2nd life.
I'm sure they were offered for sale. Nobody (outside Australia) wanted the seven units, even fitted with GEVO engines in 2006.
Were they scrapped or are they just sidelined and waiting to run again?
Does anyone know if they have any other retired SD40's in storage?
Looking around Altonna and Roanoke using Bing, I expected to find a lot of 3170's sisters stored, since her and the N&W unit slated for a similar treatment had both been stricken off the roster years ago yet were still around when this decision was made.
But most of the power that I saw was clearly active, or at the least, just small groups of power that are stored pending rebuilding. Didn't see dozens of high hood EMD's that looked like they were in a deadline, that are officially off the roster.
Did NS just hold on to the pair?
How about their 4 axle GP's from the late 60's and early 70's that remain? All rebuilt or still running as-built? For some reason, I expected to see dozens of those in dead lines that hadn't yet been ran through Altoona or Roanoke, being kept as potential rebuild fodder.
Unfortunately, NSDash9 just covers units that are officially still on the roster. Once they're stricken, nothing is recorded even if it remains on the property and owned by NS.
Same with SD50's and GP50's. With how they've been popular choices for rebuildings by NS, I expected to see several dozen of their retired sisters that NS once rostered, still on the property that haven't been turned into SD40E's, GP38-3's, slugs, and the like.
The 13 Australian SD70ACes have appeared in Ohio, probably heading for EMD Muncie.
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=522177&nseq=62
Then what?
FEC 104, 105, 106 and 107 have actually been leased by CSX, and have moved there. They have spent much of their time hauling rock trains, something they did often on FEC. The SD40-2s have similar duties.
Norfolk Southern definitily makes sense, so I wouldn't be surprised. And both SD40-2's confirmed as staying indeed carry the classic Champion paintscheme (The 711 & the 715).
Hopefully if a 3rd sticks around, it's also one of the attractive repaints.
Thanks. I assume that the staying SD40-2s are among those in the Champion paint? The CITX SD70M-2s entered service on CSX a couple weeks ago.
Rumors have been circulating for about a month indicating that 100-107 will be going to NS despite different lessors. These rumors correctly perdicted where 140-42 went. We'll just have to see where they go. However, I would expect NS to want to buy them, and not just lease.
FEC is confirmed as keeping two SD40-2's for port runs and is considering retaining a 3rd. The rest are stored at New Smyrna and supposedly are going to CSX. Leased CITX SD70M-2's 140-142, frequently forgotten as FEC road power, have been leased to CSX and should already be rolling.
100-107 are stored at New Smyrna with their fates, the last I heard, undecided. As discussed here previously, we're talking two different owners for these 8 units. So don't be surprised to see 100-103 and 104-107 go to two different homes.
I found an interesting TrainOrders thread involving the SD70M-2s from FEC. Note the NS post about new aquisitions in 2014. We'll see when they actually end up there.
http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?2,3614500,nodelay=1
It now seems that maybe all road-service SD40-2s will be leased to CSX?
ML
For a laugh, as I was checking to see what CSX has purchased from the SD70 line, I noticed that some foamer has an uncited notation claiming that all 8 FEC units are now "transferred" to Canadian National.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMD_SD70_series#Operators
And guess what the top search hit in Google is for "Florida East Coast SD70M-2 Canadian National"?
I wonder what possesses some to just frabricate this nonsense.
Yes, they are the FEC ones. CSX hasn't bought EMDs since the SD70ACes they purchased-20 early production units. It does seem very strange, but reports from reliable sources point to this happening. They are leased.
NorthWest It appears that the CITX SD70M-2s have already moved to CSX.
It appears that the CITX SD70M-2s have already moved to CSX.
If these are the FEC units, I'm pleasantly surprised.
CSX, from what I find in Cincinnat, is largely GE. I still see some EMD action, just not as much as GE action. These engines are earlier models, according to someone on the thread about FEC acquiring ES44C4's.
Are these units being leased or purchased? I have heard some stories of CSX getting used engines, but normally through mergers, like ex seaboard GP16's.
It seems strange for a road that just started getting into GE ( 600 AC4400CW's , 99 AC6000CW's according to "Rail Power" by Steve Barry and 65 ES44AC's from Trains magazine's 2012 Locomotive special) would get some slightly used EMD's.
Unless, my post of garbaGE's has come true.
Or CSX is thinking like Rex Kramer from the movie "AIRPLANE!"...
Rex Kramer: No... that's just what they'll be expecting us to do!
Thanks for the update on the Australian units. It will be interesting to see where they go.
GDRMCoThe SD40s and AC6000s were scrapped, not sure what the go is with the SD70ACes.
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