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NS Gensets Returned to NRE

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  • Member since
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  • From: East Coast
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Posted by D.Carleton on Friday, May 27, 2016 12:03 AM

Leo_Ames

Evidentally they're worth more intact than as parted out hulks that might be utilized as frame/running gear donors for yet another project.

They're relatively young and surely would be a good fit somewhere, where as they were oddballs and apparently somewhat unsatisfactory in the service NS utilized them in. Union Pacific and BNSF roster over 100 3GS21B's for instance, so there has to be some decent value there as an intact locomotive. 

Will be interesting to see if any of the other low-emission oddballs follow shortly in being strickened. While the two RP20DB's are active, both RP14BD's and the single RP20CD are stored. And then there's the PR43C fleet that is sitting idle rusting away right now and while active, battery powered BP4 doesn't look to have been a complete success and likely isn't the prototype for an entire line of sisters. 

NS had already gone on record with their disappointment with the performance of gensets. 

Having traveled far and wide across the North American rail system and having visited just about every major rail yard there is one commonality found with gensets: they were always parked. 

Editor Emeritus, This Week at Amtrak

  • Member since
    November 2008
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Posted by Leo_Ames on Thursday, May 26, 2016 9:04 PM

Evidentally they're worth more intact than as parted out hulks that might be utilized as frame/running gear donors for yet another project.

They're relatively young and surely would be a good fit somewhere, where as they were oddballs and apparently somewhat unsatisfactory in the service NS utilized them in. Union Pacific and BNSF roster over 100 3GS21B's for instance, so there has to be some decent value there as an intact locomotive. 

Will be interesting to see if any of the other low-emission oddballs follow shortly in being strickened. While the two RP20DB's are active, both RP14BD's and the single RP20CD are stored. And then there's the PR43C fleet that is sitting idle rusting away right now and while active, battery powered BP4 doesn't look to have been a complete success and likely isn't the prototype for an entire line of sisters. 

  • Member since
    September 2010
  • From: East Coast
  • 1,199 posts
NS Gensets Returned to NRE
Posted by D.Carleton on Thursday, May 26, 2016 3:48 PM

The plausible outlets are reporting that both 3GS21Bs and single 3GS21C have been retired and sold back to National Railway Equipment. This surprised me as I had expected the 3GS21Bs to be rebuilt into roadslugs and the 3GS21C fodder for the SD33ECO program... unless the deal is for NRE to send NS five SD40s/45s to fill out the SD33ECO program.

Editor Emeritus, This Week at Amtrak

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