SOUTH OF THE BORDER
News and photos from our American CRO contributors.
These three shots were submitted by Tom Marsh of Houston,
TX. They show three former CN MLW’s; The first sitting on one of the
Arkansas & Missouri Railroad shop tracks, and two others stored in their
deadline.
Ex-CN 3553 M420W at the Arkansas & Missouri shops in Springdale, Arkansas on
July 20th, 2015.
A&M 74 M420W, ex CN 3567 (still wearing the number boards from her Ohio Central days), is stored in the deadline at the Arkansas & Missouri storage yard on July 21st, 2015.
A&M 76 HR-412W ,(ex-Ohio Central, nee-CN 2588), is seen stored in the deadline in the A&M yard on July 21st, 2015.
Union Pacific has moved 50 retired C40-8's from storage at four
locations including St. Louis and North Platt, to Metro East
Industries (MEI) in Illinois. They will then get moved again to Wood
River, IL for storage pending the October 2015 locomotive auction. This view
shows UP train MASBN-26 ( Alton Southern to Bloomington IL ) at Centerville,
IL on 8/26/2015 with the first 5 C40-8's for storage. Maybe CN will be
interested in picking up many of these?
Western Rail owned GP11 101 painted and lettered for Altex Energy a Canadian crude oil company. ANRG 101 is seen fresh at MEI on August 27th, 2015. She was built as IC GP9 9015, and rebuilt into ICG GP11 8727. She was sold to become SCFE 306, and finally WRIX 306. Taken by Mark Mautner with MEI, and Western Rail permission.
Western Rail owned ANRG GP11 302 lettered for lease to Altex Energy a Canadian crude oil company. This is second of two done by MEI. She is ex SCFE 309 , exx-IC/ICG GP11 8731. Taken with Western Rail and MEI permission on Sept 4th, 2015,
First Union GP38-2 5514 (ex-NS 5514), wearing a non-standard blue paint as per the FURX customers request who are leasing this unit. Most FURX repaints are in the former HLCX style red-maroon color. Mark Mautner shot her at East St Louis, IL on August 27th.
GMTX MP15AC 391 is seen lettered for GT Logistics,
photographed at MEI on August 27th. It is ex-UPY 1434 and was built as
SP 2705 and was taken on the property with MEI and GATX permission.
PHOTO GMTX 391 MM
Genset UPY 903 was seen working on the south end of UP yard in Dolton, IL
on August 31. (Mike Garza photo).
A rebuilt and repainted “SD40 N” (UP 1917), was at Homewood, IL, was shot on August 29th by Mike Garza. The SD40N designation was first used beginning with UP 1629 when it was renumbered from UP 3454 on July 8th, 2011 as part of what was then known as the "SD40-2 Modernization Program." UP 1613 was completed with the NEXSYS system and was renumbered from UP 3372 on July 5, 2011, but carried the earlier SD40-2 designation, with a note that it was part of the modernization program. After the SD40N model designation was adopted in early July 2011, all previous units completed as part of the modernization program, going back to the first one, UP 1550, completed on May 4, 2010, were re-designated as SD40N units. The 'N' part of the designation comes from UP's use of the NEXSYS control system from ZTR Control Systems, replacing the older Dash 2 component cards and control systems. As of early 2015, the number series for the SD40N units are UP 1550-1782. Also, many of the units in UP 1800 and 1900 series are designated as SD40N. Other units in the 1800 and 1900 series have been renumbered pending actual rebuild, and are labeled as SD40-2. This is to clear their 3000-series numbers for use by UP's 8000-8308 class SD9043MACs, which in turn are being renumbered to clear their 8000-series numbers for use by new GE units. As well in October 2013, UP began equipping some of its MP15AC and GP15-1 locomotives with NEXSYS. These locomotives also had their designation changed to MP15N and GP15N.
Mike Garza had a pretty good week at the beginning of September! To
start he caught UP 7694 the 5000th Gevo-built, at the Indiana Harbor Belt
(IHB) Yard in Riverdale, IL on September 2nd. PHOTO UP 7964 5000th
GEVO
Then Mike bagged a rebuilt GP38-3 2021, which is now a Remote Control unit
working on the CSX at Blue Island, IL.
He also bagged MVPX 1299 which is a former ex-CP leased EMD SW500 switcher (CP 1299), at Barr Yard September 2nd, 2015. This SW150o was built at the EMD Lagrange plant as RF&P 3, in 1967. It later became CSX and was sold to OmniTrax, who leased it (and CP 1298), long term to CP, wearing the Beaver paint scheme. the pair whicch were unique to the CP locomotive Roster, worked mostly on the D&H out of Binghamton, NY, up until returning to OmniTrax, in 2002. It is now patch lettered MVPX and still wears CP Candy Apple Red.
Mike Garza caught the new CN ET44AC 3000 leading a northbound train at Joliet today September 4th. He did not get train symbol because the crew only used the engine number on the radio.
Mike also caught rebuilt and freshly painted CSX SD40-3 4074, on a west bound train at Blue Island, IL., on September 7th.
This former GO Transit F59PH is now lettered SLC 526, and wearing an all white, with yellow safety trim paint scheme. GO Transit GMD-built F59PH 500-568, were built in four separate GMD locomotive orders starting in 1988. The fleet remained on the roster until the beginning of 2009, when the earlier units in the first order, began to be retired, and then later sold. GO Transit’s purchase in 1988 marked a return to having a single unit having a separate HEP engine and generator, as opposed to the shaft-driven HEP system of the older F40PH. As well, they were GO's first units equipped with computerized systems, and thus allowed for a substantial increase in performance and reliability.
Despite having been rebuilt twice (and receiving upgraded HEP engines and generators), these units were becoming troublesome, with frequent failures sometimes necessitating a “second”unit being added to the weekend trains. The first order of units (GO 520-535), were retired and sold off by April 2009, once all of the first order of MPI-built MP40PH-3C’s (GOT 600-626) were in service. The second F59 order and the majority of units in the third were retired when MP40 units 627-656 were delivered. Gradually over 2010 a number of remaining units received electronic bells (e-balls) in place of their mechanical ones. Not all units received them however, with an one example being GO 564, which retained its mechanical bell.
Plans to rebuild some of the existing units again were put through in 2010, And by early 2011, GO 558 and 559 returned to service after a full overhaul and repaint. All the units from GO 557 to 564 were eventually rebuilt for continued service, with the remaining units scattered below 557 retired and sold. All GO F59PH's retired have been sold off, and many enjoy second careers under AMT, NC-Dot, SLC, TRE, and leased to AMT and VIA from RB Recycling (CADRAIL’s Leasing division), with some rebuilt, and others just renumbered/re-lettered like this one.
On September 10th, Mike clicked South Western Pennsylvania Railway (SWP) 3501 fresh out of the NRE-Dixmoor Shop in Illinois.
National Railway Equipment returned to the paint bucket, and has come out with another new paint scheme as shown on EMD switcher NREX 1455, taken September 10th, at NRE in Dixmoor, IL.
On September 19th, Mike clicked the CSX Business Train at Barr Yard Riverdale, IL with a nice matched trio of F40’s up front! Note that the third wears the new CSX paint scheme.
George Manley bagged two Amtrak trains at Rodeo, CA on September 6th. Amtrak train #6 with AMTK 75-72 and 10 cars running right on time thru Rodeo.
AMTRAK train #11 suffered a loco failure in Seattle, WA, and got assisted by BNSF 3940 up front, with AMTK 46 and 12 cars trailing. Even with the BNSF helper, it is two hours and 20 minutes late thru Rodeo.
George Li submitted these two photos of a local called "Renton Rocket". This train delivers Boeing 737 fuselage from Seattle to the Boeing plant in Renton WA. The 737's are the only fuselages small enough in both length and height to allow negotiation through the MRL in Montana and Cascades through Washington.
Brand new Boeing 737 fuselage loads, waiting to be delivered to the plant.
Expect to see fewer Road-Railer trailers in the coming months as Triple Crown Services cuts back on jobs, trailers, and routes.
In a statement early Friday morning, Norfolk Southern says it will restructure its Triple Crown Service subsidiary by laying off as many as 200 of its 240-person workforce and paring back the routes RoadRailer trailers travel on to just a single lane. That is expected to be a Detroit to Kansas City-area routing that hauls mostly auto parts.
"This change is a natural evolution in the business," says Alan H. Straw, NS executive vice president and chief marketing officer. "We want to retain the best of [Triple Crown] in specific markets with efficient door-to-door logistics and award-winning customer service."
NS' statement says Triple Crown workers who lose their jobs will be eligible for severance payments, job placement assistance, and the ability to apply for positions with the railroad.
Triple Crown is the remaining major carrier to use RoadRailer-branded trailers which are reinforced tractor-trailer boxes that can ride of top of a single railroad truck without a separate frame or supporting freight car. They've been in use in some form since the 1960s but failed to take market share away from intermodal containers that ride on flat railroad flatcars or semi-truck trailer chassis.
The Chicago to Toronto Road-Railer will stop running on CN by mid November. Our CN colleague spoke to a worker up in Conport at MacMillan Yard where the trains yard and depart, and was told that everyone there would be out of a job by mid-November. Gone are the good old days when CN ran the Road-Railers from Chicago to Montreal, now it seems to be the end of all Triple Crown to Toronto.
Here we see GCFX 6067 with CN 145 blowing through Ingersoll Ontario July 28 2005 (photo CRO staff)
By Herb Iske
Back in April 1977, Warren Calloway
photographed full cowled Amtrak SDP40F 626 at
For some western flavor, Herb Iske
submitted these two photos: Santa Fe GP30u 2751 leads a long string of blue
and yellow freight power on this eastbound manifest train heading around the
Eastbound Southern Pacific "Kodachrome"
SD45R (SD45-2) 7514 takes the lead down the Palmdale Colton Cutoff in the
Blue Cut area of
We go back to the north east now, to your editors
facourite
Ex. D&H U23B MEC 282 at
D&H RS11 5004 again in
D&H RS3 4126 at
This is D&H 7613 with 4 other units
behind on a southbound exiting Belden Tunnel NY back on
CRO October 2015