Thursday Proto Photo, May 8/14

[Lenny53]

[lock4244]

A pair of GP38-2's rescue an ailing AC4400 on empty crude:
http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=14903

[Bob Bufkin]

Some interesting Conrail cars from the Railbq.







They were all on the same train.

[davefoxx]

That was a very interesting train, Bob.  Here's the power that was on it, including former EL SD45-2 (4th unit) and that UP unit:



DFF

[tappertrainman]

My uncle and cousins took a family trip to go see trains in Denver and Cheyenne last weekend.  Here are a few of the shots I took.


We started our day on Friday after arriving by driving down to the Castle Rock area south of Denver.  After a short wait we saw many unit coal trains, standard UP and BNSF power, nothing too exciting (although a surprising number of Heritage cream/green paint) except these new looking Citirail lease DP units.




The next day we drove up to Cheyenne and explored the yards and the museum in the old restored depot.  Lots of UP power.






An ancient F-unit sitting rusting in Cheyenne.  Any idea what it's doing?




CSX a long way from home:




Older CSX heading up a military train, also a long way from home!




Grabbed a shot at Sherman Hill, hard to believe it's 8000 feet up, until you try to run around the countryside puffing and wheezing from the lack of oxygen.




Sunday consisted of riding the Georgetown Loop railroad which was fun, and shooting a bit more around Denver before our flight home.  Caught this brand-new BNSF diesel:




And this repaint confused both me and my uncle for quite some time.  I insisted it was an SD45, he guessed a -50 or -60.  We were both technically wrong, it's an SD45-2R, which has no flared radiators (throwing him off) but retains the distinctive burly SD45 look (thus my guess). 




And before we left, caught this ancient warbonnet Dash 8-40BW faded and rusting but still serviceable!




Thanks for looking, hope I didn't break any picture limit rules.

James

[cv_acr]

And this repaint confused both me and my uncle for quite some time.  I insisted it was an SD45, he guessed a -50 or -60.  We were both technically wrong, it's an SD45-2R, which has no flared radiators (throwing him off) but retains the distinctive burly SD45 look (thus my guess). 

The SD45-2 never had the flared radiators of the SD45. That long rad with the widely spaced fans is distinctive of the SD45-2.

[chuck geiger]

UP BIG BOY 4014 is home in Cheyenne:

[wcfn100]

  After a short wait we saw many unit coal trains, standard UP and BNSF power, nothing too exciting (although a surprising number of Heritage cream/green paint) except these new looking Citirail lease DP units.

We're starting top see more of the Citirail engines on the Joint line.  Last week there was a Ferromex train with all Ferromex grain hoppers and two Citirail engines in DPU.  Unfortunately it stopped in a location we couldn't get a good shot.

The BNSF SD70Mac's in the Executive Cream/Green are on pretty much every BNSF coal train that comes through, sometimes more than one unit.

Jason

[wcfn100]

Bought some slides off E-Bay a while back. 

The CGW TR-2 is pretty much at the top of my "want to build" list.  but at this point I may as well wait for RP to get good enough and just draw it.









Jason

[Chris333]

Found an old signal along the Erie main


And this place used to be Youngstown Steel Car, a division of Youngstown Steel Door. They re-build hot metal cars now:

[tappertrainman]

The SD45-2 never had the flared radiators of the SD45. That long rad with the widely spaced fans is distinctive of the SD45-2.

Correct!  He rightly insisted that since it didn't have flared radiators it couldn't be an SD45.  I rightly insisted it still felt like a -45, not a -50 or -60.  Both a little right, both a little wrong. 

James

[Rich_S]

Correct!  He rightly insisted that since it didn't have flared radiators it couldn't be an SD45.  I rightly insisted it still felt like a -45, not a -50 or -60.  Both a little right, both a little wrong. 

James

One of my favorite EMD series, the 45 series.
The EL had a few examples of each model in the 45 series, the SD45, SDP45 and SD45-2.

In this photo, the SD45-2 is leading, followed by a SDP45 and SD45 trailing.


The EL purchased the SD45-2 because of the 5,000 gallon fuel tank option. Like other dash 2 locomotives, the SD45-2 had the improved dash 2 modules


When  Conrail was created, they inherited these beast from the EL. Within a few years all models except the SD45-2 were retired. PRR "EL" type cab signal equipment was added to the SD45-2's and they were used
on "The Hill" in helper service.







When  Conrail was split between Norfolk Southern and CSX, each railroad received about half of the fleet of SD45-2's.



These locomotives are still on the roster and currently have been working in the New Jersey shared asset territory.

For the eagle eyed viewers, yes you are correct, the EL 3669, CR6654 and NS 1700 are all the same locomotive.
The only differences now are, the NS 1700 has a 16 cylinder 645 diesel engine instead of it's original 20 cylinder 645 diesel engine
and all NS 1700 series locomotives have had their horsepower reduced to 3,000 HP.

The funny thing is EMD did not learn their lesson the first time, 3,600 HP was too much for the 645 resulting in crankshaft issues.
So what did EMD do, they released the SD50 with a 645 turned up to 3,500 HP and had the same issue.
The EMD 710 was the answer, but that's another story   

[davefoxx]

I find it fascinating that there was two SD45-2s caught this week.  I cropped the photo I posted upstream, so you can see the former EL SD45-2 that I caught at the CRHS Rail-B-Q.  This is NS #1703 (ex-CR #6662, exx-EL #3677):



You can also compare it directly with the NS SD40-2 in the photo to see the differences in the fans and the fuel tank.  I have to say I never expected to see an SD45-2 in service on the mainline of a Class 1 road.  Neat surprise.

DFF

[Rich_S]

I have to say I never expected to see an SD45-2 in service on the mainline of a Class 1 road.  Neat surprise.

DFF

Dave, I'm going to take a guess and say you saw the 1703 in a East bound train? The 1703 was just here in Conway for it's 92 day maintenance inspection. According to it's ME65 form, it's been working out East in the New Jersey area.

[davefoxx]

Yep, you guessed it: eastbound.  So, it sounds like it's headed back home to Jersey.

DFF