Metra SD70MACH

[cjm413]

https://metrarail.com/about-metra/newsroom/metra-board-approves-locomotive-purchase

[MK]

Oh Kato.....

[Jbub]

Oh Kato.....

I was thinking the same thing since the just did a run of 70mac's

[central.vermont]

"The remanufactured locomotives have a similar design to Metra’s F59 locomotives so Metra will be able to use the same parts inventory and won’t need different training and maintenance programs"

Not sure if it means internal components or external parts or both!!

Jon

[Jbub]

Not sure if it means internal components or external parts or both!!

Jon

car body sd70 with 2 axle trucks?

[trainforfun]

I saw a sketch in color on FB and on the sketch they still had 6 wheels trucks but the body was extended a little on the rear porch for the HEP unit probably .

[Lenny53]

Over 4.5 million for a rebuilt unit, how much are the tier 4 twin engined MP54s that GO is buying?

[learmoia]

Over 4.5 million for a rebuilt unit, how much are the tier 4 twin engined MP54s that GO is buying?

6.06m .... 97M for 16 units. (In 2017)

~Ian

[Ike the BN Freak]

The CADs I saw made it look like an SD70ACe, not a 70MAC

[Jbub]

The CADs I saw made it look like an SD70ACe, not a 70MAC

I was thinking the same thing after seeing the rendering posted on FB.

[Lenny53]

6.06m .... 97M for 16 units. (In 2017)

~Ian

Rebuilt 20 year locos costing 77% of the price of a new one, seems high to me.

[davefoxx]

Rebuilt 20 year locos costing 77% of the price of a new one, seems high to me.

Perhaps, but looking at it from the dollar figure side of the equation, it might not be so bad.  If those figures of $4,500,000.00 for rebuilt versus $6,060,000.00 for new are accurate, then there is approximately $1,500,000.00 savings per locomotive.  That roughly allows them to rebuild four for the price of three new locomotives.  That's like one free locomotive for every four rebuilt, as compared to the cost of new.

[packers#1]

Plus, with the maintenance cost savings alone compared to their old locomotives it’s worth it. Then you factor in the fact that these rebuilt locomotives are going to require very little retraining and very little parts inventory adjustment and you get an even bigger savings

[Lenny53]

Plus, with the maintenance cost savings alone compared to their old locomotives it’s worth it. Then you factor in the fact that these rebuilt locomotives are going to require very little retraining and very little parts inventory adjustment and you get an even bigger savings

With the built in redundancy of twin prime movers, higher HP output (5400 vs 4000), newer technology that's tier 4 compliant are the savings really bigger?

[Hyperion]

With the built in redundancy of twin prime movers, higher HP output (5400 vs 4000), newer technology that's tier 4 compliant are the savings really bigger?

Engine failures are quite rare in the grand scheme of things, so I'm unsure what the point of redundant prime movers really is.  It's quite the price to pay for a little greater operational flexibility.  Higher horsepower may not be particularly useful depending on what their operations requires.   

The bigger reasoning is that Tier-4 engines from all manufacturers are still facing significant reliability issues (I guess having two of them is a way around that a bit).   Rebuilding to lower tier standards will remain the more favorable option for years to come until the engines can prove themselves long-term, even if the price is fairly equal, let alone a third cheaper.