on 12-14-2008, SD50F’s 5400 and 5444 were retired. This brings to a close the SD50F saga on CN.
However, with alot of the units going to scrap, a half o dozen or so are being sent to the UP to pay back Horsepower hours.
Also, 3 or 4 of the odd model have been sold to the Dakota, Missouri Valley and Western Railroad.
(Source, /server irc.oftc.net #railfan)
And I’m sure UP is saying “thanks for nothin”… for getting these odd ball Draper Taper units. I always liked the fact that CN went its own way with regard to motive power. Back in the early 70s they had to have safety cabs when everyone else was content with the spartan cab… And then we had various experiments with full cowls and those Draper Tapers. All in all it made for some interesting train watching when all competitor CP was offering was one SD40-2 after another…Given the limited choice of motive power offered by the builders these days we will soon see nothing but ES4400 and SD70 diesels as the older units wear out and go for scrap. Standardization makes business sense…but from a fan perspective the locomotive may nolonger be the primary source of interest when watching trains.
DMV&W took 5 SD50Fs, 5402, 5404, 5411, 5416, and 5438. Two will be sent to a contract limestone loading contract in Montana, and the other 3 used on the DMV&W proper. Two are intended for the unit coal train that they run for a small coal fired powerplant.
Don’t forget those lovely notch-nosed RS-11s that CN subsidiary Duluth, Winnipeg & Pacific used to operate. The DW&P wasn’t the only line to use those, but they were an odd-looking design in my book.
Hmm…I’m confused.
#1. “Saga”? What was the big deal? Isn’t HP…HP?
#2. As long as UP is paid back it’s HP hours that it’s owed, why would they really care?
Personally I didn’t think these locos (or the SD60Fs/C40-8Ms) looked any kind of “cool” but they seemed to work just fine from what I saw and heard from crews. Unless I’m missing something technically significant that is!
Who said anything about saga or cool? HP is HP…sure it is…but there’s a world of difference between running a 1500 hp hand fired Mogul and a 1500 hp F7. Likewise…the CN crews I’ve talked to were (to put it mildly) less than enamoured with some of CN’s oddballs. Somehow I doubt the UP crews will take to them as headend power…but who knows…maybe we will see a Draper Taper renaissance on the UP.
UP probably won’t let them lead too often if ever. UP did the same thing with WC 7525 for a few months before it was retired and sent to the Illinois Railway Museum. Hopefully the SD50Fs don’t break up the SD45s that the DMVW has right now.
UP does the same thing when they owe HP hours. Piece of junk engines with the radios and head end boxes ripped out. Only good as “B-units” unless the a yard gets desperate and wires a radio and head end box in…
LOL…saga was in the first post of this thread. I brought “cool” into the discussion just as a frame of reference. I know you can’t compare diesel vs steam power. We’ll see what UP does with 'em.