I have yet to see one of these unique locos. Do they run in a particular area or over a certain route?
“Red Barns” are SD40-2F"s, numbers 9000-9024. They were built in 1988.
I see on another thread that you are in the Chicago area. I’m not sure you are going to see any of these units anymore, as I don’t think they qualify for use in the US due to these EPA Tier “whatever” requirements.
Bruce
The SD40-2F’s have turned up in the Chicago area in the past, although they didn’t seem to have a specific assignment.
As far as the emissions requirements; are the SD40-2Fs different than the large number of conventional SD40-2s still operating in the US? Do the emissions regs differ for locomotives operating in cross border service?
The Red Barns are often seen in Southern Ontario. I don’t think CP uses any SD40-2s anymore on trains to/from Western Canada, but there are still used on the shorter runs like Toronot-Montreal and Toronto - Buffalo/Detroit.
I don’t really understand these EPA ratings, but by reading between the lines on Canadian RR forums, I think the knock against the SD40-2F’s, as compared to other SD40-2’s, is that they were all built at EMD’s former London, ON facility. A country of origin issue, moreso than a border crossing issue.
Bruce
That doesn’t make any sense since EMD switched all of their production to London in the 90s.
There are no EPA restrictions on these engines either unless they’ve been rebuilt recently without having the parts added to meet Tier 0+.
The last I saw, 10 of the 25 were tied up unserviceable. I think the rest can be found anywhere in Canada on trains that are usually assigned SD40s. If they don’t get used in the USA at the moment it is probably because the slightly different inspection rules and intervals between the two countries mean that their FRA cards have expired.
John
The red barn locomotives are still in operation, and are one of my favorite types of locomotive. Although small in numbers they are a still pretty common on the mainline. They are almost always used on freight trains instead of coal or grain trains which typically have the newer locomotives. Vancouver always had them laying around the yards.
Canadian national has several ex BC Rail C40-8M’s which are cowl units as well as a fair number of SD60F’s. These locomotives are very welcome in the winter time as there is no snow to walk through on the walkways. They are also helpful in snow plow duty.
I have never heard anything about locomotives having to meet emissions requirements in order to operate in America and that statement seems far fetched to me. Certainly cars or trucks coming from Canada or Mexico do not have to meet our emissions requirements. Even with the emissions rules it cuts a lot of slack towards the older locomotives. You can keep running the same emissions at the old rate as long as the engine stays in the locomotive. If you take the engine out for overhaul it has to be rebuilt to new emissions standards. But those laws are from the USA and I doubt if Canada gives a hoot about emissions with a population of under 35 million for the entire country.
Your chances for seeing these historic locomotives operating in the USA are pretty minimal. They were fairly common in the Vancouver,BC area mostly working lines 100 miles or less from the main yard. Vancouver to Squamish trains and Squamish to Vancouver trains typically had older power with the cowl units.
A good way to find out where the locomotives are is to go to a website such as railpics.com or similar. Then type in the locomotive type and make sure the website gives you the most recent photos first. This will give you a good idea of what town they are likely to be in.
You are incorrect, as the captions to the following photo’s indicate. To quote PDN jr. “neither photo is mine”
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=403332&nseq=1
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=403175&nseq=0
Bruce
Why exactly do we trust those captions?
Union PAcific has tons of SD9043s working in the states. I see them every day in Roseville yard. They have not been modified at all.
so again I do not believe emissions has anything to do with it.
Can’t vouch for the veracity of the captions but-I suspect these locos are old enough to received Tier O+ kits during overhaul.
Assuming they were overhauled recently (talking about the SD40-2s here)
Haven’t seen Red Barns out this way (Vancouver) for a long time. I think they may still run on the prairies, but they don’t come west of Calgary these days.
CN’s Dash 8 fleet (including the CN 24xx, B
They were used exclusively during the lifting of the Chalk River Sub in the Ottawa Valley this past summer. Not something I want to remember them for.
Steve
With the slow economy the majority of older power has been sitting on dead tracks waiting until traffic levels pick up. I know CP (or it could have been CN) recently bought 43 ex Oakway SD60’s and gave them fresh paint jobs. Quite a unusual move for a class one railroad. I think it is safe to say that CP loves the SD50’s and SD60’s. It’s also a strong indicator that the railroad is expecting a surge in traffic levels in the near future. The purchase and painting of the SD60’s is also a good news for the red barns as CP seems to want to keep the SD50’s and SD60’s for what ever reasons.
Here in Denver there is long lines of C40-8’s sitting dead in the yards. I haven’t seen them run in years and they have been sitting dead for years. But once this economy picks up I think railroads will need every locomotive they can get their hands on.
CN bought the ex-Oakway SD60’s, they are to numbered in the 5400 series.
I see the CN/BCOL C40-8Ms on trains here in the Chicago area with some regularity. CP seems to have more SD40-2s than anything else running trains out of Bensenville although they are ex-DME/ICE and lease units. They also have been repainting the SOO SD60/60Ms as well
Here’s a shot of a BCOL Dash 8 with a CN Dash 8 (ex-BNSF)
Flickr Linkhttp://flic.kr/p/deUXrE
Here’s a shot of one of the CN SD60s with a CN Dash 8M
Flickr Link http://flic.kr/p/dgvgGa
I’ve also heard recently that the CP Red Barn SD40-2Fs are candidates for the SD30ECO rebuild program too.