Favorite Engine Contest

Trains Magazine General Discussion
1

Here are my Top 10 favorite engines in order from #1 to #10. Can you please put your favorite engines from #1 to #10.

  1. SD70M-2 or SD70ACe.

  2. ES44’s.

  3. AC4400’s.

  4. AC6000’s.

  5. SD70’s.

  6. SD60I’s.

  7. SD80’s or 90’s.

  8. Dash 8’s.

  9. SD40’s.

  10. GP38’s.

2

1.SP GS4.

2.FP7.

3.F3/7/9.

4.E8/9.

5.SD45.

6.PA.

7.GG1.

8.Little Joe.

9.F/FP45.

10.RSD15.

3

Lets make it interesting and put your SPECIFIC favorite locomotive, just one, and a description of why that INDIVIDUAL locomotive is your favorite.

4

My most favorite engine is the SD70M-2 and SD70ACe. The reason why is because it’s sharp looking, but it has the loudest horn I’ve ever heard. If you have seen this engine in person the horn is extremely loud. I love extremely loud horns. It makes it a look and sound very powerful. The engine looks very powerful also. When I first saw this engine I thought it was an SD90. But I was wrong is was an SD70M-2 by NS. My second favorite engine is the ES44. I love it’s horn but not as much as the SD70ACe or SD70M-2. I love the sound of the ES44. It’s the best in my perspective of the diesal roar and engine. When you hear this thing in Notch 8 it relly roars. It sounds like a Jet is coming at you, if you know what I mean. I like CSX and BNSF in both of these engines. Those are my all time favorite railroads. Why, I love BNSF because of the New Logo they have and also they always turn me on by there color. I love CSX because of also the color but the main reason is because it’s just something different in it. Also CSX has been in my blood all my life. I don’t know, maybe it’s because of the the paint or the power, but I love it. BNSF is my top favorite and CSX comes in second.

5

Rock Island 4-8-4 5000 class. ANything steam. SD 40-2’ and SD 9’s. Keep that slow loading junk lol.

I will admit I love the ES 44 in about notch 4 with a heavy train. You sound more like an old tractor than a locomotive.

C30-7 and U33c’s from the late 70’s with no mufflers on them coming up a hill with an ore train. Now thats a sound!!

6

Wow that is tough however -

  1. AT&SF #1819 Baldwin heavy prarie class 2-6-2. This is just one tough looking little steamer. A locomotive does not have to be a monster to convey power and authority with its look. Monster locomotives like the Yellowstones and the lesser Big Boy convey power just by size. This tiny one looks powerful and proud. That is why it is my number one pick. It is on display in Lamar Colorado. My cousin remembers when it was retired and moved under its own power to the display at the county court house. It is now on display by the railroad station.

  2. GN S-2 class Northern painted in the green scheme. The S-2 had 80" drivers. If I have to choose a road number it would be 2581. Probably because I have more pictures of it than any other, but it is one of the units with the compressor pumps mounted on the front of the smokebox. This is the only GN Northern that doesn’t have the Belpair fire box. Was sleek and powerful looking.

  3. Rio Grande Southern #20 a 3’ narrow gage Schenectady 4-6-0. Served on the RGS, the D&RGW, and is being restored at the Colorado Railroad Museum. Quite a unique locmotive compared to the other C-16 and K-26, K-27 types.

  4. CB&Q Northern O5-A #5629. Most modern dual service steam locomotive used on the Q. Has really cool Boxpok driving wheels.

  5. NYC J3a 4-6-4 streamlined Hudson. I’d have to choose 5450 just because it was the first of the 1938 batch. Roller bearings on axles and driving rods, Scullin disc drivers, wow… The direct decendent of achitype for all the wonderful 4-6-4s of the AT&SF #3461, CB&Q #3003, and Milwalkee F6 #6402, that followed [yeah I know Milwalkee designed their “Baltics” first but didn’t deliever in time]. Also notice I slipped in three more favorites here in this one slot.

  6. Santa Fe again #5000 “Madam Queen”

7

My favorites are:

  1. FM H24-66 Tranimaster - Rode the cab of many of them on the SP commuter line from San Jose to San Francisco and as freight engines at night. Did 80 MPH pulling commuters and could pull the tar paper off the wall hauling freight.

  2. EMD SD45 - Watched up 10 of these beasts putl 100+ car trains over Donner Pass. What a roar, you could hear them coming for miles.

  3. FM H12-44 - Saw this little baby pull 150 cars out of he Santa Clara yard bowl (Yes, I counted them). Could not beleive that such a small engine could pull so many cars.

8

In no particular order:

RS-3 NYC 8223 - first of the series for the Central. I work with the old girl almost every weekend.

ALCO Century Series - Well, they’re ALCO’s. I’ve worked with several this summer. Love their sound.

Berkshires and variations. Built for speed and virtually the epitome of Super Power.

EMD GP-40 and variations. Also built for speed.

9

anything that stays running and donst ring alarm bells long enought to get me over the road…

csx engineer

10

1.The Santa Fe 3751

2.The GE Evolution Series

3.The SP 4294 Cab Forward

4.The EMD GP40X

5.The Santa Fe F7A 347C

6.Any DT&I Diesel

7.Any SP Diesel with EMD’s full light package

8.The Santa Fe Super Fleet (including the FP45’s)

9.The GE Hybrid

10.The D&RGW K-28’s and K-36’s

These don’t go in any order

11

My favorites engines are in this order.

  1. SD40-2

  2. MP15AC

  3. GP40

4.GP38-2

  1. GP9M

  2. SD10

  3. SD 7

  4. SD9

  5. GP35

10.GP30

12

My hands-down favorite would be GTW RS-1 1951. It was the last RS-1 built by Alco for domestic service (11/57); it was my introduction to non-EMD diesel power (I’d seen Alcos in pictures before, but never got to hear one), and it was the locomotive I operated for the longest time, under the watchful eye of some engineer who can no longer be brought up under charges for allowing that (I’m sure there’s a special place for him and his ilk in Heaven!). Did a nice job of bringing a local freight up a stiff grade by itself (turbocharger singing!), in spite of having only 1000 horsepower. Loved the long throttle handle and the monkey-wrench reverser. And, best of all, I can still go see her, at the Illinois Railway Museum!

Steam locomotive: C&O 614. Not the biggest 4-8-4 I’ve seen, but certainly the best-proportioned. And pretty impressive, coming straight at you at speed (the tracks curved away as it came closer).

Best-looking passenger locomotive: Alco PA. And paint scheme for that locomotive: NKP!

Favorite second-generation locomotive: GP30, phase 2, with more room in the cab. I came of railfanning age when ads in Trains were touting this “revolutionary” locomotive, and it seemed like everybody was buying them. And when I first heard one, that was almost as ear-opening as the Alco. A lot of railroads (C&O and B&O included) introduced new paint schemes just for these models. Also, courtesy of some long-retired railroaders who will remain nameless, a GP30 gave me my first opportunity to capture the view out of the cab over a low nose.

GE unit: UP’s C40-8Ws. No real reason, just that I get to see three of them take off with the Janesville train every day at work–and a previous poster is right: there’s a certain notch on these things that’s a real joy to listen to. This is about the only opportunity I ever get to hear them th

13

Gads, this is going to be a hard list to compile. I’m not sure 10 locomotives would do my personal impressions justice. For instance, I’d almost have to say any steam locomotive ranks number one. There are favorites, as we’ll see shortly, but any steamer (especially running steam!) is good by me. ALCo Diesels don’t fall too far behind that statement, either!

So with some reservation, because I know I’m going to miss something, here’s my list:

  1. DRGW K-27 463 - Mudhens were definately my favorite power from the DRGW and this is the only one I’ve seen live and in person. I have some very fond memories of her, too. Getting woken up in the middle of the night on Cumbres Pass as she went out with a work train is still one of the highlights of my railfanning life.

  2. UP FEF-3 844 - I had a hard time figuring out if I should put this in the number two slot or the 5629. Since I’ve seen 844 under steam many times, she gets the nod. What a grand old lady she is, too! I love the lines of the UP FEFs, especially when they had the “elephant” ears. I know there were faster steamers, but she’s probably made the fastest run past me. I was set up in Brighton a couple of years ago when she flew past me. I asked Lynn Nystrom about it later, and all he would say is “Yeah, I got in trouble for that.” I’d love to know just how fast that stately locomotive had the Frontier Days Train running on that particular day.

  3. CB&Q O-5b 5629 - If I could pick just one existing locomotive to see running again, it would have to be an O-5. Since 5629 is conveniently down the road from me, she’ll serve well as the specific locomotive for the list. I’ve got my doubts that I’ll ever see one, but if I do, I’ll be the happiest railfan ever. Maybe it’s because I was born and raised on the west end of the Racetrack and the “Q” was my hometown railroad, but I love these locos. What a shame that 5632 met the fate she did.

14

Hard to pinpoint a favorite, I could pick the now retired NJ-DOT U34s, but that would be showing favoritism to a local favorite. I like the standard realm of SD40s and the like. I probably have to say up to the SD60, they were good looking engines, looked like they meant business, (the SD50 of course looked the same) and were the last of the original types of units. Appearance wise, I’ve never been a big wide cab fan. though I’m sure the crews that run them might disagree. I accept any modern power, however, and kinda like the ES44 because the large radiator area balances the units out some what.

15

Any of the remaining Big Boys, you have to love good ole American heavy metal and power. May not be practical, but still beautiful.

16

In no particular order:

ATSF C30-7 8098. I can’t tell you why, either but it goes back to 1982 when I was 13 and lived in Flagstaff. I saw this unit at the crossover on the east side of town, leading a train that was sitting at the signal there, then getting the clear and accelerating up. It was mentioned the sound of these GE units built without exhaust silencers and this one was chugging loud. I’ve always been fond of this particular unit.

SP GP40-2M 7120. I’ve been in several cabrides in this unit, then decided to make an HO scale model of it. I brought the model with me to the Mesa yard to show the Magma Turn crew how it came out, and when I was invited up into the cab, I didn’t even notice that the unit I had climbed on was in fact the 7120. Fate works in strange ways! I could always know when this unit was in use due to the sick sounding Leslie RS3L horn it had. I didn’t listen to it on that night.

SP GP60 9721. I had kitbashed an HO scale GP60 in late 1991, sometime before one was offered by Athearn. I made this out of a GP50 using the aftermarket GP60 Phase II hatch and angled blower housing and the proper anticlimber details. I chose 9721 as this model’s number due to a picture of it I had seen in Trains magazine at the time. As fate would have it, it is one of the last remaining unpatched SP units that still roam the UP. It proudly wears its SP 9721 designation to this day.

SP GP40-2M 7106. I modeled it. I later got to operate the real one on the Chandler branch. Nothing like the sound of that 16-645E3 in Notch 8, baby!

17

  1. SD45T-2

  2. SD40T-2

  3. SD45

  4. SD40

  5. GP60

  6. Dash 8’s

  7. SD70’s

  8. GP 38’s

  9. AC 6000’s

  10. AC 4400’s

18

Chris - You’ll just have to do an eastern loop one of these days. Spencer, Roanoke, Baltimore/Strasburg, Scranton, and Horseshoe Curve are all about a day’s drive apart from each other, and there are numerous other opportunities - you could stop at Deshler (after a visit to The Henry Ford) on the way to the NYC museum in Indiana, which wouldn’t put you far from Rochelle…

I lumped Baltimore (B&O Museum) and Strasburg together because they are only 2-3 hours apart.

I think NYC disposed of it’s late steam fleet more thoroughly than just about any major railroad. There are very few NYC steamers of any design left.

19

Larry,

That exact plan has been sort of swirling around in my head for a few years now. I’ve held off thus far because opportunities to see the Grand Canyon and Alaska came up. I don’t have any major trip planned for next year yet, but I’m going to have to see how things go at work with the economy. We’ve already seen a downturn in the construction industry out here, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn’t get much worse.

Then again, with as many places as I want to see when I go east, I had better plan at least 4 or 5 eastern trips! [(-D]

20

Chris, I think you’d love Hillsdale, Michigan (I mentioned my trip through there last week in the Lounge). Very picturesque. I’m sure that could be made to fit in Larry’s itinerary somewhere between Deshler and Elkhart. I’m good for a few choice locations further east of Chicago than we got last year.

Now we’ve got to get Larry to take his own advice and come west of Deshler: Elkhart, Blue Island/Dolton, Elmhurst, Eola, Union, Rochelle, Galesburg, Boone, Camp Mookie, and North Platte.