It appears that the Metra F40C’s and the lone Utah F45 that were stored in Wood River, IL are on the move back to MEI in Alorton. It appears that the lease to KCS has finnaly gone through, and they are being shipped for overhaul.
Why would KCS lease such odd ball locomotives?
Aren’t they basically just cowl SD40-2 ?
Pretty much. I am sure the HEP has been disconected, if not removed. The only thing I could see being a problem is if the F40Cs had a high gear ratio.
Bert
Jim,
Do you happen to know how many F40C units were being moved. I believe there were only a total of 15 F40C’s ever built and all went to Metra. I understood that Metra released 12 of these which the KCS leased from Helm back in 2005. This was to be a short term lease, on the order of only 9 months to a year, until the KCS began receiving the new SD70ACe’s they had on order. I thought this was a done deal and the leased units, having served their purpose on the KCS, had been returned to Helm. I lost track of these engines and the other 3 F40C’s which remained in service on the former Milwaukee road commuter routes of Metra. While it’s possible, I doubt the KCS has any further need for the F40C’s in light of all the new locomotives they received and put in service in 2006. It’s pure speculation on my part but I’d guess they’re headed for somewhere other than the KCS.
Mark
KCS is a business. A business makes money for its owners and pays wages to its employees. In order to do that you operate as effectively as possible. In other words maximize profit and minimize costs. Used engines that will do the job are far more cost effective than new ones. thatwould be my reason why they would use them.
When will the F40Cs begin running on KCS? I would be very interested in seeing them. Is that Utah Railway F45 also scheduled to be leased to KCS?
You all forget Mike’s pedigree.
F40Cs were unique, i’ve never seen one in person but many pictures. They were supposedly a victim of the whole SDP40F debacle, thus the low amount of units built.
Bnsfkline,
Thanks for the heads up. I’m a big fan of cowl locomotives.
The F40Cs basically have SD40-2 power systems and there are still plenty of parts available for EMD 645 16 cylinder series diesels. Would be neat to see some current F40C photos.
I do wonder about the F45, especiallly since the ranks of SD45 series units are quickly shrinking. By today standards the aging EMD 45 class requires higher maintenance and “drinks” more fuel than the 40 series units. Even if they are slightly smaller in diameter…20 cylinders is still 20 cylinders (slurp slurp)!
But hey…if they’re running I’m all the more glad.[:D]
KCS never leased the F40Cs in 2005. They were going to be leased, but KCS did not allow them because they needed some adjustments made to them to be in freight service. 12 of them are currently up for leasing, one of them is stored at NREX in Dixmoor. Two of them, 611 and 614 are still owned by Metra for back-up power, and they were used once back in early 2005 after a bucn of MP36s had problems, plus one of them was used for a accident investigation last year.
Thanks for the info. I knew that FP40C’s had to be modified for freight service and thought that was to be done before the KCS took delivery of them from Helm. Most all of the KCS motive power shows up here at one time or another at the locomotive shops in Shreveport. While I never saw one of them here, until now I never heard to the contrary so I had assumed the KCS had leased them back in 2005 as planned and had already returned them to Helm. I doubt if the KCS has any use for them at this late date and guess they will be going to some other road.
Mark
I was planning to stop by the storage yard they were in while I was in St. Louis next month. With my luck they’ll be somewhere on the other side of the country by then.
Good luck trying to get in, one you have to break homeland security just to get to the locomotives, then you have a FENCE in the way, and the other, in Alorton, most of the equipment is hidden behind buildings.