Athearn sells the above two locomotives, but neither are in the MR Cyclopedia. Does anyone know more about these two locos, most notably what years they were in service?
SD38s were built between 1967 and 1971. The majority are still in service.
GP60s were built between 1985 and 1994 and are still in service.
Most of the SD38’s are in yard service and the GP60’s are in road or switching duty.
Mike in Tulsa
BNSF Cherokee Sub
Depends on the railroad, I believe the Missabe’s SD-38’s are still used on taconite trains.
The SD38’s and SD38-2’s of the various US Steel roads were used for road service, mainly low-speed mineral freight for which they were best suited. Most other roads purchased and used them for hump pushers and heavy transfers.
GP60’s, when new, were usually used on hot intermodal runs.
If I recall correctly the SD-38 used many electrical components originally used in the 3000 HP SD-40. Because the SD-38 only generated 2000 HP, these components never approached their maximum capacity and so seemingly lasted forever - kinda like running 12 volt lightbulbs at 6 volts on your layout. Because of that, SD-38’s tended to last a long time and were rarely out of service except for routine maintenance.
BTW a quick web search confirmed there are at least some Missabe SD-38’s still in use, though a fair number have been retired in the last year or two.