This past Saturday in Stockton, CA, I saw a UP mixed freight with SD40T-2 (an ex-SD45T-2 carbody) #2833 as the second unit. All of the UP online rosters that I have seen state that this unit is not on the current UP roster. One said it was retired in 2003. Yet I did a Google image search and found another photo of this unit in Salt Lake City. So what gives? Has UP unretired this unit or is it a lease unit that has gone all these years without being patched?
It is part of CEFX’s fleet of SD40/45s rebuilt to SD40-2 standards. It does not surprise me that it has had it’s UP lettering re-appear, this has happened before. (I tried to transfer a pix of an ex-UP SD40 off a disc, can’t do it. Its protected, BTW IF you wish to do this by all means protect it! The cost is well worth it!)
I saw one of those in Melville, Sk on CN … in CANADA … #2849. You can see it on YouTube under username GEES44DC.
The unit you saw was an ex-SP SD45T-2 (SP 9248) that was rebuilt to SD40T-2 specs by VMV- the unit’s operating lease expired in 2003 and it was retired-but it was reaquired on a long-term 10 year lease from FURX in June of 2004.
The UP’s SD40-2M rebuilds by NRE from SD39/40/45 carbodies as I recall were in the 2783-2825 series- those left the roster in 2002, but do show up as leasers on UP from CEFX.
There are not CEFX marks on it or any of the other several locomotives from that series I see regularly. Also, as mention earlier, these are not former SD40s or SD45s. They are former SD45T-2s.
Thanks everybody for the info. I model HO modern day and this gives me an excuse to buy Athearn’s UP SD45T-2 and patch it for the correct road number.