A small question this time: What did the letters “LMX” stand for, if anything? (LMX was, I believe, a division of GE (GM?) that manufactured train engines, primarily but not exclusively seen on BN trains)
Locomotive Management Leasing, I believe.
I think they were the “Power by the Hour” folks…I remember seeing one of their slogans on a big sticker/decal on the side of a few BN motors.
The situation is a combination of the above. LMX/LMS is a GE leasing subsidiary that owned 100 B39-8’s which were leased on “power-by-the-hour” to BN and also owned 40 C40-8’s in CR colors that shuttled between CR and CN. Relco now owns the B39-8’s and is leasing them out, mostly to CSX. The C40-8’s got divided among CSX, NS & CN.
The “power-by-the-hour” concept was an attempt by BN to get around shopcraft union contracts that barred the contracting out of locomotive maintenance and overhauls. The unions won the subsequent labor dispute, which may explain why the concept never went beyond the LMX B39-8’s and the Oakway SD60’s.