I was just gifted a pair of CSX GP38-2s that are fairly modern (ditch lights – to me, that’s modern!). I have a pair of Pan Am GP40-2LWs, and since CSX bought MEC, I’m wondering… would it be plausible that they’d run together? I’ve done a bit of searching in the RR photo archives and haven’t seen anythign yet – in fact I can’t be sure if those Pan Am locos hadn’t been converted to razor blades by the time the acquisition was made. Hoping to find a way to get 'em outside the yard; I need at least 3 to pull a train up our steep grades. (I figured I could run them with Conrail engines, but all of my CR is pre-Conrail Quality paint scheme.)
At least some of them are going strong into 2022, and in their blue paint. Whether or not they ever ran on CSX rails, I don’t know. Looks like they have stayed on their home rails, but a lot of scenarios are plausible
As far as “power for the run” is concerned in my opinion it’s “Never say never!” If the engines are more-or-less contemporary and were in the same geographical area to begin with I’d say the possibility of the lash-up you’re considering is better than good.