I “seed” it from afar; then I “sawed” it up close:
I know this has been discussed before, but if I haven’t seen it, I don’t relate to it.
GMDX 73 and TFM 1619 were idling in front of our Amtrak Station, with a load of grain. They use those tracks to go south out of Lincoln instead of going through the yard.
GMDX - had SD70 ACE printed on it. (no one was around and I almost had my own train to take home!)
Is this the GM prototype that they used to test before they started making the new ACE’s?
Will appreciate, as usual, any information you can share with me.
I hunted all over for an EMD stencil - couldn’t find one. It only had GMDX 73 on the number boards and on the side. It caught my eye from a long way away, since it had a ghost gray nose and a small GM placque on it.
(you will be able to relate to this - I was on our main drag viaduct heading for the “site” and caught it while looking over the railing as we were passing over the depot area.)
That’s the one! See, it doesn’t have EMD - has Electro-Movtive instead…Duh Mookie! [:I]
Well, as usual you have pointed me in the right direction. Now, can you tell me what I was looking at and if it was something special or just another EMD?
Locomotive builders often “lend” the prototype to railroads to “test drive” in hopes the railroad will like what they see and place an order, and it is a good way to get feedback from the operation departments on what works and what doesn’t work in the design…in this case, it worked pretty good.
If memory serves me, Mudchicken has a few photos of this, and the other demo unit, both involved in a coal train derailment…one of them ended up at the bottom of a hillside with its tail end in the water of a creek or river…and I think that derailment made it into Trains magazine last year or the year before.
When demo units are returned to the builder, they are refurbished, any needed changes are made, and often they are sold off or leased out…in this case, I think EMD leases them.
Often, they get repainted into the colors of the railroad that buys them, but not always.
If EMD is leasing this one out, why repaint it, and it makes for a great rolling billboard.
The original SD40 demo was, I believe, repainted into the road colors of the GM&O?
It was in service for a long, long time, and I think it was finally donated to a museum.
Ed is usually really good with his info but the original SD40 is alive and well. The SD40 prototype was built as EMD 434 and was painted in Santa Fe colors. It was later sold to GM&O as 950 and received full GM&O colors. It went to Illinois Central in the IC+GM&O merger and is currently operating in general service as IC 6071, in black with white lettering. I saw it in Homewood IL last May as part of Homewood Railroad Days.