Yes, but from a crew standpoint, they take a LONG time to load, and its easy to break your train up waiting for it to load.
(BTW, im just talking about the Twin Citie’s here, as far as sticking the crews with G.E’s)
Again, thanks to Bill Miller, April 15 is stated as the date for the units to leave for the INRD.
I would much rather run a standard cab SD60 over anything with a desktop control stand. The SD60’s are a darned good locomotive, their only faults are they are pretty slippery on wet rail and you can’t apply manual sand in power above 8 mph. They also ride rough when drifting at high speed, sometimes you can read the number boards on the unit behind you as they bang from side to side. On the plus side they have very good extended range dynamic brakes, the best of any DC locomotive.
The units going to the INRD will still show up in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area on coke trains as the CP and INRD have a run through power agreement that requires the INRD to supply power for these Roseport coke trains. CP power will still be seen in Louisville, KY after the Latta Sub sale as there is a power run through agreement for pota***rains requiring CP to provide power for these trains.
6020 led a train through Duplainville yesterday, and I had the great fortune to meet Dave Nelson in person, who I know from these here forums. Great to meet you Dave! [:D]
From a train watcher’s standpoint, I’d much rather see an SD60 than a newer GE any day. I have actually seen the Soo SDs here in northern NJ, on the run through trains. Nice change from the ordinary.
Any idea exactly what’s going to replace the SD60s?
Also one other quick question: On Monday at about 8pm, I saw 8 big GEs running light out of Milwaukee, (I was in Tosa watching) on the old MLW mainline. They were booking it pretty fast too, it was quite a sight. Was that a normal power move or were they going somewhere special?
Cheers!
~METRO
so what, soo didn’t actually own any of these, they were just on lease?
Well, thats good for my friend. He got stuck working the coke trains.
A lot of the locomotives that railroads buy are actually owned by financial companies and are on long term lease (like 15 years) to the railroads. This has been going on for quite a while.
I think you pretty much answered your own question… big GEs! Officially, the 8xxx-series AC4400CWs are technically “SOO” units, based in the US, while the 9xxx-series units are “CP”, based in North US… err, Canada! Not that it really matters though, either series can be found all over CP lines, but there’s the accounting and tax issues that the railroad has to deal with…
Probably just normal power repositioning, though it seems they usually put 'em in a train – probably had a crew to move as well. I’ve seen some massive consists on some trains, which I’ve been told is power repositioning, and Friday afternoon is a good time to see an eastbound like this.
Bill already answered the question about what will replace the SD60s, eleven CP SD40-2s numbered between 6050 and 6070 are being reassigned from Winnipeg, to St. Paul, MN. for maintenance. As for leased locomotives, the 8500 series GEs on the CP/Soo are leased from Chicago Milwaukee Corp. , the successor to the The Milwaukee Road. which is a strange twist. The 8600 series are in two groups, the largest is leased from a company in Vermont. One further point the movement of the eleven SD60s to INRD. is not a final transaction, they are being sub-leased from CP/Soo. INRD is still negotiating with CIT for power.
The CP interchanged 5 red and white SOO SD60"s to the INRD at Linton, IN today. The unit numbers are: 6004, 6006, 6007, 6012, 6018.
Soo 6049
From the STB decision (posted to the INRD Yahoo!Group), it looks like we may be seeing these come through on “Power Run Through Agreement” in Wisconsin, probably in addition to INRD power.
Should be nice to see yet another railroad’s power come through Milwaukee! [:D]
My guess is you won’t see much difference in the trains going through Milwaukeee The SD60’s will probably be what the INRD sends up there and I’ll bet they still say SOO or will at least be in the red and white soo scheme for quite some time.
5 more of the SD60’s were interchanged to INRD at Linton this morning (0430 4-20-2006). 6009, 6010, 6011, 6013 and 6017. The 5 delivered earlier in the week are probably at Switz City now being readied for service.