It does not matter what you have heard, the reality is that GE are far ahead of EMD in probably every department, especially availability which is what really counts. The Dash 9’s are a great loco and very reliable, the AC versions even more so. Remember railroads may buy junk once, but they won’t be back for repeat orders, just look at the sales figures.
Is that why BHP Billiton keeps ordering SD70ACe’s then?
More than LIKELY using the OLD ONES AS A PARTS SOURCE FOR THE NEW ONES.
I know that EMD has a program that takes old locos and outs better more efficient engines in them. Perhaps they can start there.
Is that why BHP Billiton keeps ordering SD70ACe’s then?
I have been led to believe that BHP needed locos in a hurry, GE had a large waiting list, EMD did not,
That’s the ECO line and it seems to be an updated version of the repowerings of the 1950’s. You supply a 567 or 645 powered locomotive and EMD will install a 710 engine of appropriate size and upgrade the electricals. KCS already has several of these on their roster.
I would not believe that for a minute. They could have leased then. I would never buy a quote inferior product just because the one I wanted had a waiting line.
When a business MUST have something, and MUST have it NOW…they will take what they can get…even if it is not the optimum product for their needs. The alternative can be going out of business because they don’t have what is needed to serve your customer. Your business can survive operating with a less than optimum product, it cannot survive with no product at all.
For a railroad, not having locomotives when they are needed means one of two things…product to be transported continues to increase while waiting for power to transport it or those controlling the product to be shipped will find a alternative way to handle that product.
This is especially true with year end budgets when you have x dollars to spend by years end or you lose it, or I need to have x delivered by years end or no contract. Business doesn’t make sense with regards to years end and budgets.
Explain this then Why then if EMD is BETTER did BNSF when they were so Power SHORT at the Peak of the Economy allow EMD to ship BHP some of there so GREAT SD70 ACES then. I asked a BNSF engineer what they think of the new EMD power he flat out told me GOOD FOR ONE THING SCRAP METAL AND THAT IS IT.
Well, you don’t have to believe it, but that is what I understand happened, and they did lease some locos through GE leasing, some SD40 and -2 models, there is also an ex SP Tunnel motor up there as well but it was only used for spare parts. I don’t dislike EMD products, I work on them every day, usually as trailing units and they perform OK, but the, and I admit newer GE’s that we have are much better, and the cab design which is a lot different than the US versions, is the best we have ever had.
The Frame and the Truck components seem like they would find new locomotive uses elsewhere.
I wonder if the prime movers were scrapped or placed in somebody’s ship.
Andrew
Numbers do not lie. C45’s are approx. $45000 cheaper to purchase then an SD70ACE; not a lot when your talking about a $2.5 million unit. but when you buy 500 of each it makes a difference. the month over month availability of the SD70ACE runs between 92.5-93.1% the C45ACCTE’s run at 91.3-92.4%.
GE now has much better product and warranty support then EMD, that is a big decision when buying untested technology.
-The first batch of Big Boys (4000-4019) all had over 1 million miles on them when retired, the second group (4020-4024) had over 800,000 miles (they came into service 4 years after the first group). The DD40’s had more than that, I believe over 2 million miles on them. I wouldn’t describe these as unsuccessful.
Indeed
Especially in the case of the Centennials. They were retired more because they were literally worn out after just a decade of use because the Union Pacific depended so heavily on them and they handled most of the system’s most important trains. According to the Utahrails website, they averaged 22,000 in-service miles per month and most of the class had racked up over 1 million miles of service before their 5th birthday.
If anything, they were so successful that they became a victim of it and were literally worn out.
The 9000’s, Challengers, Big Boys, DD35’s, gas turbines, and Centennials were all quite successful and were very productive for Union Pacific. The steamers gave sterling service for nearly 15 years after Union Pacific decided that diesel was their future and several remained serviceable well into the 1960s awaiting a call to service that traffic levels sadly never warranted. That’s a testament to how well they were designed that they were still productuve locomotives for the UP many years after their fate had been decided and most steam had been retired by competitors. And of course, the gas turbine fleet’s fate was sealed not because of their performance but because of evolution in America’s petrol industry that made their operating cost skyrocket as refinerys found other uses for Bunker C which had largely been considered waste when the units were new.
The only ones that were anything less then a success in my opinion would be the two GE efforts and the Century 855. Even then, Union Pacific got close to a decade’s use out of the U50’s. And I’ve heard several good opinions on the the C855 from those that worked with them during their short service life. They were a victim to EMD’s stellar reliability and the nonstandard nature of the Centuries on the system that did them in, not their performance when they were in working order. And I s
If memory serves correctly, the main problem with the U-50-C was the use of aluminum cables throughout the locomotive. The aluminum could not stand the high heat and “melted”, causing fires. I believe at the same time some of the Alco C-430 were suffering the same fate. The U-50-C’s have the distinction of having the shortest life span of any UP loco class, ever.
I’d love to have some pistons. The biggest piston I have right now has a bore of about 7.5".
The Diesel Engine Trader lists 3 GM16V265H-5 in “runner” condition for “industrial” application, quite possibly from the UP units scrapped in East ST. Louis.