Just before I begin, I want to let everybody know that I am a major rivet counter and I am not ashamed of it. lol I’ve narrowed it down to 3 locomotives. My Railroad can either buy used SD9043MAC’s from Citirail, ES44AC’s from GE, or SD70ACe’s from Caterpillar. Just some background info to make a descision: My railroad owns 450 miles of track from Indianapolis to Davenport, Iowa. The main commodities are grain all along the line, ballast from Remington to interchange with CSX at Indy, and coal from CSX for a power plant at Cicero. Cost is not so much of a factor and the shop crew knows their way around a compression engine like the back of their hand. What locomotive would be best, all around, for lugging the different types of freight across the line. Take into account crew comfortability, programming, braking, power, tractive effort, and best bang for the buck. For the how many question the railroad currently has 3 MP15ACs, 4 GP18s, 4 SD9s, 2 GP30s, 6 GP40-2. 3 mated with slugs. All for switching. 8 SD40-2s, 8 SD60s, 2 U30Cs, 2 P42DCs for special events, and an ABBA F7 set for the OCS train. Thanks for any help.
Buy as many as you can afford.
TrAcKr76,
Seeing as you are modeling a subsidiary of the real Iowa Interstate, I would follow their lead, and go with the GE’s ES44 series loco’s. They did, so it makes perfect sense that their subsidiary would likewise…
Just my [2c].
Edited typo.
I did that when I was younger and building my first “permanent” layout… Had some great locomotives that ran great, until the power got shut off… Oops!
Since your railroad clearly has more EMDs, I would vote out the GE, and stick to the EMDs. If your railroad is doing well, I would say go with the SD70ACes as they are new, and also more efficient. However, if you like the look of the SD9043MAC, then you could say your railroad got them for a really good deal. I would say 4-10 locomotives is a good number, if traffic has really increased and your road needs more power then 8-10 locomotives would be a good proportion to the rest of your roster. If your railroad is just upgrading their locomotives, then an order of 4-6 would be a decent size.
Of the three, the ES44AC is the best. If you want to stay with EMD models, then go for the SD70Ace. My personal opinion of the SD9043MAC is that they are best suited to become razor blades. Besides, if you can afford new why by someone else’s junk?
Jeff
What I don’t understand, is that If You are a major rivet as You claim and seem to know what the railroad used…why would You need anyone else’s opinion? You should already know what will be best in Your circumstance. Maybe You’re not a major rivet counter? [:-^]
Have Fun! [:D]
Frank
A new ES44 or SD79ACe costs around 2 million dollars each. You can purchase second hand engeins such as the SD8943’s for a fraction of the cost. Since you stated that your shop crews are like tose on my railroad and know their way around an engine like the back of their hands I would go with used engines unless you have a very profitable railroad. and can afford the extra expense.
Thanks for all the responses. My signature is wrong, I’ve never changed it. My railroad is its own and only interchanges with the Interstate. I would probably be able to make this descisiom on my own if I were a real hogger and were able to feel all of them in person and draw out their strong spots and weak ones. Everybody seems to not like the SD9043MAC. This is what the INRD uses and seems to be the most logical option for my railroad. What us wrong with them? Also I stated that my railroad uses used P42s bought seconhand from Amtrak for special events. Is this even logical or would I be better just using the OCS locomotives for these events.
LION sticks with St. Louis Car Company’s R-17 and R-22 equipment.
Well, then we are just at the point of, which do you prefer, and, for that 10 or less, who’s order did you tack onto for new, otherwise, it’s used. GE and EMD (now CAT) really give preferential treatment to bigger orders, and would fill those first, so unless you added your 10 to another companies order (and do it by ordering units to their specs, near their production run) your company might be waiting awhile for new… Yes, the manufacturers’ do do this type (meaning “small”, to them) of order, but after they’ve finished the one they get more money for. (More units ordered means more money. Smaller quantities get charged a higher base price, but it’s still less money brought in compared to the few100 ordered by the class 1’s) And, for the used 90Mac’s, upgrading would be in order, unless they were true SD90MAC’s (6000 horses), then, downgrading to the 4300 horses would be in order. (The 6000HP units got a tremendously bad rep… Reliability and fuel consumption killed almost all of them. For a while, even EMD was having issues, which is why they started with SD9043MAC in the first place, they put in the older 4300HP unit, and it was “convertable” to the “new” 6000HP unit later on.) You might be able to upgrade the prime movers and electronics to make a 4400HP higher efficient unit, but, you are now getting into the more expensive territory, and new might make better sense. (Both money, and, more importantly, parts and labor wise.)
[quote user=“TrAcKr76”]
Also I stated that my railroad uses used P42s bought seco
I’m anxious to see some pics on the progress of this massive lay out.
Mike.
There was an issue on the SD9043MAC’s with cracks in the frames where the fuel tanks were attached. This issue has been resolved and Norfolk Southern just purchased 100 of them from the Union pacific, so they can’t be all that bad.
[:S]I’d love to show some photos but I have to build the barn first
Well, the forum may want to know what locos would be best for pre-2002 modeling, since the Cicero plant was shut down that year and reopened in 2003 as a natural gas burning facility.
Mentioned just because you are a major rivet counter…[:D]
Haha I did know that already but I figured since I’m modeling a completely fictional regional, why not change a few little things lol I did consider having LNG loads delivered but I always liked Appalachian coal hauling and since this is the closest I can get… Why not? Haha
I have run all three models. The SD9043’s are slow to load. Not so bad over the road, but kind of a pain when switching. (Switching as in putting your train together or making pickups and setouts.) They ride rough and I don’t care for the way they designed the desk top controls. (Throttle and brake handles on a raised pedestal on the desk top.) I was happy when the UP decided to get rid of them, but then changed their mind and started putting some back in service. Some of those returned to service have been outfitted with hot plates and tea kettles for run through service with the CP on oil trains out west.
Jeff
[quote user=“TrAcKr76”]
Just before I begin, I want to let everybody know that I am a major rivet counter and I am not ashamed of it. lol I’ve narrowed it down to 3 locomotives. My Railroad can either buy used SD9043MAC’s from Citirail, ES44AC’s from GE, or SD70ACe’s from Caterpillar. Just some background info to make a descision: My railroad owns 450 miles of track from Indianapolis to Davenport, Iowa. The main commodities are grain all along the line, ballast from Remington to interchange with CSX at Indy, and coal from CSX for a power plant at Cicero. Cost is not so much of a factor and the shop crew knows their way around a compression engine like the back of their hand. What locomotive would be best, all around, for lugging the different types of frei
And how long will that take? If you’re in the planning stages and don’t actually intend to buy all those locomotives until you’ve got someplace to run them, fine, but things change. Your affinity for coal may lead you to a love of Big Boys and short hoppers, not ACes and MACs and rotary couplers. You would not be the first to be tempted by the sound of a steam whistle or the sight of a nice caboose turning the corner ahead of you.
Since you are a “rivet counter”, you should know that real railroads of your type generally buy from just one builder. For the Indiana railroad you talked about, its only one.
You already have plenty of engines for a pretty big layout. Since you don’t have anything built and won’t for a while, maybe you don’t need to buy anything.
RT