Anyone know why the latest ES44AC's have the roller blade trucks? I remember them going with the self-steering type, Why the change back?
CP found the the extra expense of buying and maintaining the trucks was not worth the savings in track maintenance or the slight increase in tractive effort. They've also figured out that the fewer options you have on a locomotive, the more you can order...
By the way, how many ES44ACs of each type does CP have? Last I heard, they had 80 radial and 100 hi-ad. However, I see relatively few radials. I also see more ES44ACs in total than I would expect - still not as many as AC4400CWs, but doesn't CP have well over 400 of those? The logical explanation is that they've bought more hi-ad ES44ACs recently.
Canadian Trackside Guide 2007 lists 438 AC4400CWs and 140 ES44ACs as of February. This includes the rosters of the D&H, SOO and STLH, where applicable. There were also an additional 20 ES44ACs listed as being on order for 2007. Dave.