This was taken late last year. It is one of only two, so far as I know. F-10s still in revenue service. This shot was taken just outside the Danbury Railway Museum, where Metro North parks their equipment between runs on the Danbury Branch.
Here is an FL-9, still at work. This one is owned by the State of Connecticut and operated by Metro North. The same is true of the coach in this picture.
We don't see these guys as often as we used to, but they still come around occasionally. They might show up anywhere on Metro North. On the tracks adjacent to the DRM is a good place to see them standing still long enough to get a few shots.
Last summer a couple of local TB members were treated to a wonderful tour of the DRM by Peirce. There is some nice Metro North stuff that ties over next to the museum. Perice is a great host and anyone nearby the DRM should stop by for a real New Haven RR treat!
How many FL9 units are left? Will they remain in service much longer? Thought I'd heard something with this past year of impending retirement? Boxcab E50
I will have to check on the number of FL-9s still active. There are not many, but those that remain just keep on going. Yes, there has been talk of retirement for all of them, but no one knows when that will actually happen. The same can be said of the two remaining MN F-10s. Two of the FL-9s, 2013 and 2006, are "retired" and in the DRM yard. However, both have relatively minor things wrong with them, so Metro North could put them back in service without much notice.
Lake Superior Railroad Museum has an ex-Soo FP7 in pristine condition used on excursion trains and, according to their site, is expecting to receive a donated F9 from Erie Mining. http://www.lsrm.org/
Pierce- Thanks. So there is no time line for phasing out the FL9? Weren't they all completely overhauled in the 1990's? Seems to me that if it ain't broke, don't fix it....... Why not keep on using them? F units in service- Seems to me there are a bunch on tourist trains. There are a couple in Colorado on the outfit runs toward Royal Gorge. And a couple down in Arizona (?) that are used on a train over ex-SD&AE tracks. Believe that the Conway Scenic has at least one. And there are a couple of other operations that have ex-Milw engines in tourist or dinner train operations. One in Ohio? Westerm Maryland Scenic? Illinois RR Museum had an ex-Milw unit in operation. Boxcab E50
http://www.mountainrail.com/New%20Tygart%20Flyer.htm The Tygart Flyer from Belington,WV to Elkins or almost to Cass. I think that have an F-Unit #67 the link shows all of their locomotives other than the N&W T-1 if they haven't returned it yet.
Pat- Saw on PBS a couple weekends ago, this very line. It was a two part series strictly on tourist trains. There were operations I'd never heard about. Some great video work. Hmmmm... I wonder if available on CD? Boxcab E50
Here is a pair of F-7s owned and operated by the Verde Canyon Railroad. The originally were owned by the Alaska Railroad. I believe that, before arriving in Arizona, they were owned for a while by the Montana Rail Link. This is one of my favorite paint schemes.
Peirce- As far as I am aware, MRL never rostered an F unit. Those may be units once intended for a dinner train on the Washington Central, or an associated operation. Boxcab E50
That could be. The info from VCRR seemed to indicate that MRL did not keep these units for very long. Could they have brokered the deal?
Here are two units owned by the North Carolina Transportation Museum. The are not very active, but they do get used on occasion.
I suppose that it's possible. I'm going to e-mail a friend who works in the MRL HQ. See if he can find out. Boxcab E50
Peirce- Received an answer this morning. This fellow should know. It's part of his job to keep track of similar information. "MRL has never owned F-units. We owned an old MILW E unit in '89 or so with hopes of using it for Denny's business train, but Livingston found it in such bad shape that it was scrapped. Later they bought the F45s and have used them for biz trains." Boxcab E50
