From Loco Notes, a Yahoo! group, this bit of news: KCS is picking up 25 SD50`s from NRE. All of these locomotive had been in storage at Lehighton, Pa. They will be numbered KCS 7000-7024. VMV Paducah will rebuild 19. NRE Dixmoor will rebuilt 6. Coming from Paducah will be: KCS7000x5447, 7001x5448, 7002x5452, 7003x5454, 7004x5455, 7005x5457, 7006x5460, 7007x5464, 7008x5466, 7009x5472, 7010x5475, 7011x5476, 7012x8677, 7013x8678, 7014x8686, 7015x8693, 7016x8694, 7017x8697, 7018x8699. NRE Dixmoor will rebuild: 7019x8682, 7020x8684, 7021x8687, 7022x8688, 7023x8689, 7024x8691. Ten more SD50`s not included in the KCS deal, that were also in storage at Lehighton, Pa, and purchased by NRE will be going to NRE Silvis for storage. That group includes the following: 5449, 5462, 5463, 5468, 8679, 8680, 8681, 8683, 8685, and 8695. Ken Lanovich (Personal note The 5400 series are ex-Norfolk Southern (nee Conrail), while the 8600s are ex-CSX (possibly ex-Seaboard System). All have been in storage for several years, and will need work before they are put into service. [ 02. April 2004, 15:32: Message edited by: friscobob ]
Business must be picking up. I saw something yesterday for the first time, a TFM engine on the point of a KCS train. Not that it does not happen often, I have just never seen it before.
That TFM diesel looks like it's wearing a painted-over NdeM paint job. Looks kinda like a rent-a-wreck leaser seen around these parts. Good pic Russ- now, back to taking that tower down........
Thanks for the update... I was wondering where those ex-NS units went They have been retired for a while.... The CSX units are actually ex-CR units too; CSX ended up with ~ 200 SD50's after starting with around 50 from Seaboard System, 90 from Chessie System, then the CR units. A KCS unit came thru town last week, but I missed it Harold
You're right- I goofed on their ancestry. Apparently in the splitting up of assets, NS and CSX both got SD50s from Conrail. There are also some "basket cases" that are to be used by NRE to get the 25 units running (could be those 10 units going to Silvis), and if past history is an indicator (the ex-B&M GP38-2s, ex-CN GP40-2Ws), the SD50s should arrive on the property in full KCS paint. Wonder if we can call the new 7000 series "ex-Cons"?
what kind of paint jobs do they have now/will they have???? i am looking at adding to my kcs engines and that would be a good addition. thanks.
My guess is that they'll be in the standard KCS gray scheme with yellow nose stripes, red "KCS" on the sides, the stop-sign logo, and of course the 7000 series number. To my knowledge they didn't have nose lights while on Conrail, but they did have ditch lights (as all diesels do nowadays). Not sure about the pilots- most KCS engines had plow pilots fore & aft, but I'm not sure what the 7000 series will have. They should be coming out of the shops fairly soon, so stay tuned.
Further news: It's my understanding that the 25 new/old SD50s are being brought up to running shape, not so much a complete teardown & rebuild. However, they are being repainted into the KCS scheme. With that bit of news, it should be interesting to see how well they run in service. We'll soon see- the first is sitting outside the Dixmoor plant, ready for shipment to Kansas City. Don't know if you noticed this, but except for the new AC4400Ws, KCS's roster is older 4-and 6-axle EMDS. This Class 1 is hitting the secondhand market much more than its larger brethern, who tend to purchase/lease new power. (NOTE: I'm referring to KCS's roster itself, not including the TFM and Texas-Mexican motive power)
friscobob, that is interesting. i had noticed when i am around the joplin/neosho mo area that most of the engines i see are sd60s with the occasional dash-9s, but i typically on hit those areas during certain time frames, so i'm probably hitting the same type of consists
KCS does have quite a few SD60s on their roster- they're the newest EMD power on the line (And yes, I'm aware TFM has SD70s, but I'm talking KCS proper here). They've also acquired rebuilt SD45s, SD45T-2s, and some wide-nose GP40s (these from CN). Only GE power is the the 2000-series AC4400CWs, which were originally to be used on coal trains, but wound up on just about everything else. It'll be interesting as well to see of the use of the EMD test units based out of Heavener will result in the purchase of some of these beasts. I still remember seeing multi-unit lashups of white KCS SD40-2s and SD40s on freights in & out of Heavener......closest I ever saw to gray was the grime on the diesels (white is a filth magnet-ask any mother of small children ). Interesting note: KHYI-FM (95.3 on the dial) is my favorite station, and is in the Wells Fargo building in PLano. The building is close to the KCS main, and every time a KCS freight passes CP "The Range", the DJs will play a Mandatory Train Tune. KHYI is an Americana station, playing TExas country, some bluegrass, and even some solid gold country, but no Nashville pop crap. (sorry for the shameless plug). They're found on the Internet at The Range , and they also play some good train tunes. [ 07. May 2004, 21:07: Message edited by: friscobob ]
not much in the way of train tunes here. i live in guthrie, ok and work in perry, ok. but i get to see a lot of bnsf stuff go through both towns. my mother in law lives a block from the old katy line in pryor, and i cross over kcs to go to my folks house in missouri, so if i happen to time everything right, i can see a lot of trains in a day!!!! :-D i'd love to see them get some of the SD70s. would be great to go just south of neosho to that hill that was in trains magazine a couple of months ago. get some smoke going, some heat haze...... great picture material!!!
The 7019 and 7024 arrived in Kansas City via the Iowa, Chicago & Eastern. Looking at the pics posted, they're painted in the standard KCS scheme. Should be in service pretty soon.
http://www.railroadforums.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=15834 Go to the second page of this thread- it will show the 7018 in the Beaumont, TX area. The "ex-Cons" are coming to KCS!
