ACE 3106, the first new F40 built in nearly 5 years and delivered this past weekend to ACE at the UP shops in Stockton, will be making a test run with an empty train set from Stockton to Tracy and return this afternoon (Fri Jan 19) departing Stockton ACE around 3 PM. Altamont Sign Crew
It is most definately not new from the ground up. Even the MP36PH-3C/3S aren't all new from the ground up...
MPI does not build new EMD 645 prime movers, EMD Q-fans, EMD Blomberg M trucks, EMD dustbin hatches etc, etc, etc... they remanufacture them. For it to be completey new, it can't have remanufactured components...
Even the 'new' GreenGoat hybrid units built by Railpower have a builders plate in the cab with the date of manufacture of the frame. The 'brand new' unit I was on showed 1955 as the date.
I was under the impression that MPI had a deal with EMD. As a matter of fact, I'm 99% positive that MPI has a deal with EMD where EMD supplies the parts and MPI builds the engines. EMD found it more cost effective to let MPI do the construction on those types of engines. MP36s use new from the factory 710 engines, new traction motors. Per the Wikipedia entry, MPI builds F40PHs with the implication that they are new units. That seems unlikely though.
Per this site http://membrane.com/~elmer/rail/units/mpi_new.html The locomotives are considered new construction and don't have original builders plates. Many of the components are remanufactured on them. Again, this is not true for the MP36.
New with new parts, new with refurbished parts...who cares. ACE has a "new" loco. It happens to not be a rebuild but assembled from new and/or used parts. The whole point is, go take some pics, add it to your personnal roster notes, videotape it, record the sounds it makes, even just watch it, etc etc.
I hope M/K does a better job on their F-40's than the job they did on our full body GP-40's, GP-40FH-2 officially.
