Supposedly, it is much cheaper for NS to paint their units themselves than to have GE do it. I guess a couple of side benefits too: the units hit the rails faster and they can use painting to keep the shop forces busy. Harold
Harold, I have heard that it is indeed much cheaper for NS to paint the units themselves and it keeps there paint shops open. What I don't understand is why they take so long to get around to painting the units. The longer they wait, the more it cost to clean and prep the units for painting.
It has to be cleaned and prepped the same regardless of how long it spends on the rails... It's cheaper to wait to paint a unit than to make a train and crew wait for power, and NS is power starved right now...
This is interesting. Are NS units that are running on other railroads (such as UP) leased to the other railroads? Lately, more than ever, I am seeing more and more NS units showing up on Union Pacific trains. I am guessing that the lease fee must be pretty attractive to the bottom line if NS is willing to let units go to other railroad's rails when they need them at home.
Nice catch on the Soo unit.... I have only caught one in my entire train chasing career... It was Soo 6058 and it was a wide cab (SD60M?) Harold
