Here in Des Moines,Iowa the NS has been using rebuilt GP38-2 quite a bit. I am ready to see some older power in town!
Originally, all of the GP38's had been retired. However, they had reactivated 2 or 3 within the past year (# 2912 that I saw was one of them). One of those units that was reactivated appears to have had a failure and may be retired again. Less than half of the GP38AC's remain... there are about 50 or less in service out of the original 100+. (Many that were retired have been rebuilt in the GP38-2 program). Harold
I always have a hard time, when I read about Iowa, and NS in the same context. Is this ex-Wabash track??? Boxcab E50
[/QUOTE]Originally, all of the GP38's had been retired. However, they had reactivated 2 or 3 within the past year...Less than half of the GP38AC's remain... there are about 50 or less in service out of the original 100+. (Many that were retired have been rebuilt in the GP38-2 program). Harold [/QB][/QUOTE] Why were all those GP's retired in the first place? Too much downtime? Now you see yard crews switching with Dash 9's and road trains starved for engines. Seems like those old 4 bangers could have found a home pounding the lead somewhere, at least for a while. Even on the road, I'd take a string of running GP's as opposed to some of the junk that passes for 6 axle power these days. 2 or 3 running four axles beats a dead 6 any day.
BoxcabE50,yes this is a combination of ex Wabash and CB&Q and Des Moines Union trackage. The BNSF brings the road trains up from St.Louis and the NS does the switching in Des Moines.
Yes,they used to have there own way to Des Moines from Moberly,MO,but my understanding is there was little business on the line until they got to Des Moines. The trains now come up the BNSF K Line to Burlington,IA and the run the Chicago to Denver line until they get to Albia,IA and then they get on the branch to Des Moines. Trains on the Branch usually are both road trains and grain trains although train frequiency varies day to day. The Appanoose County RR runs the ex-NS line from Albia to Centerville. Customers on the Appanoose include Rubbermaid and RELCO.
I don't know why they were retired... they picked up a bunch of GP38's from the Conrail deal well after they had retired their own. My guess is that the ex-CR GP38's were probably not very reliable.
Red Rock, Thanks for the pic! It's nice to see some more of these units... there could be a lot more coming,,,, Harold
Guys,Some CR GP38s seen service on the NS.Note the NS numbers.Some appeared to have received NS paint. http://www.nslocos.com/crgp38.html
Yep, a lot of them got NS numbers, but all were "retired" a couple of years ago, although a few have been reactivated. There's been one hanging around here for the past couple of months. Harold
I'm glad to see I'm not the only 4-axlle fan in here! Seeing any of the Killer B's make a nice photo outting for me!
I am used to 4 axle power around my home town.. used to be GP30's, GP35's, and GP38's.... now seems to be GP38-2's and GP50's. Harold
