Lake State receives first GP40-3 slug set NEWSWIRE

SAGINAW, Mich. – Michigan regional railroad Lake State Railway has taken delivery of its first GP40-3/road slug set manufactured by Metro East Industries Inc. and equipped with the ZTR NEXSYS™ III-I system. With a slug set, one locomotive, known as the “mother,” supplies power to an attached unit lacking a prime mover, the “slug.”

Lake State had several GP40M-3 and rebuilt GP35 locomotives that were sidelined with various mechanical issues and in need of rebuilding to bring them back to service. Metro East Industries was chosen by LSRC to do the work based on their experience installing the ZTR system and producing road slug sets for other railroads.

“We have been doing business with Metro East for many years and their product and services is very good,” says Mike Stickel, vice president of business management for Lake State. “The units we chose for the slug sets were a GP40M-3 and a GP35, so we needed to either upgrade to Dash 2, or a new microprocessor control system.

“The decision was made by Lake State to convert to ZTR Nexsys III-i based on projected increase in tractive effort over older technology,” he adds.

The pair was completed at Metro East in East St. Louis, Ill., where the units became the first four-axle locomotives to wear the attractive blue and grey lightning stripe scheme that was based on the Great Lakes Eastern model railroad and adapted for the prototype by owner Kevin Burkholder for Lake State.

The first mother unit – now designated as a GP40-3 – is No. 4303 and was originally constructed for the Chesapeake & Ohio as GP40 No. 3780 and was eventually CSX Transportation No. 6555, before becoming Texas-Mexican No. 1178 and ultimately Lake State No. 1178.

The first road slug, No. 303, began life as Detroit, Toledo & Ironton GP35 No. 351 and was passed through the Grand Trunk Western and Wabash & Erie ownership, before going to the Lake State as GP38M No. 371. It was eventually rebuilt to a GP38M designation, however was due for another rebuilding when the decision was made to use it for the first road slug.

Stickel adds, “We believe this is the first application of the ZTR system in a road slug set, but we had a comfort level going with ZTR. The Nexsys III system has been deployed on a large scale with the Class I railroads and feedback has been very positive. We expect the road slug set to perform as well or better than a pair of GP40’s on our road trains, with much less fuel consumption.

Brian Marty, Metro East marketing director, says, “Indiana Rail Road got us started in the business of building the mother/slugs. ZTR has been an excellent product to utilize on this type of product. Some units utilize fuel transfer capabilities, while others do not.”

The slug set offer operational control stands in both units, however the slug itself retains all the outward appearance features of a GP35 but does not boast an operational prime mover. What is interesting according to Marty, is that the prime mover remains inside the Road Slug, as it was deemed more economical than removing and replacing with a different form of ballast/weight. Additionally the slug’s fuel tank is operational and a fuel transfer allows the mother to draw from either tank, extending the time between refueling for the set.

A second Mother/Slug set are due to be released from Metro East Industries in the coming week, Nos. 4304 and 304. It will be handled by CSX for delivery to Lake State, bringing the total number of units in the new corporate scheme to six, with several more in line for painting this year. The second slug set was previously Nos. 1177 and 2003.