GP30 carbody to Montana
Western Rail shop in Airway Heights, Wash., southwest of Spokane, has rebuilt a new locomotive for Central Montana Railroad. CMR GP38-3M No. 3001 was released in late January for testing and delivery. The locomotive was originally built as Rio Grande GP30 No. 3001 and was most recently part of the Hudson Bay Railway roster as its No. 2508. During the rebuild process, the unique GP30 carbody was retained. The locomotive was repainted into standard CMR colors which mimics the Burlington Northern cascade green and black scheme replacing green with dark blue. Central Montana operates about 85 miles of track in central Montana northwest of Lewiston.
Western Rail shop in Airway Heights, Wash., southwest of Spokane, has rebuilt a new locomotive for Central Montana Railroad. CMR GP38-3M No. 3001 was released in late January for testing and delivery. The locomotive was originally built as Rio Grande GP30 No. 3001 and was most recently part of the Hudson Bay Railway roster as its No. 2508. During the rebuild process, the unique GP30 carbody was retained. The locomotive was repainted into standard CMR colors which mimics the Burlington Northern cascade green and black scheme replacing green with dark blue. Central Montana operates about 85 miles of track in central Montana northwest of Lewiston.
Union Pacific ‘heritage fleet’ update
Union Pacific’s roster of locomotives wearing pre-merger paint schemes has dwindled to just two dozen units on a roster that totals almost 8,000 locomotives. Before UP’s 2018 entry into Precision Scheduled Railroading, the railroad had accelerated its repainting of locomotives including those not wearing the railroads standard Armour Yellow and Gray paint. Today, only 24 remain across four locomotive models and are as follows:
Former Chicago & North Western:
C44-9W Nos. 9696, 9741, 9771
AC4400CW No. 6706
Former Southern Pacific:
GP40-2 No. 1413
GP60s Nos. 1015, 1053, 1066, 1124
AC4400CW Nos. 6236, 6290, 6310, 6318, 6367, 6378, 6379
Former St. Louis Southwestern (Cotton Belt):
GP60s Nos. 1004, 1005, 1011, 1055, 1068, 1076, 1089, 1158
Covered wagon returned to service in the Midwest
Escanaba & Lake Superior returned FP7 No. 600 to service in late January. The locomotive has been out of service for almost a decade and will be used in place of ELS SD40-2 No. 500 which had a major mechanical failure in early 2019 and will most likely be retired. No. 600 was originally built as Milwaukee Road No. 96A spending time in commuter service in the Chicago area. E&LS purchased the FP7 from Wisconsin & Southern Railroad in 2005 and today it still wears that railroad’s red and silver paint scheme. E&LS is one of a handful of places in North America that still operates EMD’s iconic covered wagons in freight service.
Escanaba & Lake Superior returned FP7 No. 600 to service in late January. The locomotive has been out of service for almost a decade and will be used in place of ELS SD40-2 No. 500 which had a major mechanical failure in early 2019 and will most likely be retired. No. 600 was originally built as Milwaukee Road No. 96A spending time in commuter service in the Chicago area. E&LS purchased the FP7 from Wisconsin & Southern Railroad in 2005 and today it still wears that railroad’s red and silver paint scheme. E&LS is one of a handful of places in North America that still operates EMD’s iconic covered wagons in freight service.
I saw the ex SP GP40-2 1413 on a UP local freight on the ex ATSF Surf Line through Orange, CA last week (UP uses this line to reach the old SP industrial lines in Santa Ana because UP gave up the ex SP line from Anaheim to Santa Ana for the widening the Santa Ana Fwy)
Story about the GP30: Why would you rebuild a new locomotive? Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.
The YouTube video was splendid with Escanaba & Lake Superior’s FP7 No. 600 operating with oscillating nose lights! Headlights also illuminate from the nose hatch. This is traditional train operation with no ditch lights as it should be.
On a status report that I know of of some of the former SP locomotives still in SP paint, I know that UP 1413 Ex SP GP40-2 is currently in Anaheim, CA working the Local Industries. UP 1053 Ex SP GP60 is in Oxnard, CA working the local industries on the Coast Line. The 3 C&NW Dash 9s are in storage but I don’t know exactly where. UP 1011 I thought was in N Little Rock, AR in the process of being repainted but maybe not. Last I heard from a friend was that there were 3 Ex SP AC4400s left.
It’s a shame that UP sped up there repainting process of their predecessor locomotives. It was nice while it lasted. Get em while you can.