Since early summer, the railroad has been adding to its storage line at its Russell Yard in eastern Kentucky and similar moves are taking place at railroad shops and other yards throughout the network.
And it’s not only older, conventional cab locomotives, either. Newer locomotives with delivery dates of less than 20 years ago are also in storage.
Among the most common types of locomotives to be sidelined since spring include EMD-built SD50-2, SD60, SD60M, SD70MAC, and SD70AC locomotives. SD40-2s that have not already been rebuilt to SD40-3 specifications or sidelined for the rebuild program are also accumulating in storage lines.
And EMD locomotives are not the only products to be parked.
GE-built C40-8W locomotives in the 7000 and 9000 numbering series are also in storage lines and some of the railroad’s AC6000CW locomotives haven’t seen service since early 2017.
The decision to sideline hundreds of locomotives used in mainline service as recently as 2016 means that today’s mainline trains are operating with less variety.
A large percentage of the railroad’s GE AC4400CW fleet remains in service even though the locomotives are approaching 20 years of service. Newer GE products, such as the Evolution series ES40DCs, ES44AHs, and the Tier-4 equivalent models are predominant locomotives in mainline service today.
Similarly, EMD-rebuilt SD40-3s and their four axle equivalents, the GP38-3 and GP40-3s, are dominating local and yard scenes alongside GP38-2s and GP40-2s and road slugs. EMD MP15AC and MP15T locomotives, which accounts for a little more than 100 locomotives on the roster, are still dominating the local yard scene, while newer low-emission Gensets are in storage.
Even though some of the railroad’s secondary locomotives have been sidelined this summer, trackside enthusiasts are still catching an occasional glimpse of rare mainline power. A SD40-2 duo was spotted on the railroad’s former Louisville & Nashville mainline this summer and in July, a SD40-2/SD40-3 duo powered an eastbound manifest across the railroad’s former Chesapeake & Ohio mainline to Virginia.
It was estimated that the railroad’s storage lines were in excess of 900 locomotives at one point, though sources familiar with the situation say that number has since been reduced amid locomotive shortages.
As for locomotive maintenance and repairs, the railroad’s Huntington, W.Va., locomotive shops remain busy with GP38-3 and GP40-3 rebuilds, regularly scheduled repaints, and new preventive maintenance work acquired from workforce reductions at other facilities across the system.
As for where CSX is sending its out-of-service units, long storage lines have been seen at Russell, Ky., Cumberland, Md., Waycross, Ga., and other yards throughout the system.
It is unclear how long some of the locomotives will remain in service and what the railroad intends to do with its aging fleet. As of now, the railroad has not announced any plans to auction or sell its locomotives since divesting of its GE C40-8 fleet earlier this year.
The 7500-series standard cab locomotives were sidelined in early 2017, with some of them finding a new home on the Pan Am Railways in New England freight service soon thereafter.
Trains News Wire reached out to CSX Transportation for comment on stored locomotives, but had not yet heard from the railroad.
Impressive picture.Wonder how many railroads are doing the same thing
900 locos seems like a lot more than just coal business lost. Yikes
I have seen stats about other class 1s also sidelining big numbers of locomotives. Coal haulage reduction is one reason. Another reason is that the modern AC power replaces older locomotives on a two-for-three basis.
It would be interesting for some old-timers to explain why the different types of locomotives are put in storage. Are dependability, fuel consumption etc. major factors? What is the logic in running underpowered trains when an abundant supply of power is available? Are there logical answers or is this pure politics – shippers be damned? “My Way or The Highway”…Where are the “Men who Loved Trains” to give us some insight ?
Great article. I hope to see the stored locos in KY/WV and Cumberland. I hope the accompanying photo was taken from a publicly accessible bridge that I can use too?
EHH what a great way to screw your customers. Sorry I don’t have any power or crews to service you!
Jim Norton, I’m sure it’s part of it. They’re running severely underpowered trains. There are stories of trains on the Water Level Route (ruling grade 0.89%) stalling out for lack of horsepower. In railroad terms, 0.89% is “flat.” If you can’t run trains on a flat right-of-way, you can’t run trains, period!
To quote a famous movie line, “stupid is what stupid does”!
Of course there is. When he was at CN, in its quest to park as many locomotives as possible, regardless of the actual operational needs, Harrison tended to under-power the trains down to 0.5hp / ton. As a result, several trains could not accelerate up to the prescribed track speed (generally 50-60mph), and some trains would sometimes stall on short and minor grades, tying up main lines for several hours and making the crew die on the HOS law. Long, slow-moving trains also take longer to travel through speed-restricted zones and occupy terminals and control points for longer periods; if in addition the trains can accelerate back to track speed thereafter, you will quickly clog your system. Until you lose enough traffic and you’re down to 2-3 trains a day top. The future of railroading.
Is there a correlation between CSX traffic issues and all this power parked?
This could be a windfall for shortline railroads needing newer locomotives.