Moderator: Otto Vondrak
NYCRRson wrote:Even if a Class I agreed to move them you should expect some rough handling. Do you think they are made out of plastic?
Those "do not hump" placards, heck they are just an invitation to see your shipment humped at every possible hump yard between Cooperstown and Michigan.... How many hump yards do you think that would be?
And speed restrictions, heck those are just "suggestions"; "Hey Larry, wonder how fast we can go with this thing before the traction motors fly apart"....... You must not be familiar with today's railroading!
If I owned those White Elephants (sorry, Red Elephants in honor of the PRR, Standard Railroad of the World, har har) I would never ever allow them to be moved by rail these days. Especially when there are so many other options for moving something that size via highway, water or air.
Seems like disassembly, trucking and reassembly is the only viable choice. Expensive, sure, but your chances of something resembling a GG1 arriving at your destination are better than 50%. Just what do you think a railroad would do to one of these that would totally destroy it?
Heck the PRR cut one in half to get it out of the basement of Union Station in Washington DC, they simply welded it back together, I heard it was about 6 inches shorter after the repairs... (just kidding).
They are beautiful "motors", I had a chance to ride behind them several times and watched a triple headed GG1 freight train go by along the NE Corridor. But frankly if the Dearborn Museum really wanted to obtain one and fix it up for a nice display piece they are about 30 years too late. They should have approached Amtrak or Conrail back in the early 1980's when one was probably still suitable (barely) for interchange.
Cheers, Kevin
NYCRRson wrote:Those "do not hump" placards, heck they are just an invitation to see your shipment humped at every possible hump yard between Cooperstown and Michigan....
The weight of a GG-1 is something like UP 3985
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