Remanufacture up to 50 EMD F40PH Locomotives
Informal Open House – To view EMD F40PH Locomotive Jan. 30, 2007.
byte wrote:...although there's probably more than a few F40s sitting around inactive every rush hour...
stentman wrote:Plus remember with the current state of funding at Metra, I'm sure the last thing they can afford to do is buy 50 new locomotives
doepack wrote:stentman wrote:Plus remember with the current state of funding at Metra, I'm sure the last thing they can afford to do is buy 50 new locomotives
Absolutely. And even if one were to entertain the assumption that they could successfully lobby the feds for some more money to buy newer units, they'd still have to come up with the required 20% local match before they can even begin shopping. Metra's share of the Illinois FIRST funds helped secure the MP's, but that well is dry, and new, significant local funding sources have yet to be identified. It may be indeed practical to rebuild the F40's, especially since they're in pretty good shape for the most part, but the economics driving this decision should not be underestimated...
byte wrote:As long as they still work, it's not an impossibility. However, it depends on two things - paperwork and their mechanical condition. The management people may have already signed something that says those two units are retired and thus wouldn't be used on any revenue trains. Also, remember that when they pulled one of the two from Western Avenue to use it for that accident reenactment, it was having mechanical issues during its shakedown runs. Unless Metra plans on doing some preliminary work on those two engines, they may be too unreliable to be used as backup power.
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