Are modern locomotives basically the same between railroads?

Although I am sure "foreign power" is not as common as Virtual Railfan may make it seem, it does seem that it's not unknown for foreign power to lead trains, or for a train to be run exclusively with foreign power.

I also saw that (in Europe) Siemens offers the "Smartron" locomotive (a single configuration of Vectron available in any color as long as it is RAL 5019 Capri blue with a single standard delivery contract), designed to avoid the costs of customization.

These days, when a Class I railroad orders a (for example) Wabtec ET44AC locomotive what is the difference between that railroad's ET44AC and any other Class I's ET44AC other than paint scheme?

Run-through foreign power is a lot more common on some lines than others. When I lived along the UP southern transcon in AZ, I'd see NS and CSX power mixed in a couple times a day presumably on interchange services. Occasionally even BNSF and KCS units. Never CP or CN.

Up in Illinois I rarely see foreign power.

Doesn't directly answer your question, but I suspect the operating differences and options are few e.g. horns and light or number board positions...

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RandallW wrote: ↑Sun Aug 28, 2022 6:08 pm
These days, when a Class I railroad orders a (for example) Wabtec ET44AC locomotive what is the difference between that railroad's ET44AC and any other Class I's ET44AC other than paint scheme?

Normally it is minor things like type of seats and sometimes the weight. BNSF though buys ET44C4 locomotives rather than ET44AC locomotives. The difference is that the C4 locomotive only has four AC traction motors in A-1-A arrangement which reduces the cost, but also reduces the low speed pulling power.

Foreign power is very common on CP between St. Paul, MN and Chicago on the manifest trains, but less common west of St. Paul as all the manifests are reblocked at St. Paul Yd.

eolesen wrote: ↑Sun Aug 28, 2022 11:29 pm Up in Illinois I rarely see foreign power.

Mr. Olesen, plenty of such - including "real foreign" Ferromex - go through "The Land of the Burlingtons".

I'm surprised you report you see little along the MILW; seems like the last time about two weeks ago, I went by Bensenville on the 294 - in a Livery Car where I could look out and gaze at "the scenery" - I noted almost as many KCS units as I did CP.

Oh and a bonus; one engine - I think an MP-15 - still in MILW livery!!!!

The guts maybe the same change a seat digital versus analog gauges and what not. All class 1s use I-ETMS for the PTC system. In addition others will need Cab signals or possibly ACSES depending on what territory they may have to traverse.

Plenty of foreign power runs on CN's ex-EJ&E route (usually BNSF or UP) as well. Meanwhile, over on the Rock, we get CSX, usually once each way daily in the wee hours, and Iowa Interstate, one or sometimes two trains a day each way, typically with an evening westbound, one or two late night trains, and sometimes a morning eastbound. The IAIS trains sometimes have NS power as well, but I've never seen anything other than CSX power on CSX trains.

Differences in ballasting, special lighting, air intakes for tunnel service, horns, the ES44C4 situation mentioned above (or special cases like Metra's SD70MACH rebuilds), crew amenities, there can be plenty of small differences on different orders, but as I understand it, the important mechanical differences occur between generations such as ES44AC vs. ET44AC. Is anyone still ordering DC traction motors on new units these days?

As part of my conductor training for BNSF, I had to learn to hustle power. Because of the different collective bargaining agreements, we had to be mindful of which units were put in the lead position. We didn't have to worry about cab signals at Clyde Roundhouse, but things like a refrigerator, proper seats......