BNSF To Let Go Of SD70MAC's RUMOR.

The rumor mill is going around and I hear that BNSF will let go of its SD70MAC units because it would cost a lot for one unit to upgrade to Tier I emissions. These engines will be reportedly sold to South America and Africa. If anyone has any more information, much appreciated.

Wouldn't this hurt the roster? There is over 100 of these engines which are the premier engines for the Powder River Basin. And are any stored serviceable right now, because I have only heard of some ex-ATSF engine stored, and some older 6 axles.

if it costs allot to upgrade to tier 1 then it must cost a whole lot more to upgrade to tier 2 which the modern locos are,

Death Star wrote:The rumor mill is going around and I hear that BNSF will let go of its SD70MAC units because it would cost a lot for one unit to upgrade to Tier I emissions. These engines will be reportedly sold to South America and Africa. If anyone has any more information, much appreciated.

Are the leases up on these units?

v8interceptor wrote:Are the leases up on these units?

These aren't leasers. They were aquired in the ATSF BN merger in 1995. They were part of a massive BN unit order for increases in the Powder River Basin. Later units were purchased by BNSF to finish off the unit purchases of SD70MACs. Not leases.

I hope its not true, I love the look of these engines in the Green and Creme Scheme.

Im not too sure on this one but as the SD70macs have been around before the new EPA requirements they would grandfather in the right to be exempt form such new EPA provisions, as long as operations are on branch lines and not main lines or on yard duties. So Im sure a few will still be around.
PS: hey Mr Conductor nice to see you over here...lol

I always liked the SD70mac in the BNSF dark green and white scheme...

buddah wrote:Im not too sure on this one but as the SD70macs have been around before the new EPA requirements they would grandfather in the right to be exempt form such new EPA provisions, as long as operations are on branch lines and not main lines or on yard duties.

Cool 4300 HP engines on branch lines. They are doomed.

atsf sp wrote:

v8interceptor wrote:Are the leases up on these units?

These aren't leasers. They were aquired in the ATSF BN merger in 1995. They were part of a massive BN unit order for increases in the Powder River Basin. Later units were purchased by BNSF to finish off the unit purchases of SD70MACs. Not leases.

Actually I mis-stated my question. I did not mean to imply that the locomotives were leased like GATX units, etc. What I meant is that the major railroads often purchase locomotives under an equipment trust agreement rather than buying them outright and frequently, when a whole class is being retired, it is because the trust has expired and the RR has not chosen to purchase them at that time..

Folks, the rumour is just that. A rumour.

Locomotives are "grandfathered" from all the EPA standards (unless otherwise stated).

However, should BNSF want to upgrade them from 4000hp to a 4300hp engine (rumour), then the EPA Tier X ruling would come into play.

There was a rumour about 18 months ago of BNSF being keen to upgrade them with an extra 300hp per unit to get an extra 10% train length on it's PRB coal trains, but this has fallen by the wayside.

SD70MAC's are not going anywhere... There has been a drop in coal demand and some are going to storage.
BNSF is retiring its older GP series fleet and SD40's.

This is way far fetched rumor. Why would BNSF let go of SD70MAC's when it still runs SD40s and SD60s? There is no need for them to upgrade them to tier II standards. If that were the case EVERY SD70 of all variations would have to be upgraded. Thats 1000+ locomotives in the continent. Actually they would have to upgrade every locomotive thats not Tier II standards instead of just one specific model. SD70MAC's are workhorses on the BNSF and more modern than a lot of units still working on the system.

There may be something having to do with the earliest units. These had conventional hydraulic governors, instead of electronic fuel injection. When I went through engineer school, they said that when the earliest units were built, EMD had not fully perfected the EFI. These earliest SD70MACs would be refitted eventually with EFI.
Since then I have left BNSF. I did get a run-through MAC about a year ago. This one was one of the lower numbered units ( series starts at 9400) When I was doing the daily inspection, I noticed that it still had its hydraulic governor.

My question is why would BNSF be repainting the SD70macs if they were going to be getting rid of them?

Any locomotives manufactured between 1973 and 2001, must comply with EPA Tier 0 standards (in some cases those originally manufactured 1993-2001 must comply with Tier 1 standards) when they go through a rebuild ("remanufacturing"), even if they didn't meet the standards when originally built. Therefore, they are only "grandfathered" to the extent they continue to be serviceable without a rebuild. Time, therefore, will purge oldies from major RR rosters other than the really old (i.e., originally manufactured before 1973), which are exempt, unless rebuild programs are inexpensive enough to make the older units compliant while being comparable in other ways (reliability, fuel efficiency, etc.) with new power. Since, for example, SD40-2s are relative fuel hogs compared with modern power, while offering less power (not to mention less dynamic braking ability) than new power, without added emissions equipment (which is likely a detriment to both power and fuel efficiency when "added on" to old-tech engines), I'd guess the prospect of seeing large scale rebuilding programs for such power is slim to none.

http://www.dieselnet.com/standards/us/loco.php#tier0