CSX Retiring C39-8's

CSXT RETIRING FORMER CONRAIL C39-8 LOCOMOTIVES:
CSX is currently in the process of retiring its small fleet of nine former Conrail C39-8 locomotives. These locomotives were built in June through August 1986 by General Electric and were initially intended for use on the Conrail/Norfolk Southern pool trains operating between Columbus, OH and Atlanta, GA, but later saw service system-wide. The locomotives are now being put on the dead line at Waycross, GA pending disposition. The background of the locomotives is as follows:
CSXT 7480 formerly Conrail 6001
CSXT 7481 formerly Conrail 6002
CSXT 7482 formerly Conrail 6005
CSXT 7483 formerly Conrail 6008
CSXT 7484 formerly Conrail 6009
CSXT 7485 formerly Conrail 6013
CSXT 7486 formerly Conrail 6018
CSXT 7487 formerly Conrail 6019
CSXT 7488 formerly Conrail 6020

LOL, I think that this is a good thing, the few times I have caught one of these, it was smoking like a chimney. I know that NS still has a ton of them, wonder how long they will hold on to theres?

SimTrains wrote:LOL, I think that this is a good thing, the few times I have caught one of these, it was smoking like a chimney.

For photography reasons, it kind of stinks, though!

SimTrains wrote:I know that NS still has a ton of them, wonder how long they will hold on to theres?

NS has been gradually retiring since 2001, from what I hear. Current NS rosters say there are thirteen. (NS 8200-8212) The remaing units are still running due to traffic increases, and more than likely, are getting minimal maintanence.

they painted one or 2 of these into YN3

they also painted at least ONE C36-7

CSX wasted ALOT of money by painting a BOATLOAD of ex-conrail B36-7's and then retiring them a VERY short time later, I figured they had learned their lesson when it came to that

at any rate, good riddance C39-8's... im sure the crews will approve of this move

crazy_nip wrote:they painted one or 2 of these into YN3

they also painted at least ONE C36-7

CSX wasted ALOT of money by painting a BOATLOAD of ex-conrail B36-7's and then retiring them a VERY short time later, I figured they had learned their lesson when it came to that

at any rate, good riddance C39-8's... im sure the crews will approve of this move

I have mixed feelings on this one, they were the best of the GE's at the
time that they were fairly new but a GE is still a GE. The dash 8's were a
big improvement over the dash 7's.
Noel Weaver

crazy_nip wrote:they painted one or 2 of these into YN3
CSX wasted ALOT of money by painting a BOATLOAD of ex-conrail B36-7's and then retiring them a VERY short time later, I figured they had learned their lesson when it came to that

Did they really paint a bunch of the ex-Conrail B36's? When they were still on the Bull Sheet roster, I only recall seeing one or two repainted. In any event, I only actually saw one come through Syracuse before they left the roster.

JD

B36-7's were seen on occaion in and around Lyons Yard in Lyons, NY
from time to time when the GP38's and GP40's were out and about. I can rember the only units ever being in Lyons were B23-7's and B36-7's now there all gone

RailBus63 wrote:Did they really paint a bunch of the ex-Conrail B36's? When they were still on the Bull Sheet roster, I only recall seeing one or two repainted. In any event, I only actually saw one come through Syracuse before they left the roster.

yes, they painted about 12-15 of the 25 they ended up getting...

they were all still sitting in the waycross dead line last time I was up there (early 2004)

they have painted 4 (or 5) of the 9 C39-8's they got

I KNOW 7488 and 7482, 7483, 7484 got painted

they looked pretty horrid in YN2, not as bad in YN3

I was in Roanoke, Virginia in May, 2001 and saw a huge deadline, most of which were C39-8's that had beee stripped and cannibalized. 2001 was the year that NS got rid of all of their Dash 7's.

I will miss these. They showed up occasionally on the Boston Line and they were unique. They had a nickname, but i forget what it is right now.

"Humpbacks" is a term I have heard.

Look what Conrail did. they painted a F7, some four and six axle ALCos, and who knows what else in Conrail Blue. It was a waste of money, but it does look beautiful in the photographs.
http://www.trainweb.org/csxphotos/html/C39-8.html
keep searching keep finding

If anything like Conrail and today CSX they all thought that these locomotives were most likley going to stay so they painted them up and poof they were removed. There is or was at leased a trend in the Baldwin page about Conrail painting 2 VO1000's in Conrail blue but they only got as far as the lettering and numbers no logos. There are pics on a web page called the Baldwin zone.