Dash 7 questions

Do CSXT's (ex. Conrail) C36-7s have dynamic brakes or not? How much longer are the -7's days on CSXT? What was the reason for retiring the C30-7As, BQ23-7s, and B23-7s so soon?

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no, the ex-conrail c36-7's do not have dynamic brakes

they are not long for this world

the reason for retring them are because they were worn out

they are being retired apon major component failure of any kind...

some of the conrail b36-7's were retired when their lease was up and csx didnt want to spend any more money on junk

there were dozens of them sitting in waycross deadline awaiting disposition the last time I was up there (january)

The Ex Conrail C-36-7's are/were equipped with dynamic brakes when I
was still working for the railroad. They were used system wide and there
were enough areas with grades to warrant the equipment on them.
They were frequently used on the B. & A. where the dynamic brakes were
put to good use.
The official Conrail description of the dynamic brake on these units is:
Extended Range Flat, three speed dynamic brake.
The only Conrail engines not equipped with dynamic brakes in the later
days of Conrail were the end cab switchers, some of the GP-38's, SD-38's,
U-23-C's and early road switchers. Of course, there are a few exceptions
but this is the general pattern.
Noel Weaver

I agree, the C-36-7's are worn out, basically GE's do not last or age as
well as EMD's. In addition, the C-30-7's and C-36-7's have battled the
B. & A. mountains for a long time, overloaded and overworked for a long
time and it would cost more than they are worth to keep them on the road. They are not nearly as fuel efficient as the newer stuff either.
Good engines in their day, they day is past.
Noel Weaver

It's interesting how -7's didn't age well when overworked. Look at CR's and NS's dash 7s which spent time on heavy grades (C30-7, C36-7). The old SBD -7's are mainly still in service as they hardly went on grades.

"It's interesting how -7's didn't age well when overworked"

not really

all GE's are junk... not good for much over 15 years

look at NS retiring its -8's too, which were built in the mid to late 80's

Yes and yet the SD-40-2's seem to still run all over the place. Lots of
second-hand ones too.
I know in my days out of Selkirk the SD-40-2's of the late 1970's and
early 1980's were better power, in better shape and better to work on
than the newer GE's.
The dash eights were a big improvement but I still wonder how long they
will hold up too.
Noel Weaver

I disagree.....The C39-8 were non essentially preproduction dash 8's and therefore not the actual series. They were the first to use microprocessors and I think they are crap compared to C40-8..... Just what I think.........NS made the mistake of ordering large amounts of preproduction locos.....Although they were better than the C36-7's......These things (Besides the C39-8E which all that are not wrecked are in service I believe) are considered the same class as CR C32-8, ATSF B39-8 and the old BN B32-8.

The C-32-8 was not a common model, only a handful were built. The
C-39-8 was more common, Conrail got decent use from their units.
My reference stated that the jury was still out on the dash eights, and I
believe that is still the case. I can tell you, they were a big improvement
over the dash sevens.
One reason Conrail had fairly good luck with the dash sevens and a lot of
older GE power is that they were for the most part maintained at Selkirk
by people who had lots of experience with GE power. The same thing
applied with Alco's over the years, Amtrak got many more miles out of
their RS-3's because they were maintained in New Haven by old New
Haven people who had lots of experience with Alcos over the years.
The GE's (C-30-7's, C-36-7's, B-23-7's and B-36-7's gave a decent account of themselves when they were fairly new, they just didn't age as well as the SD's and GP's. The GE's put in many a hard mile overloaded on the Mohawk and slugging it out on the mountains of the B. & A.
As for the C-32-8's, I did not get them a lot as I worked only west out of
Selkirk but the times that I did run them, I never had much trouble with
them.
On my last trip in October of 1997, I had 6618 as a lead unit, it ran fine.
Noel Weaver

another thing

the only reason the existing B36-7's that CSX still uses are around is because for the most part, they were used mainly on intermodal trains up and down the east coast (except for a time that SCL wasted them by using them in bone valley)

pretty flat, fast trains. They stayed on the hot trains well into the mid 90's

they didnt lug it out like the C30-7's did in coal train service on the L&N for years...

now they linger mainly on locals (which must be a nightmare) and mixed freight

dont be surprised if all -7's are off the roster by this time next year

especialy the 6 axle units

Yeah, Crazy_Nip. I think that you are right in your prediction.

I've found over the years that the loco. storage lines at CSX's Rice Yd in Waycross, GA is a good indicator of loco. conditions on the entire RR.

Lately, a LOT of B36-7 units are showing up on the line, to keep company with the C30-7 units that have been there, and in increasing numbers.

A local scrapper/rebuilder in the neighborhood has some C30-7 units still in their Family Lines colors. They must have been sidelined or working in some really obscure place for a long time to miss out on all of the Seaboard System and various CSX paint schemes!

ACLfan

Noel, due to a severe power shortage in the area, there are an aweful lot of SD40-2's on the B&A lately......... that's definately one of my favorite models.

Well, I'll bet those SD-40-2's are running quite well. Hard to believe that
the newer C-30-7 and C-36-7 models are just about gone but the older
by several years SD-40-2's are still running around.
When I was still working to Buffalo, I did not mind getting them except
that they were kind of noisy. They were good trailers but as a leader, I
liked something newer better.
The engines that Conrail rebuilt in Altoona were especially noisy, the BLE
went to the company about them being in the lead and the company
understood the problem. Finally, for the most part, those particular units
were confined to the yard and trail status as much as possible.
Noel Weaver

I don`t think any of conrails C30-7s 6600-6609 went into the split.they went to helm as hlcx 6700-6709 the C30-7As and C32-8s that went to csx were returned to the leasor,probably because of the 12 cylinder engines they have.most of these are now on NS. CSX has picked up NS exCR C36-7s no CSX 7127-7140. none of these units came 2end hand from the santa fe.