F40C 610

This post on the Illini Rail Yahoo group caught my eye:

"Was at NRE today and saw that the F-40-C 610 has been pulled out of the
deadline. It's in a good spot for photos. I hope it's not going to be cut up as other stuff has that's been moved to this area. Thanks to Ryan Kertis for heads up on this one!"

Followed by this post:

"Yes, F40C 610 is next to be scrapped, then to follow I believe is that ATSF GP7 or 9 back there..."

Pictures of it can be seen in this photo album, way toward the back. Looks like the numberboards have been removed: http://chessie5882.rrpicturearchives.ne ... x?id=15120

From the outside at least, it looks to be in halfway decent shape. Too bad it never found another home...

Not to get too far off topic...

..So far NRE has cut up

MKT 100
MKT 101
MKT 104
B&O 1836

Ryan

In Better Days;

http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/milw/milw50ags.jpg

Is any METRA F40C being preserved?

Rumor has it that when the 611 and 614 come off the agreement they're under, at least one will go to the Illinois Railway Museum. I imagine if they somehow were able to procure a WC SD45, one of the F40Cs shouldn't be that hard to get.

I wish they'd get both and restore one of them to its original appearance.

That would look cool, but is unlikely. Those units spent most of their service lives wearing Metra colors, so groups like IRM would restore (or in this case, retain) them to that paint scheme since it represents the most time.

Also consider that IRM owns Milwaukee Road commuter E9s 33C and 37A. Those two would be ideal representations of Milwaukee commuter rail power from the 1960s-1970s, whereas an F40C would be a better representative of the 1980s-1990s.

Yes, but 33C and 37A are both in very, very poor condition. If they ever run again, i'll be amazed. The bias out there is towards the CB&Q, so projects like the 33C get put off. 33C is in the shop right now with it's side panels off. Needs new support beams for the roof. Will it ever happen? Who knows! What I do know is when they're offered an engine they can put right into service, usually they'll take it!

byte wrote: whereas an F40C would be a better representative of the 1980s-1990s.

The F40C's were delivered in 1974, so they also represent the 70s. Metra didn't butcher them until the late 80s, so they spend approximately 1/2 their service life in their original configuration.

I'd be surprised if the C's get used much at IRM if/when they are donated. That's a monster locomotive, no different than having an SD40 or SD45 pulling small trains up the tourist pike. I would assume the C will be parked next to the FP45 from ATSF. The smartest move (you guys will hate me for saying this) would be to park the C next to the FP45 and then sell the prime mover to a place like NRE, then use the proceeds to restore smaller toys that don't beat up the track as much.

If they run steamers, I think they could run the Cs. Plus they are in operable condition and wouldn't need much work to put into service. The idea of selling the prime mover to fund other projects is appealing, but they could have done it with the prime mover from the FP45 when they first got it way back.

Whatever happens, I hope at least one of them gets preserved in one form or another.

Tadman wrote:I'd be surprised if the C's get used much at IRM if/when they are donated. That's a monster locomotive, no different than having an SD40 or SD45 pulling small trains up the tourist pike. I would assume the C will be parked next to the FP45 from ATSF. The smartest move (you guys will hate me for saying this) would be to park the C next to the FP45 and then sell the prime mover to a place like NRE, then use the proceeds to restore smaller toys that don't beat up the track as much.

One of the primary locomotives used for passenger service at IRM is the BN U30C, which is a pretty big locomotive..............