Railroad Forums 

  • SUZY-Q SD-70M IN OHIO

  • Discussion related to New York, Susquehanna & Western operations past and present. Also includes some discussion related to Deleware Otsego owned and operated shortlines. Official web site can be found here: NYSW.COM.
It is currently Fri May 10, 2024 6:55 pm

SUZY-Q SD-70M IN OHIO

Discussion related to New York, Susquehanna & Western operations past and present. Also includes some discussion related to Deleware Otsego owned and operated shortlines. Official web site can be found here: NYSW.COM.

Moderators: GOLDEN-ARM, NJ Vike

SUZY-Q SD-70M IN OHIO

  by GOLDEN-ARM
 
I AM CURRENTLY OUT HERE IN OHIO, RUNNING ON THE I&O. HAVE HAD THE 4050, 4052 AND 4054 IN THE LAST 10 DAYS. ALL ARE RUNNING, AND ALONG WITH A HEAVY OIL FILM, COATING THE CARBODIES, ALL ARE SHOWING SIGNS OF WEAR/ABUSE. THE 4054 HAS A BIT OF A SMOKING PROBLEM, WITH HEAVY SMOKE BEING PRESENT AT IDLE. (APPEARS TO BE OIL, POSSIBLE LEAK IN THE RINGS, OR A SMALL LEAK IN THE TURBO BEARING SEALS. ) WILL GET SOME SHOTS, FROM THE CABS, AND ON THE ROAD, AND WILL GET THEM POSTED SOON. SEVERAL TUNNEL MOTORS (EX-SP SD-45-T'S, AS WELL AS A TON OF WC SD-45'S AS WELL) WILL GET THOSE PIX POSTED, AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. REGARDS
Last edited by GOLDEN-ARM on Thu May 05, 2005 10:57 pm, edited 2 times in total.

  by charlie6017
 
Thanks Dave! :-D
Good to know the big units are doing well...............

  by trainfreak
 
Glad to see they are still running well. Take care of them for us so we can get them back and use them sometime!

SUZY-Q '70'S

  by GOLDEN-ARM
 
AN UPDATE ON THE 4050, 52 &54. ALL ARE PRETTY WELL "BEATEN-UP", AT THIS POINT IN TIME.. THE 4054 IS CURRENTLY OOS, WITH A BURNED WHEEL BEARING. THE 4052 WAS RECENTLY FITTED WITH 3 NEW POWER ASSEMBLIES, DUE TO DAMAGE SUBSTAINED FROM BEING OVER-WORKED/UNDER MAINTAINED. THE 4050 SUFFERED EXTENSIVE DAMAGE TO THE HV CABINET, DUE TO FAILURE OF THE A/C AND RELATED BLOWER ASSEMBLY. A RATHER LARGE FIRE OCCURED, ALTHOUGH THIS HAS SINCE BEEN REPAIRED. ALL 3 UNITS SUFFER FROM EXCESSIVE WEAR/DAMAGE TO THE CAB INTERIORS, WITH THE CEILINGS FALLING DOWN, OR MISSING COMPLETELY, MISSING SEATS, BROKEN ARMRESTS ON REMAINING SEATS, DEFECTIVE REFRIDGERATORS, ETC....... THE 4052 "TOOK A HIT", FROM A HIGH SPEED COUPLING, WITH DAMAGE TO THE REAR CATWALK/CROSSOVER AREA. MY GUESS WOULD BE THAT THE SUZY WILL SELL THE UNITS, TO THE I&O, WHEN THEY ARE INSPECTED, PRIOR TO BEING RETURNED. THE RAILROAD WILL HAVE A PAIR OF GE 44AC DEMONSTRATORS, FOR EVALUATION, BEING DELIVERED ON OR ABOUT MAY 10TH. IF THESE WORK OUT, THE I&O WILL BUY 4 OF THE GE'S, AS THEY ARE AVAILABLE "NOW", AND THE PRICE IS RIGHT. THE BACKLOG AT EMD IS SUPPOSED TO BE AROUND 18 MONTHS, TO RECEIVE AN OREDERED UNIT. THE GE'S ARE ALREADY BUILT. THE LIST OF DEFECTS ON THE RELATIVELY NEW SUZY-Q UNITS WAS QUITE SAD, AND THE UNITS ARE BEING "RUN-TO-FAILURE", BEFORE THEY ARE SHOPPED. :(

  by trainfreak
 
That is truly terrible. When these units left they were almost new!!! Now will the NYSW fine the I&O for the truly terrible upkeep on these locomotives? Its a shame seeing units that used to highball on stack packs be run into the ground on a railroad in the midwest.

  by GOLDEN-ARM
 
YES, IT IS A SHAME, TO SEE THE 70'S BEING "RUN-TO-FAILURE", BUT TO BE FAIR, THE RAILROAD IS ACTUALLY RUNNING ALL OF IT'S LOCOMOTIVES, TO FAILURE. THE CARRIER JUST DOESN'T HAVE SUFFICIENT POWER, AND NUMBERS OF LOCOS TO ACTUALLY HANDLE THE TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF FREIGHT THEY HAVE RECENTLY INHERITED. TRUTH BE TOLD, THEY ARE NOT EVEN RUNNING ALL OF THE TRAINS, THAT ARE NOW THEIRS. NS IS STILL HANDLING SOME TRAINS, AS WELL AS CSX. THE CURRENT DEAD-LINE AT CINCINATTI HOLDS ABOUT 9 LOCOS, THAT ALL NEED TO BE IN SERVICE. THE FEW LOCOS LEFT RUNNING, ARE ALL IN DIRE NEED OF REPAIRS, EXCEPTING THE CEFX 9392 (NEE SP 9392) AND THE IORY 4082. ALL OTHER UNITS HAVE IN-OPERATIVE DYNAMIC BRAKES, MASSIVE OIL AND/OR WATER LEAKS, FAULTY/DEFECTIVE AIR GAUGES, DEFECTIVE EQ RESERVOIR SYSTEMS, BURNT TRACTION MOTORS, ETC. EVERY UNIT LEFT RUNNING IS RUN, UNTIL IT DIES. THIS INCLUDES THE SUZY-70'S. THE 4054 IS AWAITING A CRANE, TO LIFT IT OFF IT'S DEFECTIVE TRUCK, SO A BOXCAR TRUCK CAN BE PLACED UNDER IT, FOR SHIPMENT BACK TO THE SHOPS, WHERE (HOPEFULLY) A NEW BEARING PACKSET CAN BE PURCHASED, AND APPLIED. (YOU WOULD THINK THAT THE LEASE AMOUNT, PER UNIT, WOULD BE ENOUGH INCENTIVE TO GET HER UP & RUNNING AGAIN. THEY ARE BEING PAID FOR, "DEAD OR ALIVE") YOU HAVEN'T SEEN ANYTHING, UNTIL YOU HAVE SEEN A CONSIST WITH A MP15AC, SD45T-2, GP-38, AND AN SD-70 PULLING A TRAIN, OVER THE ROAD. (THIS WAS THE ORDER IN WHICH THEY WERE RUNNING, WITH THE MP-15 IN THE LEAD !!!) ON THE RETURN TRIP, THE 38 WAS DEAD AND THE 45 WAS SUFFERING FROM A CONTINUING GROUND-RELAY PROBLEM. THIS GOES BACK TO MY ORIGINAL COMMENT, THAT THE SUZY WOULD PROBABLY PRESENT A BILL, OF SALE, TO THE I&O FOR THE 3 70'S, THAT WERE NOT FIT TO BE RETURNED. REGARDS

  by TerryC
 
It is amazing how beat up these units are considering that they are about 10 years old. Does anybody know when in 1995 these units were built? Would New York Susquehanna & Western sell these locomotives to a railroad other than the Indiana & Ohio?

keep asking keep learning

  by Jtgshu
 
IMO, it would sort of be a "you broke it, you buy it" kind of thing........NYSW isn't gonna absorb the damages and only take the units back at the end of the lease. Im sure the lease agreement is very specific, and IandO knows the terms of it, and realizes that they are probably gonna be stuck with these units which now need $$$$$$$$$ in repairs.

  by Conrail
 
If the SD70Ms were sold how much would they go for?

  by GOLDEN-ARM
 
DON'T KNOW. AS THE UNITS ARE ON A 3 YEAR LEASE, AND EVERY DAY, THEY ARE DEPRECIATING IN VALUE. (THIS OCCURS NATURALLY, NOT BECAUSE OF THE ABUSE THEY ARE SUFFERING) THE I&O REPORTEDLY PAYS 6K, PER MONTH, PER UNIT. A VERY LARGE SUM, CONSIDERING ONE UNIT HAS BEEN UNSERVICEABLE FOR OVER 60 DAYS NOW. ALSO, I WONDER WHAT UNCLE WALT IS PAYING FOR THOSE ALCOS. SEEMS KIND OF FUNNY, TO LEASE OUT YOUR "SUPER-POWER", SO YOU CAN LEASE A FLEET OF ANTIQUES. (PERSONALLY, I WOULD LIKE TO RUN AN ALCO, EVERY DAY. MY ALL TIME FAVORITE LOCO & BUILDER.) HE MUST BE BANKING A DECENT AMOUNT. PERHAPS HE MIGHT EVEN SPRING FOR A PAINT JOB, OR THREE, FOR THOSE BIG ALCOS.,THEY SURE WOULD LOOK GOOD WITH A SUZY-Q PAINT JOB. THE BIG SUZY ENGINES HAVE BEEN SERVING IN "DRAG-SERVICE", UNTIL THE RECENT AQUISITION OF A BUNCH OF "B" UNITS. DRAG SERVICE,, FOR THOSE THAT DON'T KNOW, IS WHAT HAPPENED TO THE ALCO'S, ON CONRAIL. THE I&O WAS TAKING 1 UNIT, RATED FOR PERHAPS 5000 TRAILING TONS, AND WAS PUTTING 8000+ TONS BEHIND IT, THEN LITERALLY DRAGGING THE TRAIN ACROSS THE RAILROAD. SPEEDS SOMETIMES REACH AN ASTOUNDING 20 MPH !!! THE UNIT BASICALLY SPENDS 8-10 HOURS A SHIFT, IN THE 8TH NOTCH, AT VERY LOW SPEEDS, THEN THE NEXT CREW GETS ON, AND REPEATS THE PROCESS, AND THE LOCO IS RUN THIS WAY, UNTIL IT FAILS. CONTRARY TO POPULAR BELIEFS, IT IS POSSIBLE TO "KILL" AN ALMOST NEW ENGINE, SIMPLY BY USING IT IN EXTENDED PERIODS OF DRAG SERVICE. THE ALCOS WERE EXCELLENT AT THIS KIND OF WORK, YOU ALMOST COULDN'T KILL ONE, EXCEPT BY FAILING TO PERFORM NECESSARY, ROUTINE MAINTENANCE. REGARDS

  by ANDY117
 
I'd wish Walt would paint the 630's also! although, the Tiger scheme isn't that ugly. It saddens me that these have been run in these conditions.

  by washingtonsecondary
 
paint doesn't make an engine run.

  by Noel Weaver
 
washingtonsecondary wrote:paint doesn't make an engine run.
This is very true, a dirty engine usually runs as good as a clean one.
In addition, engines are built to run and to haul tonnage whether it is at
20 MPH or 70 MPH.
Noel Weaver

  by NYSW3614
 
Not mention they don't own the darned things!

  by ANDY117
 
How long are they being leased? Any idea if they're getting the others that are still in Cohocton?
 Return to “New York, Susquehanna & Western - Past and Present”
 - All times are UTC-05:00 -