Actually, I suppose I could just say they acquired the rights to all of MLW/ALco's IP some time in the 80s or so and have used it on a limited basis. The turbolag's gotta go though. I have no plans to say mock up the ALco equivilent of a Dash-9 or something. That would not make sense in the context of my company, but maybe some rebuilds.
Thus far my "MATX" has only done work on U33C's, C30-7's and, C-44-9W's. Eventually I'll get my hands on an EMD....
I didn't start out with ALCOs in mind, but since the Apache Ry runs them, as well as Grand Canyon Ry, they are slowly creeping into my roster.
Here's K&BH unit 329 and MATX unit 316 awaiting their next assignment in Kearney Junction. As I don't model the UP this was a nice project. Sometimes it's fun to model a different railroad.
I'd like to have my own railroad, but (right now) am too intimidated with the repainting process. And then, there's the custom decal issue. mcjaco, you've given me a great idea. My railroad could be a buyer of older Class I cast-offs, and I could just paint over the previous reporting marks, and put simple letters like you have. The background would be this is a small, low-budget shortline, without money for a full repaint. So they just pull out a can of Krylon spray paint, and put their own cheap lettering on the engines. Does this sound reasonable?
I think it is fun and a challage at the same time. Besides modeling modern BNSF, Tina and I have started a modern short line named after our hobby company JTW. The Joliet & Thomasville Western operates on the old CGW between chicago and Des Moines Iowa. The GT inspired theme is overall a GN Glacier Green with GTW Morency Orange ends. The lettering looks much like the CN noodle style. Currently JTW has 2 GP38's, a GP40-2 and a SW1200. It hauls mainly grain, wood and fertilizer. What I did was base my local on the old CGW ROW in (almost) my front yard. CNW still ran trains here in Winnebago until at least 1989. I changed history and "sold" that line to I&M Rail Link in 1988, since it links the Janesville WI to Rockford IL division. As you know, I&M Rail Link sold out in 2002 and IC&E moved in. IC&E thought the Chicago to Des Moines route was redundant and sold the branch to JTW. I used ex Chicago Central GP38's, ex BN GP40-2 and an ex I&MRL SW1200 because in real life those would be available. I also interchange with three class I's, CNIC, BNSF and UP plus one regional IC&E. I think its a lot of fun to free lance, after all if the D&H had blue bonnet PA's in the 1970's and the BNSF still has some high hood Geeps in Heritage 1, then I can have some fun too!
I did have my own lease locomotives on my old N scale layout. I intended to have more, but then changed scales and era Here is CLLX 3001 helping out some Santa Fe units
Maybe the railroad is leasing them? Maybe there is something about your RR that makes it desirable for GE to lease them to you for a lower price in return for long term testing and data gathering. Maybe GE has had issues with larger RRs in the past where one or two people in the larger RR dislike the engines or results of the testing and debugging, and even if GE fixed issues, that person(s) became unfairly biased, ruining sales to a significant customer. So now they do long-term testing and "shake-down" work with a smaller company. That way, most warts and all are taken care of before the Class 1 RRs see them. That way, they aren't overly "biased" by a minor bug that has been completely taken care of. Maybe your RR has a feature like sections with: -very high altitude (thinner air) -very corrosive salty air -very cold areas, -very hot areas, -very dry/sandy areas -very wet areas -very slippery track sections -very steep grades -very tight curves -Difficult reception areas for testing GPS/Communications systems and DPU systems. -long tunnel for cooling issues. -certain mainline switching situations (which most railroads might not normally use a new high-HP engines for). Or some other situation that you feel you can use to validate a reason for a engine manufacturer to use your RR for long-term testing. ---jps
And if you have a few extra bucks and a loco that is your pride and joy you could contact someone here, (like Hemi), who did mine for me for a fair price. Example: My GN U50s on the frst page of this thread.
It's really a great way to 1) model locos that you normally wouldn't, 2) create some interesting looking paint jobs and, 3) give your RR a real spin. Most regional's and Short Line's start this way! I'd say it sounds more than reasonable!
I like the way you think Many of the reasons you've given, the variety and exsteamity of the conditions, exsist throughout northern Arizona. Futher simplified by the fact that I can run factory demonstrator colors. Even push a little further with "exsperimental" engines. One less thing to stress about thanx!
