Once I saw an ABBA set on the Valley coal train, BN Bethelhem 3 bay hoppers. They can be used on anything. GP60B's with a SD90/43 on a grain train, etc. A lot of them came up and down the valley (Guernsey, WY. to Northport, NE.) Don't forget Crawford hill also! Basically I should I saw GP60's and GP60M's A's and B's all over the panhandle of Nebraska, also oodles in Denver. Like said before if it runs expect to see it anywhere...
On my road, they would get down on there knees with a drag... Or fly with a Road Railer,,, But no matter what they did, they looked good doin it! Thom
You're as excited over these as I'll be if anyone decides to do Alco switchers or RSD15's. It seems like you can use GP60's for anything, 'GP' does stand for general service after all.
In Southern California, there's usually a bunch of them sitting a little west of the San Bernardino Station. If you ride Metrolink you can easily see them:
Rio Grande bought 3 of the GP-60 locomotives I believe and they were used to pull all types of freight including long piggyback trailer trains which is different than intermodals.
to really understand the role of the GP60 from a power desk viewpoint, we need to look at what is involved in moving a train - adhesion, tractive effort and horsepower. adhesion relies on two factors; weight and friction. steel wheels on steel rails have an adhesion factor of about 30% - it takes 30% of the locomotives weight to break the adhesion of the wheel to the rail allowing the locomotive to slide. tractive effort is the amount of pulling force and the horsepower is the tractive effort times speed. tractive effort increases with weight so more weight on each axle means more tractive effort. but there is a problem, rails have an axle loading limit of about 70,000 pounds. to get more tractive effort with a given horsepower, the locomotive needs to have more weight applied to the rails. six axle power can have more weight applied to each axle thus increasing the tractive effort of a prime mover rated at 3800 horsepower. instead of being limited to a locomotive weight of 280,000 pounds for four axles, the six axle unit's weight can swell to 420,000 pounds, nearly twice the weight of a 4 axle locomotive! the GP60 has a tractive effort rating of 62,400 pounds at 11 mph. compare that to an SD60 which has a tractive effort of 100,000 pounds at 9mph. these units have the same prime mover generating the same 3800 horsepower. more weight on more axles equals more tractive effort. with less tractive effort, a four axle unit can put the horsepower into speed instead of pulling power; four axle units are built for speed. they can haul less tonnage but they can move it over the rails at a greater speed. for an indepth look at what is involved in determining what locomotives are assigned to what trains, check out this site: http://www.alkrug.vcn.com/rrfacts/hp_te.htm -Steve
That is correct. Rio Grande #'s 3154, 3155 and 3156. Purchased spring of 1990. Two paid for with Cotton Belt credit. DRGW units mimic the SSW units, down to the last detail. All 3 were pooled indiscriminately with SP/SSW units in TransCon service. But, they were "Called Home" for assignment on the Ski Train - A final chance to fly the hometown railroads flag. Also earned the unhappy distinction of eing the last new locomotives to be delivered in Grande Gold. Their relatively fresh paint ensured that they would morph directly into UP colors someday, rather than be repainted into SP grey/scarlet. Information as provided by Rio Grande Diesels, Vol 3. All three DRGW units may still be roaming the rails today. At least 1 full repaint, the other 2 still in full Rio Grande paint, but with a UP patch. And, in the case of the 3154, ugly white safety decals added!
My DRGW 3154, Dolores Yard, Alemeda near the container yard, December, 1992. You can see the safety tape. Edit: Correction...Alameda Street.
Yes. Speaking from use on NS, I have videos from the NS Harrisburg line from just a few years ago with 2-3 GP60's pulling TOFC trains from Atlanta to New Jersey with loads of 53' spines. I would safely assume that BNSF often used the same until quite recently. I know on NS they are doing less intermodal hauling and that they are being used more for yard and local service my best, Jan
I am sure you'all noticed in Thom's pictures, but in the 2nd photo with 9733 on the point, it is supported by a well used and hard working High Nose SD 7 or 9 or ALCO ? Not too often that you see these in a consist, at least not lately. I love those pictures Thom, thanks. Can you please post more like those for us, they are magnificent, really nice color photo's mate. fatalxsunrider43
The 2nd unit appears to be an SD7/9 while the 3rd is a tunnel motor. From Corwith I can remember almost anything on the ATSF yard transfer over to Clearing doing 10mph along the short route.
I should have gone with my first intuition, it was an SD. The air cleaner screens are distinctly different than that of an Alco. Again, Thom, those are superior photos and I'd be most grateful if you would be so kind and post some more. It would be nice to see them on this rainy Southern California morning. Post away Thom, thanks ! fatalxsunrider43
I know this is a GP60 thread, but since Fatal asked for SP SD9 pics I thought I'd add one. This is probably one of my favorites photos that I've taken; SP Cadillacs in Santa Clara, Ca.: As for GP60s, I would have liked to have seen them in WP Orange and Silver!
Delores yard is in Carson, CA, about 400 miles from Alemeda. Delores is the last yard before you get to Long Beach Harbor
I'll add my thanks too for everyone on this thread. The GP60 (along with the GP59's on NS) have to be one of my favorite modern locos. I've heard stories of how they'd buck when maxed out with tonnage (one example is on a Pentrex cabride video of a NS Roadrailer on the Rathouse back in the late 1990's). Again thanks, and lrt's hope that Matt will eventually do a full range of GP60's!
Along withn the GP60's it would be nice if someone did GP50's, especially the late model type BN owned. KEvin
I am glad to see I am not the only one who has a heart felt love for locomotives. I love to see pictures of what we model in N scale, and I appreciate very much people and their thoughtful contributions. I get a very special feeling when I see locomotives real or N scale. I consider N scale an art form, miniatures of this small size, with this much detail and that actually work, and I do not mean that they just move, they actually perform a task for us modelers. Although it may not be an earning task that benefits the public, they are still a thing of extreme beauty and admiration, at least to me. I do have to say that Z scale to me is of an almost unbelievable nature. The cost is proof of that. They are the Rolex watches of Model RailRoading. Especially the Big Boy, although I have never seen one, I have to rate it as a miraculous creation in miniature. I am sure it takes a very specialized technician to perform any kind of operation on a Z scale locomotive, especially a Big Boy. Incredible. fatalxsunrider43
I know this is a GP60 thread, but with FVM coming out with a 4 axle EMD on 34' truck centers, maybe we'll eventually see a GP50 from FVM? How about a late GP38-2? Then again, Kato just re-released the U30C for the first time since 1988, I think, so maybe they're getting sentimental.
