Hey y'all, Found this forum because I was trying to find out what the heck a GP38-3 was. Saw one back on Jan. 13, 2006 here in Knoxville. I was on my way to work and I saw it from an overpass. It looked beautiful. NS road number 5817. Thanks for all previous info. I'm new to this. Most of what I've been seeing here are Dash9's. Look forward to learning more.
Welcome bierbass! I gues with over a 1000 D9's, they are the most likely units to see on mainlines... Harold
bierbass, Welcome to TRAINBOARD!!!!!!!!!! If you get tired of the Dash 9's in Knoxville, you could always head over to Harriman and catch the NS Dash 9's coming down the Rathole. Just kidding. It does seem like NS has more of it's Dash 9 fleet in the Southeast these days.
Thanks for the warm welcome, I don't mean to turn this into a thread about Dash9's, but last night I saw a consist of NS7542(ES-40DC), BNSF4767(Dash9) amd NS2565(SD70). Last week I saw a UP Dash9 leading a NS Dash9. Is this common to have a mixture of road names? BTW, the ES-40DC is the 1st one I've seen. Thanks.
Richard is right.. the D9's seem to be everywhere... I heard an NS train calling signals on the scanner today and raced trackside to catch it only to see a 3 unit set of D9's But hey! Better than no train at all! Harold
NS has a lot of run thru or pool power, so units can be seen from many other roads... I caught an ES40DC last week that was in primer. Was the unit you saw in primer or painted? Harold
It was painted. I did see a Dash9 in Dec. NS9932, it was all grey. Is that primer or really old paint? Thanks for the tip on the pool power. In an earlier post it was stated that NS was de-turboing the GP50s to make the GP38-3s. Does that mean the difference between the 50s and the 38s was turbo or were there other differences? Thanks.
The units are in a primer grey... The rebuilt GP50's (now GP38-3's) have rebuilt cabs with low noses (all GP50's delivered to Southern were high nosed); the other major spotting features are two radiators, instead of three, and removal of the turbo stack in favor of a standard two stack exhaust. Of course, the easiest spotting feature is the road number: the GP38-3's are in the 5800 series. Harold
Thanks! I knew that about the noses and its pretty crazy to think that they change those out. Did they cut them down or tear them off and just put a knew nose on? Perhaps a silly question, but curious nonetheless. I'll find some pics of the 50's and check out the turbo stacks. I had read that they both were built with the same frames and that is why they could be called GP38's. I kinda like the high noses though. Too bad.
Welcome NS Rayman! For those of you who have not seen the name, NSRayman has a lot of great photos!!!! Welcome and feel free to post some of your great photos! Harold
Hi guys .The gp38's are being rebuilt like crazy..I get to see them every day..I work for NS as an engineer on helper service ..I see them before and after..There are about 40 ex-Conrail 38's up there right now and 10 or so GP-50's..The 5628 was on a work train today and is an ex Conrail 38..And the altoona local has two 5616-5617.. The sd-70' are being painted there to..I seen 2701,2707,2716 and 27?can't remember.. This is my first post here and hope to do a little more .. Todd..pushing trains on the mountain
Hey y'all, Welcome Todd! I caught NS5435 ex Conrail SD50 on Thurs. It was sitting on a siding with two Dash9's, NS 9975 and NS 8810. 9975 was in primer gray.
Hi Todd - Nice to meet another NS engineer. The closest I ever got to Altoona was Enola but I remember seeing dozens of old 38s parked and rusting last time I worked into there. I ran one of the rebuilt GPs last week on a yard job. Nice engine but had a lot of trouble with the APU and EST. Still working the bugs out I guess. MOC called them a 'work in progress'. Welcome aboard.
Thanks Guys,,The 5628 is out of the shops..This unit has a GP-40 long hood..The hood is from I beleive a CSX geep..This was one that was in a wreck in Ohio a few years ago..I seen it at the shop when it came in.. There are more GP-50's to be rebuilt and 50 or so Conrail GP-38s.. There was another interesting one went in,an ex PRSL 38..The stole the dynamic brke grid from the 7725 at the west end that has been there for 10 years ..I think it has a crank shaft problem..they traded it out for the blank housing?? and then put it back at the west end and now has CSX spray painted on the cab???..A 7725 no/dynamics different??..I did get shots of it before and after..The doors were open on the long hood went over today when I was waiting to push a train and closed them for a better shot!!! Todd..Be pushing trains again tomorrow!!
