Not bad at all! Very good definition, excellent color rendering... I can't find fault with that scanner. Except maybe it makes some of those trains look like models... Or is it because they're so clean? Nice work and keep them coming!
That's fantastic! What I like about seeing those is looking at the dates and imagining the actual person writing the train order and signing it in their own handwriting. They're real time machines.
Some Conrail This was the very first Conrail unit I ever saw back in 1982 At Hixson TN - Mid 80's A different mid 80's day at Hixson TN.
Probably should have included this one with the Conrail pics. This was at the NS diesel shop in Chattanooga around 10pm on a summer night in the mid 80's I think.
A bit of information, please? Post-passenger service, I am assuming they modified their SDP45's tanks, to use the water compartment as added fuel capacity? If so, what were the before and after capacities?
EL had those custom-built without steam generators or water tanks, and an oversized fuel tank, likely in the 5000 gallon range. They're easy to spot as they have beveled long hood ends like any other EMD freight engine, instead of the usual squared-off SDP hood. They also had SD45-2s that had their fuel tanks enlarged, going all the way up to the frame, displacing the main air reservoirs to the rear of the long hood. The spotting feature is a set of louvers at the extreme end of the long hood, under the radiators. Fuel capacity was also in the 5000 gallon range. Otherwise they looked like ordinary SD45-2 units.
I'm glad Mike had more info on these because the only thing I knew is they were classed as SDP45's even though I now know they never saw passenger service.
This GT unit is a late 80's shot. The unit is southbound through Lexington KY and I remember it was on a Monday morning. It was rare that GT units made it south of Ludlow KY (Just across the river from Cincinnati OH) but when they did, they would usually run all the way down the rathole to Chattanooga. Next up, an early 80's shot of a either Seaboard System or could have been CSXT by this point SD40-2 sporting Family Lines paint leading a coal train on the NS at the north end of Chattanooga's DeButts yard.
Yes, Mike has it--not "real SDPs", they were bought like this for the extra fuel capacity, the same reason Illinois Central bought SDP45s with an SD40 carbody and called them SD40As.
As everyone else who chimed in, they were SDP45s in name, but no different inside than a freight SD45. Bingo! Straight GP38, built 1966, retired 1999 after 33 years in service with GTW. Sold to LLPX.
A few NS shots for today. SD50 leading a train into Chattanooga's DeButts yard - Late 80's GP50 at Chattanooga TN Ex N&W 1606 on the bridge crossing the TN River in Chattanooga TN. NS SD50 6507 running as a mid train unit - Chattanooga TN
