The story of M&ET 608

I then went further up the pass and bagged this shot at the 4th crossing of Tehachapi Creek:

 

And a few minutes later, over the 5th crossing bridge:

 

I really had to hustle to get these next shots...making the final approach to the loop:

 

And my last shot, crossing over itself and and the SP manifest holding on the loop's main:

And M&ET 608 is off to points east, Arizona and beyond. I'll call John Sing and tell him to be on the lookout

 

Looks fantastic Dave.:thumbs_up::thumbs_up:

 

The Old Mill Cafe does indeed make the best breakfast around the area. O havew driven under that arch several times but never saw any train on the tracks. It is a real shame when this new generation has felt no value of preseeving some of the past that made them what they are today. I would be happy to donate space in my front yard to display one of the 70 tonners!

 

Fantastic!

Great thread, guys! Hope the journey continues...

 

The customer on the east coast has put out an APB on the load. It was discovered bad-ordered in Barstow - some car inspector threw a fit over clearances, tiedowns, something, lost waybills. It should be moving again shortly!

 

Kinda new here. First time I've seen pictures of your nice layout.

Yo quiero Taco Bell....

 

I have to question this guys. RailAmerica (my employer) has been doing the GenSet credit thing in California, Texas, and Missouri, and none of these funds have required the trade-ins to be permenantly disabled. They only required that they replace a specific unit and that that unit be taken off property (i.e. in the case of the DGNO, when the DGNO 140 & 141 were shipped, the DGNO 3863 and TNER 3862 were sent to the MN&A Railroad in Missouri and are still running there). I don't know the full list of MN&A and CFNR units that their GenSet credits were for, but the same happened with them. They simply moved out the units which were being replaced to other railroads. Ironically, 2 of the CFNR units were sent to DGNO.

 

Well, I went back and dug.

It really is true. The grant for the two Railpower M&ET gensets was under the Carl B. Moyer program, and if you dig in the program regulations, you find this gem:

"· The existing (old) engine must be destroyed and rendered useless. Destruction
methods for the vehicle in the fleet modernization category and for the vehicle and
engine in the light duty category are further described in those chapters. Engines
must have a complete and fully visible and legible engine serial number in order to
be eligible for an engine repower. The destruction of the engine must be
documented by the district seeing the destroyed engine or the receipt from the
qualified vehicle salvage yard (see Part II, Chapter 2: Fleet Modernization, Salvage
II-32 PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION
Requirements for definition). Engines without a visible and legible serial number
may be repowered if district staff stamp the engine block with the
Carl Moyer Program project number and district staff is present to personally verify
engine removal from the project vehicle or equipment and the subsequent engine
destruction. ARB will consider alternatives to stamping the engine block on a
district-by-district basis."

Source: http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/moyer/guidelines/2005_Carl_Moyer_Guidelines_Part1.pdf

The locomotives retired were the 605 and 613. Note that the entire locomotive doesn't have to be scrapped, just the block....

 

Nice series of pictures!! Dave, I would like to see more pictures from the start of this thread where 608 is in Modesto, is that your layout? Where can I see more pictures???

 

As interesting and beautiful as the pictures are, this story IRL sounds as sad if not more so than c4c. Though I suppose atleast the body of the locomotive is allowed to be preserved, unlike c4c cars which are being scrapped.
Where will we see #608 next?

 

Randy,

I noticed that the link leads to the 2005 document. Were the M&ET locomotives purchased on that or on the later 2008 Revision? I ask because I know that the CFNR units were on the 2008 revision which deleted that requirement and I thought the M&ET program started at the same time or just before the RA program (which was delayed due to NRE backlog). The 2009 build date for the M&ET units seems to jive with that thought.

As an aside, the 2008 document can be found here -
http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/moyer/guidelines/cmp_guidelines_part1_2.pdf

 

Dave, speaking of Taco Bell, in your judgement, how difficult was it to build that kit?

 

It wasn't too bad - lots and lots of parts, but they are all cut nicely and precisely and everything fit together well. The instructions were very clear and well laid out (in fact when I bought the kit you could get the instructions on the internet).

Now, getting back to the MET 608...when this particular story took place the 'scrap' rule was definitely in effect in California

 

Josh - follow the link in my signature below....