All UP GE Evolution Series engines will be pulled from service. How quickly and how many at once is unknown. There have been some violent turbocharger failures, during which parts exited through the carbody. Units effected are: 5248-5697; 7345-7469; 7600-7925. Also effected by this warning are BNSF units 5718-7799. Boxcab E50
Could you imagine sitting in your car at a grade crossing, and having a turbo detonate in front of you? Talk about shrapnel (and lawsuits)!
umm, The BNSF news was announced a week ago right? They were the first to shut them down. Followed by CN. And I guess NS has some ES40DCs laid up. Did UP have a failure or are they just following suit? BNSF's GEVO's...... - TrainBoard.com It's a problem with the subcontractor for the turbo. For turbos from like 2008 till now.
The language of their bulletin is they've experienced failures. Situation presently being attributed to a specific part problem. But still being investigated. Boxcab E50
Iowa Interstate had one of their new loco's go down with a turbo problem last week. Looks like they'll need some work too. Good thing they have the Geeps and SD's for backup.
Well, unless the word out to the Fan community from BNSF is wrong, I wouldn't think they'd have too much investigating to do. Incidently, If the problem is widespread and all US Roads are sidelining the units, maybe it's worth merging all the threads into one on the ready track so information is in one place?
Their words from the bulletin dated July 21, "Preliminary investigation..." "The root cause analysis is still in process." Which one would believe indicates any final conclusion is not yet set in stone. They seem to know the failing part. But why it is failing was not noted- Material, design, installation, or? Boxcab E50
Right, but word I had heard on other boards from BNSF engineers was that it was a bad batch of Turbo Turbines from a subcontractor made during 2008 and 2009. Supposedly GE is aware of the problem. Don't know that that information is believable, but it did sound like BNSF had a good idea what was going on. From the BNSF thread on this here, it sounds like CSX is laying GEVOs up as well.
Well we might get to see alot of these units stored up in dead lines reactivated to cover while they fix this issue.
It will depend upon how many they pull from service at one time. From the way that bulletin is worded, it warns engine personnel to stay off the engine walkways, or be in proximity to long hood areas during load testing or when operating in Notch 4 or higher. Which sounds like these will remain in service. One of the UP people I know was asking if the public should be notified- So they can hide behind a tree as these engines go past.... :tb-wacky: Boxcab E50
This has certainly been true for BNSF. They've pulled the SD75s from Storage....and then had one fail on Steven's pass.
Reminds me of that video I saw on YouTube of a UP unit experiencing a major engine failure while in service- but IIRC, it blew a piston, with pieces going all over . Wonder if GE has issued a product recall notice, and how long it will take to refit these GEVOs with new (hopefully more dependable) turbos?
New information in the BNSF thread. Sounds like it's one of 2 Turbo suppliers and any unit built or with a new turbo between 01/07 and 03/09.
I'm just wondering if any crews have refused to take assignments if the lead unit is one of the affected locos. I know a couple of fellow hoggers who have a knack for being able to find FRA defects serious enough to "red tag" the locomotive. And going even further they can make those defects "stick". One of them "red-tagged" every available loco in the roundhouse/service tracks at Eola Yard one afternoon. All the violations were credible serious defects AND the RFE agreed with him and his actions. Seems at that time we had some serious problems getting our power serviced properly and defects were being ignored(one of the locos had a brake shoe completely missing!) I know I wouldn't wanna run a loco type that had a history of exploding! Charlie
