Western Railroad Discussion > Help with tiers/models

I have recently been observing UP trains in my local rail yard simply to learn more about them -- when they were built, what model, etc. I'm having a harder time gathering information about each model's tier as it abides by EPA standards. For the most part I have intuited that build year correlates with tier number, but I know some trains have been revamped as well.

Here are a list of model types I have observed with what I think are the correct tiers. If anyone could please validate, I would greatly appreciate it. I'm pretty new to trainspotting so I'm still learning the nuances of the hobby.

Tier 0: GP38-2, GP40, GP40-2
Tier 1: SD70M, SD9043AC, SD40T-2, C40-8
Tier 2: C45ACCTE, SD70ACe

Again, apologies if this list is greatly oversimplified -- I wouldn't be surprised whatsoever if certain models overlapped, or if certain trains from a series were revamped and others weren't.

Thanks in advance!

RobertMcCullough Wrote:
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> I have recently been observing UP trains in my
> local rail yard simply to learn more about them --
> when they were built, what model, etc. I'm having
> a harder time gathering information about each
> model's tier as it abides by EPA standards. For
> the most part I have intuited that build year
> correlates with tier number, but I know some
> trains have been revamped as well.
>
> Here are a list of model types I have observed
> with what I think are the correct tiers. If anyone
> could please validate, I would greatly appreciate
> it. I'm pretty new to trainspotting so I'm still
> learning the nuances of the hobby.
>
> Tier 0: GP38-2, GP40, GP40-2
> Tier 1: SD70M, SD9043AC, SD40T-2, C40-8
> Tier 2: C45ACCTE, SD70ACe

Tier 0 EMD SD70,SD70M and SD70MAC without flared radiators, SD75M, SD9043MACs, GE Dash-8 and Dash-9 locomotives, GE AC6000CW and AC6044CW locomotives, and most GE AC4400CWs.
Plus all older locomotives back to 1972. These will need to be upgraded to Tier 0+
Tier 1 EMD SD70M and SD70MACs built with flared radiators, some GE AC4400CWs
These will need to be upgraded to Tier 1+.
Tier 2 some EMD SD70ACe, and some GE ES44ACs and ES44C4s
These will need to be upgraded to Tier 2+.
Tier 3 some EMD SD70ACe, and some GE ES44ACs and ES44C4s.

Then there are the rebuilds which can be any of these Tiers. They tend to have visual differences when upgraded to Tier 2 or higher.

Tier 3 locomotives do not seem to show any outward visual differences from the Tier 2 version.

The C45ACCTE is a UP designation for GE ES44AC locomotives equipped with CTE software.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/29/14 02:14 by SOO6617.