Western Railroad Discussion > FXE 3194 in El Centro

Yesterday afternoon, I was on my way back from a vacation in Arizona, and I decided to swing over to El Centro to see if I could spot the power for the nightly interchange with Ferromex. Normally the power is tied down around Main St. in El Centro, as the interchange train normally heads down around midnight. I also had knowledge that Ferromex had been using several SD45 rebuilds on the interchange train as of late, and I expected to see one of them on the south-facing side of the train. However, as I pulled ip to the stopped power, I was greeted by my first (and probably only) Ferrocarril Nacionales de Mexico (Or FNM) painted engine. From my memory (I'm not absolutely positive so feel free to correct me), FXE 3194 is a former Delaware and Hudson nee Erie Lackawanna nee EMDX unit, one of four built for demonstration purposes in the late 60's. The four eventually ended up on the D&H and were sent down to Mexico in 1978 when that road got rid of most of its 6-axel power. At some point in its tenure in Mexico, the 3194 was rebuilt into an SD40-2, while retaining its SD45 carbody. Spotting a FNM unit in its original paint almost 20 years after the privatization and breakup of Mexico's national railroad is becoming increasingly rare south of the border, and I'm really glad to have had the opportunity to photograph and video a well-traveled unit.

The video from my vacation (featuring action on the Seligman, Lordsburg, and Gila subdivisions in Arizona) will be posted to YouTube on my channel, Railfanjunction, in the next few days. For now, enjoy the photos and be sure to check out my website, http://www.z-trains.com

Cheers,
Zach
www.z-trains.com
Railfanjunction on YouTube

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Here is the video from the same time. I hope you enjoy it.

Cheers,
Zach
www.z-trains.com
Railfanjunction on YouTube

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sorry i do not see the objective of taking a video of a stationary object ... but that's just me ...

Posted from Android

Cool looking unit.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/22/15 10:11 by tehachapifan.

Wow--FXE DOES roster power besides GEVO's and SD70ACe's!  You'd never know it until you posted this.  Thanks for sharing.

I'm not sure of the lineage of this loco so will take your word on the history. However, D&H only got three of the four EMD SD45 demos, 4352-4354. 4351 went to the IC as their one and only, 7000. 

KC - Nice catch by the way

GRNDMND Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm not sure of the lineage of this loco so will
> take your word on the history. However, D&H only
> got three of the four EMD SD45 demos, 4352-4354.
> 4351 went to the IC as their one and only,
> 7000. 
>
> KC - Nice catch by the way

Thanks for the correction. As I mentioned, I was going off of my memory. I knew there were four EMDX SD45's out there, I just incorrectly remembered that all of them ended up on the EL.

Thanks again,
Zach
www.z-trains.com
Railfanjunction on YouTube

Unpatched FNM! Great catch.