Western Railroad Discussion > Test for UP/SP trainspotters

For those of you who fancy yourselves to be UP and/or SP watchers, here's my own little attempt at a test.

What notable thing has happened to / been done by / can be attributed to the following units:

1. UP AC44CW 7193
2. UP C40-8W 9460
3. SP SD70M 9801
4. SP SD70M 9824
5. SP GP60 9794

6. What do SP SD45Rs 8649 and 8588 have in common?

7. What do UP AC44CW 6702 and SP GP40X 7231 have in common?

8. What do SP GP9s 3781 and 3424 have in common?

Depending on response, I'll post answers in the next few days.

Mike, I am sure you meant SD40-2M when referring to
the two SP "SD45R's"

/t2r

Here' my guess at a couple of these:

3. SP SD70M 9801 - first SP SD70M in UP patch paint, also sent back to EMD to serve as "prototype" for new UP SD70M order.

5. SP GP60 9794 - last GP60 ever built.

6. What do SP SD45Rs 8649 and 8588 have in common? Rebuilt from former CNW SD45's w/o dynamic brakes (? just a guess)

7. What do UP AC44CW 6702 and SP GP40X 7231 have in common? Both have carried number of UP 9999.

No, actually I meant SD45R. If I was a railroad, I would categorize it as an SD40-2M according to its mechanical contents (the 16-cylinder prime mover, etc.).

Being a railfan, however, I subscribe to the "hot rod" philosophy of loco identification. Just as a car with a 327 Chevy V8 is identified as a "deuce coupe" because of the body work (despite the fact that the car might carry not one original component of its name sake), in the same way I identify these locos as being SD45s because of the original SD45 shell. No SD40-2 ever wore flared radiator grilles.

mtierney wrote:
>
No SD40-2 ever wore flared radiator grilles.

What about the BN SD40-2's (DF40-2) 7149 and 7890, that were modified to burn LNG?

-Nameless Modeler

Was the UP7193 the unit involved in a wreck in Colorado on 11/04/01?

mtierney wrote:
>
> For those of you who fancy yourselves to be UP and/or SP
> watchers, here's my own little attempt at a test.
>
> What notable thing has happened to / been done by / can be
> attributed to the following units:
>
> 1. UP AC44CW 7193
> 2. UP C40-8W 9460
> 3. SP SD70M 9801
> 4. SP SD70M 9824
> 5. SP GP60 9794
>
> 6. What do SP SD45Rs 8649 and 8588 have in common?
>
> 7. What do UP AC44CW 6702 and SP GP40X 7231 have in common?
>
> 8. What do SP GP9s 3781 and 3424 have in common?
>
> Depending on response, I'll post answers in the next few days.


This is a tough one, here are my guesses.

1. 7193 - First SP C44AC repaint?
2. 9460 - Last C41-8W (I'm being a little picky I know) with the original Dash 8 handrails?
3. SP 9801 - First SD70M on UP roster to be repainted
4. 9824 - First SD70M repaint w/ wings
5. 9794 - Last GP-60 built
6. Still have original prime-movers?
7. Both had the same number at one point.
8. They have the "torpedo tubes" for passenger train use.


Here are a few questions I'd like to include...

1. What do C41-8W 9480, C40-8W 9376, and SD60M 6310 (original #) have in common?
2. Follow up - what is significant about UP 9480?
3. What is notable about UP GP-60 5702 (don't know new #)?
4. UP SW-10 96 is the shop switcher in Cheyenne, what was it's original number (1200 series)?
5. What famous or infamous UP locomotive does SD-90/43AC 8080 share it's number with?
6. What is special about the following UP passenger cars?
- Sleeper Cabarton
- Dome City of SF
- Power Car 206 - what was it named?

Some more thoughts:

1. What do C41-8W 9480, C40-8W 9376, and SD60M 6310 (original #) have in common? This was the power for the MCBNP train that was featured in Trains Magazine's big article on UP in Nov. '95 issue.

2. Follow up - what is significant about UP 9480? 9480 was first GE with digital screens replacing conventional gauges. It's an orphan on the roster as later model GE's and EMD's use different types of digital displays. This unit is roundly hated by UP's locomotive engineering group.

3. What is notable about UP GP-60 5702 (don't know new #)? New number is UP 1902, it is former DRGW 3156 last new DRGW unit.

4. UP SW-10 96 is the shop switcher in Cheyenne, what was it's original number (1200 series)? UP 1243.

5. What famous or infamous UP locomotive does SD-90/43AC 8080 share it's number with? Not sure, was it one of the "fast forty" SD40-2's?

8649 & 8588 were invloved in the side swipe wreck on Cajon last year.

Sorry, Mike, but while the railroad IS allowed to make up model designations as they go along, we as railfans are not. These 8500s and 8600s are designated as SD40-2Ms by the railroad; therefore, that is what they are. Besides: SD45R was an SP designation for the 8800s (et seq.) after they went through the GRIP program in 1980 to become 7400s. Surely you do not equate these GRIP 7400s with the MK 8500s? Brian

MAB you know your UP. You got all of my questions right except the last one. So I'll leave it up for grabs. The 8080 I am referring to isn't a fast forty, you'd have to go back a little farther in time, and it was also not the original number for this locomotive. I didn't know 9480 was so disliked. But then again, I am no engineer.

You guys got most of them. Here's the answers:

1. UP AC44CW 7193: wrecked last year some time. I have the location as "Bill"; I don't have the complete location, date, or circumstances. cnw6935 got this one.

2. UP C40-8W 9460: 3rd unit behind 3985/844 *kaff kaff* on UP special to Railfair '99. Nobody got this one -- it was a little obscure.

3. SP SD70M 9801: first SP patch job. MAB got this.

4. SP SD70M 9824: highest-numbered SP unit, both at time of the merger and now. Nobody got this.

5. SP GP60 9794: last GP made (so far). MAB got this.

6. SP SD45-carbody units (dang you guys!) 8649 and 8588: wreck at Summit on Cajon last year. CHiPs_CA got this.

7. UP AC44CW 6702 and SP GP40X 7231: the number 9999. BTW, there was one evening last year when both were in Roseville at the same time, both wearing 9999! The GE was shortly to be renumbered, while 7231 had just been patched but couldn't hit the road until the GE became 6702.

8. SP GP9's 3781 and 3424: the Schellville dunking, made famous by Gene Poon's pictures in "Trains". <a href="http://nilesdepot.railfan.net/wreck.html&quot;&gt;Here's&lt;/a&gt; a link to Gene's own site about the incident. Nobody got this, which surprises me.

I believe this was the experimental pulverized-coal turbine unit. The control unit was an old PA. I recall that the unit also wore the number 80 before becoming 8080.

Though I stand corrected, I still insist on my right (?) to calling them like I literally see them. However, I will modify my terminology to something more politically correct by referring to them as "SD45-carbody units". I vaguely remember promising to do that in the past and obviously failed to keep that promise. Happy now?

As to the argument that the railroad can call them whatever they want, I have one response (or two, actually): C41-8 and C42-8. CNW tweaked 100 and 200 more hp out of these, but GE never made those models. Other roads have tweaked their unit's output but never made model designation changes. Are these units C41-8s and C42-8s, as named by CNW, who should know? Or are they C40-8s, as GE made them and UP calls them? Who's right? Even the railroad's own designation for a model can't be counted on to be the final word on the matter.

You are correct!! UP 8080 (the SD90/43AC that is) was another unit featured in Trains Magazine during the EMD aniversery issue if I remember correctly, the writeup wasn't like what was given to 9480 but there were a few pics of it in the Cheyenne area, including a great shot with the old water tower at Speer. The subject was the new arrival of the SD90s on the UP.

mtierney (sp)- thanks for the good idea for a post. I love rr trivia like this.

mtierney wrote:
>
> For those of you who fancy yourselves to be UP and/or SP
> watchers, here's my own little attempt at a test.
>
> What notable thing has happened to / been done by / can be
> attributed to the following units:
>
> 1. UP AC44CW 7193
> 2. UP C40-8W 9460

Probably the last UP C40-8W.

> 3. SP SD70M 9801

First UP patch job.

> 4. SP SD70M 9824

Last SP SD70M; last new SP EMD.

> 5. SP GP60 9794

Last SP GP60.

>
> 6. What do SP SD45Rs 8649 and 8588 have in common?

They're not SD45Rs. They're SD40M-2s.

>
> 7. What do UP AC44CW 6702 and SP GP40X 7231 have in common?

Both wore the number 9999.

>
> 8. What do SP GP9s 3781 and 3424 have in common?

First and last "E" program or GRIP rebuilds?

>
> Depending on response, I'll post answers in the next few days.