Eastern Railroad Discussion > NS donates former Southern 3170 to the TVRM

From Facebook:The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum is pleased to announce the recent donation by Norfolk Southern of former Southern Railway diesel locomotive 3170, a model SD40. Built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in April 1971, 3170 was the first of 159 SD40 and SD40-2 units eventually rostered by the Southern, and she served for nearly forty years before being retired. Recognizing 3170’s historical significance, Norfolk Southern, successor to Southern Railway, set aside the unit for preservation, while most sister locomotives were either converted to other uses or scrapped.In 2015, NS returned the 3170 to service and repainted it in its original Southern Railway "Tuxedo" (black, light gray and gold) paint scheme. 3170 has spent the past year as the diesel escort for 21st Century Steam excursions and on display in special appearances across the NS system, as well as in regular freight service.SD40 locomotives were the most popular freight haulers of their era. They replaced the so-called “first generation” diesel locomotives that themselves displaced steam locomotives in the 1940s and 1950s. 3170 is believed to be one of only four SD40 locomotives preserved, out of approximately 1,268 built. Each is powered by a 3,000 horsepower 645-series General Motors engine.For TVRM, Southern 3170 has additional significance: it joins Southern Railway steam locomotive 4501 in TVRM’s collection, which was built in 1911. 4501 is a “Mikado”-type locomotive built for everyday freight-hauling service and can be considered the SD40 of its day. 4501 was the very first of 435 Mikado-type locomotives eventually owned by Southern. Like 4501, Southern 3170 will help to fulfill TVRM’s mission of preserving, interpreting, displaying and operating trains in an authentic setting.A formal dedication of the locomotive will be scheduled in the future. Log on to www.tvrail.com for more information.

Don't be suprized if the 1700 isn't far behind.

Doug Wetherhold
Macungie, PA

ALCO630 Wrote:
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> Don't be suprized if the 1700 isn't far behind.

I'd be just a little surprised because the 1700 is among a small, but active fleet of similar locomotives, whereas reactivating the 3170 made it an instant roster oddball. On the other hand, if it's NS's intention to retire all of the SD45-2s soon, then the donation of this one to a museum group would make a lot of sense. (And in that case, it'd be nice if they'd reinstate its EL number first, but I wouldn't hold my breath on that.)

 

ALCO630 Wrote:
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> Don't be suprized if the 1700 isn't far behind.

Don't look for the 1700 to be retired anytime soon. It, along with the five other SD45-2's on the NS roster, are assigned to the Conrail Shared Assets Area in New Jersey.  The 1700 was put through the cab upgrade program at the NS Roanoke Locomotive Shop last summer.  The existing cab received repairs that included replacement cab doors, floors and side windows, a rebuilt control stand, and installation of cab sunshades and air conditioning. The horn was also relocated to the top of the long hood and the unit received an electric parking brake unit. The unit was going to be repainted following the upgrade and the right people at NS were contacted regarding painting it in the EL heritage scheme.

The 3170 had been retired by NS in 2007 following an engine failure and had been stored at Altoona, PA.  Following the suggestion by NS employees, the 3170 (the first SOU SD40) was restored by NS in early 2015 with the intention of it being donated to a museum.  The old engine was replaced at Altoona with a used one out of a retired GP38AC, so that NS would not have to upgrade the unit to meet increased emission standards.  Other repairs were done and parts replaced as-needed to get it back up and running, then it was shipped to Chattanooga for painting. It was used in-service on NS for the past year.

NS also has set aside retired NS/NW EMD SD40 1580 (the first N&W SD40), with the intention of donating it to a museum as well.


Chris Toth
NSDash9.com

      The 1700 can be retired with the stroke of a pen, happens all the time. The upgrades have nothing to do with a longer life for a piece of machinery. At this time in our sorry economy, they will be looking at anything that is slightly problematic or uneconomical to sideline. New paint is no savior either.

This show who is a "class railroad". Don't see CSX doing
anything like this...NS has proven again that it care's about there
history and preserving for railfans in the future..........

JLSeale
 

dcfbalcoS1 Wrote:
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>       The 1700 can be retired with the stroke
> of a pen, happens all the time. The upgrades have
> nothing to do with a longer life for a piece of
> machinery. At this time in our sorry economy, they
> will be looking at anything that is slightly
> problematic or uneconomical to sideline. New paint
> is no savior either.

Being rebuilt has taken the" problematic or uneconomical" issue out of the question. I disagree with your statement. NS being who they are about spending money would not upgrade a unit and then "with a stroke of a pen" take it off of the books. It has many years of a good life left.

Also remember that 1700 is for all intents and purposes an SD40-2, and NS has more of those now than they EVER had.  There are more SD40-2's in Fort Wayne on any given day than at ANY time in the history of NS or the N&W before it.

junctiontower Wrote:
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> Also remember that 1700 is for all intents and
> purposes an SD40-2, and NS has more of those now
> than they EVER had.  There are more SD40-2's in
> Fort Wayne on any given day than at ANY time in
> the history of NS or the N&W before it.

The SD40's are a very reliable unit for the NS. If not, they would not be on the books. For a long time I hated the SD40's because they were the death blow for many of the other older power on the railroads, now I welcome them because they look better than any cookie cutter GE's & EMD's running around.