Western Railroad Discussion > Who owns this "Rent a Wreck"?

Spotted northbound at Niles Jct in Fremont (CA) today on the UP ASJIH. Anyone know who the owner of the unit is. There were not reporting marks on it that I could see.

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EMDX reporting marks, probably now owned by GMTX which used to be Locomotive Leasing Partners or at least half of it.

This particular unit would be originally Milwaukee 177 in case you are interested. :)

If it puts out tractive effort continually and looks this good, it is not a wreck.

Anyone know what the little metal strip is right above the radiator grilles?

Probably a footboard for the mechanical dept folks that need to get on top of the unit. The fans leave little flat space to safely step, other than stepping on the round cap of the fan covering.

M-636 Wrote:
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> EMDX reporting marks, probably now owned by GMTX
> which used to be Locomotive Leasing Partners or at
> least half of it.

Do you mean GATX? I think EMD (under GM ownership) sold their half to GATX.

I've asked the same question, and have never gotten a 100% definitive amswer. One of my Milwaukee Road friends suggested that it might have had something to do with Locotrol; IIRC, this is one of the SD40-2s MILW equipped with Locotrol, and they all had the strip and other weird modifications on the hood near the radiators.

PE

CraigM111 Wrote:
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> Anyone know what the little metal strip is right
> above the radiator grilles?

Fred Hyde's thesis on MILW RD units shows that the MILW 177 was renumbered 16, was later the SOO 6300, then EMD 6300 and then EMD 6000.

MILW RD 16 thru 25 were set up as Masters, and 26 thru 30 as slaves. What engines of these series I saw on the West Coast and in Avery / St Paul Pass had the "pantograph" style icecicle breaker bar thingie towards the rear of the long hood. I once modeled MILW RD 18 set up this way.

I can't see but the "small" version of that picture, but I guess what you are referring to could the "remains" of said breaker bar. Have seen other ex-MILW RD SD's in their after-lives with some of the support work still in place.

The breaker bars were for auto rack cars' protection as they went thru tunnels in the mountains - icecicles!

chilli Wrote:
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> Fred Hyde's thesis on MILW RD units shows that the
> MILW 177 was renumbered 16, was later the SOO
> 6300, then EMD 6300 and then EMD 6000.
>
> MILW RD 16 thru 25 were set up as Masters, and 26
> thru 30 as slaves. What engines of these series I
> saw on the West Coast and in Avery / St Paul Pass
> had the "pantograph" style icecicle breaker bar
> thingie towards the rear of the long hood. I once
> modeled MILW RD 18 set up this way.
>
> I can't see but the "small" version of that
> picture, but I guess what you are referring to
> could the "remains" of said breaker bar. Have
> seen other ex-MILW RD SD's in their after-lives
> with some of the support work still in place.
>
> The breaker bars were for auto rack cars'
> protection as they went thru tunnels in the
> mountains - icecicles!

Thank you for your additional information on ex-Milw Road SD40Tooshdahs.

Hiroshi

While the company name is GATX, the actual GATX reporting marks are reserved for tank cars. Put GATX 6300 into a railroad computer system that relies on UMLER and you'll probably get a tank car description. Locos like cars are required to be registered in UMLER with a reporting mark and number. I can remember one time when this caused great confusion in a CSX yard. So the actual reporting marks (which are different than the logo) on the engines are something different than GATX. At one point we were using GSCX, then LLPX, and perhaps now it is GMTX (I'm retired and out of the loop). And I believe in some cases lessees change the umler marks to something that helps them track the units...didn't UP use UPL for leased locos?

JBW

Go to:

http://community-2.webtv.net/@HH!C9!EF!A2C637F7DAB0/priscillafink/doc6/

to learn about that projection along the front 3/4ths of the side of the radiator section. On the MILW SD40-2s with ice breakers, that projection was a channel section welded to the side of the radiator cab, just below the top of the radiator hatch. When the ice breaker (mounted on hinges at the extreme end of the carbody) were lowered, the chain connecting the ice breaker to the carbody was supposed to lie inside that channel.

The ice breaker when "stored" was lowered forward across the radiator fans. When in use, the ice breaker was raised to vertical position at the extreme rear end of the carbody. The chain on each side took any impact load from the ice breaker hitting icicles, and transmited the load into the carbody.

Those channels were a simple but generally effective way of keeping those chains from falling down the sides of the radiator cab when the breaker bar was lowered.

Funny how the same SD40-2s SOO LINE thought were junk and turned back on lease in 89 are still pulling their weight for EMD, GATX and DME! I think Soo Line made a mistake there...

The Soo Line, like a lot of railroads, had the bad luck to lease locos on a basis that required that they pay "fair market value" for the units at lease expiry. This was an IRS requirement related to the transfer to the lessor of the tax benefits, which in those days was a big deal and resulted initially in much lower lease payments for the railroad. Then during the intervening 15 years due to unexpectedly high inflation the price of replacement equipment virtually tripled, with the value of used equipment increasing at a similar rate. This came as a rude shock to a lot of railroads. Some railroads like the Soo simply didn't think they could afford to buy the units for the prices that the market demanded, so they returned them. Companies like GATX and Helm used this as an opportunity to get into the operating lease business. But it is also worth noting that these units continue to operate reliably only because a lot of money was spent by lessors on overhauls. Initally Helm got a reputation for "rent a wrecks" because they leased a lot of units "as is where is" to desperate railroads like SP. But longer term both Helm and GATX spent a lot of money on overhauls, and in some cases in equipping units with dynamic brakes and with solid state and/or computerized electrical cabinets.

JBW