Western Railroad Discussion > UP's Last Unpatched SD60M?

I read a while back that three UP SD60M's remain active on the locomotive roster with factory delivered numbers (originally UP 6085-6365). Apparently two of the three are inactive, undergoing conversion to SD59M's. Is UP 6165 really the last?

From a roster of 281 units, UP 6165 was built new for the Uncle Pete in June 1989. I recall when these EMD's lead the hottest stack and intermodal trains across the system and worked remarkably well in slow bulk train service. The UP 6165 has been assigned to work out of Salt Lake City for the past few months in transfer service between Roper and North Yard and the 'St John Local' west of SLC.

See if you can account for how many changes have been made to the 6165 since it was built at the EMD assembly plant at London, Ontario. I can spot at least three.

James

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Okay, I'll give it a try: new louvered access panel, added ditch lights, blanked window in nose door, and new high intensity yellow frame stripe. I'm no student of the UP...

You forgot the GPS dome. The paint almost looks too good to be as delivered.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

SCL1517 Wrote:
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> Okay, I'll give it a try: new louvered access
> panel, added ditch lights, blanked window in nose
> door, and new high intensity yellow frame stripe.
> I'm no student of the UP...

The access panel, blanked window on nose door, and the yellow frame stripes are what I spotted, too.

What a bummer I missed seeing this Triclops while in Utah. If it sticks around, it'll be another reason to visit again.

Isn't the short sun visor a replacement?

UP 6106 is probably stored somewhere, no events within 180 days, but is still in UMLER.
UP 6165 is obviously active.
UP 6341 was the third and is now a 9900-series ECO unit.
No other un-renumbered ones left.

I seen a UP SD60M triclops about a month ago on a southbound ZBRLC..It was numbered 2278 but still had the red strip on the bottom trim.

On 2007-10-19 the UP 6106 showed up in Fort Madison, IA on UP trackage rights train Z-EPCS1.

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GrandeGold Wrote:
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> I read a while back that three UP SD60M's remain
> active on the locomotive roster with factory
> delivered numbers (originally UP 6085-6365).
> Apparently two of the three are inactive,
> undergoing conversion to SD59M's. Is UP 6165
> really the last?

CORRECT - the last active one although UP is sending back out SD60/60M's and C40-8/C40/41-8W's from storage lines right now as the economy and freight traffic picks up this late second half of 2010. So anything is possible with those other two un-renumbered SD60M's.


See if you can account for how many changes have
> been made to the 6165 since it was built at the
> EMD assembly plant at London, Ontario. I can spot
> at least three.

You asked, here we go!

- new UP replacement plow (MU doorless, rounded corner opening kind - likely evidence of a crossing grade accident)
- replacement subbase/battery box door
- post-2005 FRA compliant yellow sill stripe
- GPS/Antenna dome
- replacement speed recorder (third axle, conductor side)
- replacement brake cylinder (above first axle, conductor side)
- replacement lower conductor side steps (note new paint on all three steps + lower stepwell re-bent/repainted marks - more evidence of a crossing grade accident)
- replacement cab sunshade (original ones had the long EMD style sunshade)


Interesting to note the nose door on the UP 6165 has been left untouched sans-window. The first UP "tri-clops" SD60M's came with a windowless nose door but then a majority of them were retrofitted with the tinted nose-door in the 90's. Ironically the trend over the last decade has been to remove and plate all wide cab nose door windows on account of safety (result of a lawsuit in a RR accident where an employee(s) lost life on account of the nose door breaking through - I forget the specific incident)

There are only two non renumbered UP SD60M's out there.

UP 6106 is stored in Stockton, CA.
UP 6165 is working around Salt Lake City as pictured.

UP 6341 was the third to last, but it has now become an ECO SD59M-2 rebuild as UP 9908.