Western Railroad Discussion > UP DDA40X 6925

Has anyone seen the UP Centennial 6925 that's sitting in a Dakota Southern yard at Chamberlain, SD. ? How and why did it end up there? It looks forlorn and in pretty rough shape. Has anyone seen it up close or know if it's past all hope of being cosmetically restorable to say nothing of mechanically? I'm surprised to see how 6925 ended up. I looked up some photos of the Centennials when I came across the photo of 6925 from a few years ago showing it's current condition and on rail archives I found one of it on the point of a freight on Christmas Day in 1979. Sure was a sad sight to see what's become of it.

I saw it also and thought this is one of the most out of place things I have seen. Would like to hear also.

Bob

Saw it last July. It could be cosmetically restored if you have enough money. It won't be able to be moved very far as the truck side frames are cracked and the missing wheels would need to be restored under it.

Alex Huff the former owner of the Dakota Southern bought it for several reasons. One was for the huge fuel tank to store fuel. At one time he even dreamed about some day running it so they also have the only spare four axle DDA40X truck anywhere. It now is missing the prime movers and alternators, They were very much in demand so Alex sold them and unfortunately things have been stolen like the number boards and speed recorder.
Its future is unknown especially as the new owner is not kind to railfans and his word cannot be believed.(ask anyone about the FEVR in Fremont NE.)
I think there was more info on here in the last year or so.
Also be carefull going on the property because as I said the new owner is not a Railfan and has threatened to have people arrested for treaspassing.
Steve



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/08/14 07:49 by wpjones.

If I were able I'd make this guy an offer for the 6925 . Have a team go and do a thorough inspection of it cosmetically and mechanically and then fix whatever needs to be to get it out of there and onto a mainline and haul it to a shop and do a complete tear down and rebuild it from the ground up. It would be modernized...transformed internally and updated. By the time the project was complete it may very well have cost $40 million to get back on the road, but imagine having two operable Centennials! Sure there's others that aren't as far gone that would be better candidates for a reactivation, but this one is truly a survivor that's more worthy of the time and money needed to do the job.

Just my personal opinion on it

Several years ago the president of the short line called me and asked if Union Pacific would be interested in taking it or If I knew of anyone who would take it off their hands. He said the unit was sitting on a track owned by a grain elevator and the elevator owner wanted it removed as "it was an attractive nuisance to railfans". I declined the offer on behalf of UP.

John Bromley
MP17. Omaha



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/08/14 13:35 by Copy19.

Copy19 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Several years ago the president of the short line
> called me and asked if Union Pacific would be
> interested in taking it or If I knew of anyone who
> would take it off their hands. He said the unit
> was sitting on a track owned by a grain elevator
> and the elevator owner wanted it removed as "it
> was an attractive nusciance to railfans". I
> declined the offer on behalf of UP.
>
> John Bromley
> MP17. Omaha

John;

Maybe the owner of the unit could get together with UP and offer a "package deal" of the DDA40X AND the old Portland Traction bridge in Gladstone, Or that collapsing into the Clackamas river to someone that wants a really unique collection of UP history!

Dick Samuels
Oregon Pacific Railroad

I never knew there were Centennials laying around until I came across this thread. Went and did some research and was shocked by what I found. Is this REALLY the fate of this beast? How sad indeed.

http://robert_d-p.rrpicturearchives.net/pictures%5C61916%5CUnion%20Pacific%206925%20Chamberlin,%20SD%2011-07-10%20(4).JPG

David Locher
Fresno, CA
http://www.youtube.com/learnwithgern



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/08/14 13:00 by dlocher.

search...http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,756287,756416#msg-756416

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,2371192,page=1

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,3090462,3090606#msg-3090606

We really ought to find some way to get 6925 out of there. The steam crew has their hands full with 4014 about to be sent back to Cheyenne for a massive rebuild and 3985 being down for repairs and servicing so it's safe to say there won't be much they could do at this point. However, I'm sure John or someone here on T.O. might know where we can start. What would it take to get it ready for the road? What would need to be done? I know the odds are terrible, but as I sit here and type this I recall seeing a photo on rail archives of 6925 on Christmas Day in 1979 pulling a freight and wonder if there may be a chance in the future to see it do so again. The first thing though would be to get it out of Chamberlain and moved indoors to a shop. Is there any servicing shop that could house it somewhere for the present time? Would it be remotely possible to have EMD help out?

Aren't there enough of those things saved already?

There are 13 DDA40X's remaining out of 47, including #6936 which is operational. Yes, as a sum of its parts the DDA40X is unique as the "World's Largest Diesel" but I'd venture to say its components aren't really that special except for the truck frames. Even the cab and nose design was used by other EMD diesels-- the F45, FP45, and SDP40F. In my opinion, there are far more worthy diesel preservation projects than #6925. May I suggest the LAST surviving SDP40F- #644, at Ogden, Utah as one of them. There are also several museums with DDA40X's that would probably LOVE to have volunteers come clean, scrape, sand, and otherwise help prep theirs for repainting.

Even if this one (which is just a shell anyway) got cut up, the type would still be well- represented in museums. If a private individual restored it, where would it run?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/08/14 21:34 by davew833.

davew833 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> There are 13 DDA40X's remaining out of 47,
> including #6936 which is operational. Yes, as a
> sum of its parts the DDA40X is unique as the
> "World's Largest Diesel" but I'd venture to say
> its components aren't really that special except
> for the truck frames. Even the cab and nose design
> was used by other EMD diesels-- the F45, FP45, and
> SDP40F. In my opinion, there are far more worthy
> diesel preservation projects than #6925. May I
> suggest the LAST surviving SDP40F- #644, at Ogden,
> Utah as one of them. There are also several
> museums with DDA40X's that would probably LOVE to
> have volunteers come clean, scrape, sand, and
> otherwise help prep theirs for repainting.
>
> Even if this one (which is just a shell anyway)
> got cut up, the type would still be well-
> represented in museums. If a private individual
> restored it, where would it run?

Isn't there a decent DDA40X at the WP museum in Portola?,I thought I saw an article years ago about UP donating one to them?

6946 is a great candidate, Mr. Lee sent out 6936 to winter out there a few times

I know we can't save them all but it sure doesn't look like it would take much for cosmetic restoration. Granted the large cost would be getting it in shape to move. Since it lacks it's innards I wonder if it could be put on 6 axle trucks just to move it. Just a thought.

I think the folks at the Portola museum got to strip another DDA40X, #6912, for parts before it went to scrap back in the late '80s, so they should have most of what's necessary to get #6946 running again, assuming, of course, that there's time, money, and a reason to do so. I believe #6930 at Illinois Railroad Museum is semi- restored to operate as a cab control car to a trailing diesel so it does operate after a fashion. Most, if not all, or the DDA40Xs donated by UP for display were stripped of prime movers and other parts that would be useful in their other locomotives.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/11/14 18:54 by davew833.

I think Union Pacific deserves a vote of thanks for all it's preservation efforts. They are the hands down leader among the class 1'a both in equipment donated and preserved and operating. There are several reasons they are number 1, not the least of which is they appreciate the significance of their past.

The 6922 at NP has the blocks but the power assemblies are gone. You can look right down the cylinder holes and see the crank.
Also the 6946 at Portola was the first 6900 to be donated/preserved.
Steve

davew833 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I think the folks at the Portola museum got to
> strip another DDA40X, #6912, for parts before it
> went to scrap back in the late '80s, so they
> should have most of what's necessary to get #6946
> running again, assuming, of course, that there's
> time, money, and a reason to do so. I believe
> #6930 at Illinois Railroad Museum is semi-
> restored to operate as a cab control car to a
> trailing diesel so it does operate after a
> fashion. Most, if not all, or the DDA40Xs donated
> by UP for display were stripped of prime movers
> and other parts that would be useful in their
> other locomotives.

The shell of 6925 is pretty much intact. When Dakota Southern purchased it, it had been cannibalized by the UP. The selling price reflected its condition. It had no traction motors. The wheelsets were worn, just within tolerance for shipment. The two prime movers had been pulled for reuse. In their place were two 645E3B "Heavy Block" Diesels, perhaps from SD40-2 units. They were both B/O account of having thrown rods. It is my understanding that trade in units had to have major components in place. The engines were never bolted up to the AR12 alternators. Dakota Southern bought the unit for its value as a parts source. All three ex-MILW SD7/9 units had 567C prime movers with 645 power packs. That gave us 2 x 15 power assemblies as spares, plus water pumps, oil pumps, etc. We were pleasantly surprised when we discovered the Heavy Block 645s were in great demand as cores for commuter locomotives being built by M-K and others. The two B/O blocks were sold to M-K. The AR-12s were sold to National Railway Equipment, as their higher output made them attractive for load-boxing newly overhauled prime movers.
Dakota Southern was never in position to restore the unit. It didn't make much sense on 65# rail which the "main line" was mostly. It wasn't until 2005 that Dakota Southern was able to piggyback on the BNSF's desire to purchase South Dakota state owned track it was leasing. As part of the purchase, BNSF agreed to grant Dakota Southern access to UP, CN and D&I in Sioux City, CP via DMV&W at Aberdeen and the DM&E at Wolsey. To quote ML King, "Free at last".
Effective 10-1-09, the company was sold to the current owners. They have no particular use for the unit. Meth-heads have stolen the copper cabling to the traction motors from beneath the walkways, making restoration less likely. There was a time when running SD40-2 units were being sold at auction by the UP for $25,000. If DSRC had had the money at the time and a use for the unit, a case could have been made to restore it using two SD40-2s as donors. Pragmatically, the better business case would be to put two SD40-2s into service.
Alex Huff, retired DSRC co-owner



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/24/14 17:14 by dsrc512.