Western Railroad Discussion > The Unpredictable Future......

M-L Train down to a crawl on the west slope of Mullan Pass in June of 2004. MRL 328 in the middle of the consist would go to work for the Eastern Washington Gateway some 12 years later. Little did I know that day I would be a engineer of that locomotive on a regular basis.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

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NIIIIICE...!!

Good spot for stretch braking.

Any present day photos?

map

map Wrote:
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> Any present day photos?
>
> map

The second photo is fairly recent.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

Very interesting.

How do you like 328? Better, same, or worse than other locomotives in the fleet? Load up quickly or slowly? Rough or smooth ride? Drafty doors or well sealed?

Just curious,
Ted in OR

10 mph.... hard to answer any of those questions:)

SD45X Wrote:
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> 10 mph.... hard to answer any of those questions:)

We do have some 25mph track. And we give the ride qualities a real workout in some areas.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

gobbl3gook Wrote:
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> Very interesting.
>
> How do you like 328? Better, same, or worse than
> other locomotives in the fleet? Load up quickly
> or slowly? Rough or smooth ride? Drafty doors or
> well sealed?
>
> Just curious,
> Ted in OR

The EWG has both the ex-MRL 328 and 329. Both are former SD45Rs upgraded by SP to Dash-2 standards. MRL didn't upgrade these engines to their SD45-2XR standard unfortunately, so the engines are still largely relying on the mid 1980's upgrade. MRL did install a APU (Auxiliary Power Unit) that allows the main engine to shut down when not in use and still keep the water warm and the batteries charged. SP had the units derated to 3200hp during the 1980's rebuild, but MRL has further derated the engine so they won't burn up the traction motors when working with SD70ACE units. We are still working to reverse the MRL derating. The units loads just like any other turbo second gen SD unit, but seems to take forever to switch directions when switching. The ride is not as good as our SD40T-2, but still better than the C40-8 and far better than the U23B that I don't care for. The worst problem is the trucks are real "Squeaky" on our sections of rough track, kinda like a old metal bed with a couple horny teenagers.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR