Nostalgia & History > How About Some UP SD60Ms, Remember Them?

Union Pacific had 281 of them according to the Utah Rails site, built beginning in January 1989 and into October 1992 and originally numbered 6085 through 6365.  Almost all were renumbered once.

1. UP 6092 was first at Toomey, CA on October 30, 1994.  She was built 1/89 and renumbered to UP 2249.

2. UP 6137, LMS 705, UP 9405 and two more in Cajon Pass on March 8, 1995.  The units were a SD40M built 5/89 and became UP 2272, a blue C40-8W, a yellow C40-8W built 3/90, and the remaining unidentified.

3. UP 6144 and 6263 west of Laraimie,  WY on July 5, 1991.  6144 was built 5/89 and became UP 2298 and 6263 was built 11/90 and became UP 2419.

Continued ...



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/24/15 10:15 by MartyBernard.

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4.  UP 6145 was a leader east of Laraime, WY on September 12, 1993.  She was built 5/89 and renumbered to UP 2300.

5. UP 6156 lead at Borie, WY on September 12, 1993 and was built 5/89 and renumbered to UP 2311.

Enjoy,
Marty Bernard



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/23/15 22:45 by MartyBernard.

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       I guess I've not heard of the SD650 units.

I remember when these came on-line when new. They were a decent upgrade from the problematic SD50s and they provided my first experience with the desktop control stand. I got called as a hostler now and then and the first time I had to run one of these it was sight-unseen. Took me awhile to get used to the controls.

When they first appeared there were still two brakemen on every train and a new rule requiring all on-duty crewmen to ride in the controlling cab when possible, so there was a 4th seat right in the center of the cab for one of the brakemen. I always enjoyed riding there with that 3-pc windshield as there was no center pillar right in the middle of my view. The only downside was when one of the other crewmen smoked as there was no way to crack a window to get some fresh air. In those instances, my solution was to head down the steps and into the nose and peer out the little door window until the cab pollution had cleared.

Today's locomotives are far better but I'll always have fond memories of the SD60Ms.

dcfbalcoS1 Wrote:
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>        I guess I've not heard of the SD650
> units.

Typo!  SD60Ms.

Sorry.

Marty Bernard



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/24/15 10:37 by MartyBernard.

trainjunkie Wrote:
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> I remember when these came on-line when new. They
> were a decent upgrade from the problematic SD50s
> and they provided my first experience with the
> desktop control stand. I got called as a hostler
> now and then and the first time I had to run one
> of these it was sight-unseen. Took me awhile to
> get used to the controls.
>
> When they first appeared there were still two
> brakemen on every train and a new rule requiring
> all on-duty crewmen to ride in the controlling cab
> when possible, so there was a 4th seat right in
> the center of the cab for one of the brakemen. I
> always enjoyed riding there with that 3-pc
> windshield as there was no center pillar right in
> the middle of my view. The only downside was when
> one of the other crewmen smoked as there was no
> way to crack a window to get some fresh air. In
> those instances, my solution was to head down the
> steps and into the nose and peer out the little
> door window until the cab pollution had cleared.
>
> Today's locomotives are far better but I'll always
> have fond memories of the SD60Ms.

Mike, I guess they never told you, that was the designated "smoking room" down in the nose. LOL  Although at speed the smoke would filter back into the cab. At slower speeds the considerate crew member would step out the back door for a smoke.

Just had a SD60m (UP2315) on a double stack repo train from L.A. to Carson siding just last trip. My usual train is the MWCLB (West Colton to Long Beach hauler) which normally has SD60ms on it. They're pretty beat up after all these years but they still run fairly well. I have killed a few of them over the years from blown turbos to frying the dynamic grids to completely blowing up the prime mover. The worst thing about them today is they equipped them with the "auto-start" function which doesn't work most of the time and you have to go back and manually start them.-BMT

Forgot to memtion how loud they are in full dynamic being that the blower and grids are right behind the cab. Does make for a great light show when the grids decide to go belly up!  



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/24/15 10:23 by UPNW2-1083.

UPNW2-1083 Wrote:
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> Mike, I guess they never told you, that was the
> designated "smoking room" down in the nose. LOL
>  Although at speed the smoke would filter back
> into the cab. At slower speeds the considerate
> crew member would step out the back door for a
> smoke.

IIRC, it took people awhile, and a few "No smoking" policy enforcements, before anyone figured out that the nose was the new smoking area. And then there were guys like Pierce, who wouldn't get out of his seat for much of anything, let alone to burn one.

Yeah, I remember how loud the dynamics were but compared to most of the power we had in the 80s, I recall they worked really well. But yeah, open the rear cab door while coming down Cajon, and everyone in the cab would groan.

Glad to hear they are still out there earning their keep but I can only imagine how ratty they are these days.