Eastern Railroad Discussion > All this junk power

Where has all this junk power on CSX come from all of the sudden. Did somebody hijack all the AC6000's? on regular Q trains destined for the RF&P that normally have AC6000's or SD60i's we are seeing sd40-2's, b38's, gp40-2's, SD 50's......

And its not just the RF&P, there are other jobs that are getting real lush power as well. Where have all these junkers come from and what happened to all the wide bodies? Did all their blue cards expire?

Also, where did the LRCX ex Santa Fe GE's go? I miss those cowboy scenes that were always depicted under the cab windows

don't complain that junk power is good power don't you get tired of seeing those ac6000 and sd60ms?

Be glad that you don't work for the NS. That power would be considered pretty good, especially if they were foreign units.

In response to the first answer to your post, are you kidding? Give me an SD60I in the lead any day. They have always been my favorite. You fans don't have to put up with the crap that we get. Sit on some noisey clunker for eight hours or so. Many of those older units should have been retired years ago. Yes, some are still comfortable and ride pretty well, but the rest have been poorly maintained and are falling apart. They just don't compare with the wide bodies. I just wish that NS would put decent seats and desk tops in their dash 9W's.

don't forget all the sore back from all the constant lateral motion shaking you back and forth in the seat every time you close off the throttle

You have that right. Hold on to your coffee unless you want to wear it. We'll have bad kidneys, too, before we retire.

A lot of the CW60AC's are in storage in Cumberland Md and Selkirk NY.

Didn't I hear something last week about a recall for bearing work on the ACs?

WOW! you mean you actually GET AC's on road trains sometimes? What's that like? It sounds to me like you've been getting what we here at Avon (Indianapolis) have been getting since CSX went and messed up Conrail. SD40's are good, and I'd really like them more if they just put the horn back on the hood, rather than in your ear on the top of the cab. Mostly, we get the bottom of the power barel. a Widecab is a rare event here. AS for the "fast55's" Those COnrail SD60i's (5500 and 5600 class) are my favorite engines. They have nice sound-proofed cabs, they were relatively fast on response to the throttle(especially when compared to ANY AC unit) and they flew like Mercury would have if He had Nike's. Nothing quite like the experience of power-braking down the hill at 60 Throttle wide open, 1st service (Minimum reduction for you nail-biters)on Mail-44. AN experience I'll always remember. I never thought I'd say this, I miss Conrail. Don't get me wrong, they had their problems, but nothing like the Circus CSX is!~~DRLOCO

"I read the news and they lied about you...they missed the point of it all."-Joydrop "Embrace"

Yes, I remember getting matched pairs of 6000's out of Cumberland on all the trailer trains. Then merger. They all seemed to migrate to the Selkirk to Chicago trains. We see them now, usually on mixed freights that are heavy. Then you only get 1, and anything else are clunkers.

I better get over to Sandpatch to catch to parade of old units now!

Roger, DRLOCO!! Nothing like running down to the drawbridge in Cleveland or into Alliance at 60 under power! I love to watch a new conductor get squirmy. They get used to it. It is too bad that younger engineers don't learn how to use the air properly.(There are some exceptions.) Long live the SD60I's!

I suppose thanks are in order. I'm a new engineer, (last Conrail engineer promoted on the Indianapolis Division before split date)of about 2 years now, and I was fortunate to have been taught how to use tha air by some excellent "prior-prior right" NYC men in the Indianapolis to Crestline and Indy-Toledo pools. My question to you--you ever run down to Crestline? Just curious, I wonder if we sleepily passed eachother in the crew room once upon a time.~~DRLOCO

"hello, didn't I see you on TV? Musthave been the same thing Charlie Brown went through..."~Barenaked Ladies "Same Thing"

I never went to Crestline on Conrail. I was qualified from Chicago to Buffalo and to Conway. I never ran the Carruthers Branch, the old Pennsy main, out of Toledo. Nor did I get qualified from Toledo to Indianapolis. There was an open turn for six or so months before the takeover. I wish that I would have done it. Oh, well.

It is good to hear from younger engineers that know how to use the air. The young engineers on NS, with few exceptions, have no clue. They get the brainwashing from the NS and learn no real railroading skills. The old heads that qualified me were 1950's guys. The skills that they had are fast becoming extinct. It is too bad. It is up to us to teach the skills to the up and coming engineers. Otherwise, we will have a bunch of new engineers and conductors that have no idea of how to really railroad.