Eastern Railroad Discussion > NS 8879 first upgraded DC to AC Dash 9 Complete

NS has just received former Tophat 8879 back from upgrades done to her in NY under contract to add a GE Widecab with NS style high headlight, AC cabinet on the firemans side, extended range high capacity dynamic brakes (three grids). Seems nothing changed on the engine hood or radiator section. Great plans by NS again proving they are forward thinkers of this industry right now! Several other units are currently under conversion as well right now from Facebook posts on Chris Toth's NS DASH 9 page, hopefully he will add more here or update us further when more is known. No model designation was shown or was confirmed yet.

AC44-9W?

Posted from Android

I meant that as a possible name.

Posted from Android

IC1026 Wrote:
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> AC44-9W?
>
> Posted from Android

No, AC44 and -9 would techically mean its AC and DC in the same model so that wouldnt work. I'm sure its something pretty standard like C44AC or CW44AC 

Will the number stay the same or start a new series?

Unknown yet what the model desiognation will be or whether they will be renumbered when repainted.

Here are two photos of the 8879, courtesy of Bernie Emerson:

NS 8879 Photo 1

NS 8879 Photo 2


Chris Toth
NSDash9.com

Chris, something I have been wondering on these conversions is 1- Was the weight increased to heavy or semi heavy standards 2- Did they get EVO style interiors with AAR controls and 3- Will they be DP equipped?

I haven't seen the specs on these yet, but they should have the EVO cab interior and AAR control stand.

Chris Toth
NSDash9.com

In looking at the two images, not only was a new cab spliced on, but so was a new front stairwell, as it has 5 steps. The rear stepwell has only four, as the unit ws originally built.

Russ

NWRailfan Wrote:
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> Great plans by NS again proving they are
> forward thinkers of this industry right now!

You must be joking or is this sarcasm??
They special ordered these with conventional cabs & stuck with DC traction motors while the rest of the RR world was ordering "wide cabs" and AC traction motors.  "Forward thinkers," -I think not.

Edit: ...and as for "complete" in your title, they still have to be painted.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/30/15 14:04 by nsrlink.

How much has upper management changed from then to now? Different people calling the shots?

nsrlink Wrote:
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> You must be joking or is this sarcasm??
> They special ordered these with conventional cabs
> & stuck with DC traction motors while the rest of
> the RR world was ordering "wide cabs" and AC
> traction motors.  "Forward thinkers," -I think
> not.

I disagree with your statement, and here's why. In the midst of the years of annual deliveries of Dash 9's to NS, the NWHS hosted their annual convention in Roanoke and we were able to tour the East End shops. I specifically asked the Mech Dept supervisor who led the tour why NS hadn't switched to AC locomotives, given that they leased two CSX AC4400CW's, two SP AC4400CW's and two UP SD9043MAC's, all for testing AC power. His response was that upper management, at the time, wanted to standardize the locomotive fleet to as few variations as possible, enabling them to standardize and minimize parts inventory system-wide. He further stated, when I asked about the 4,000 vs. 4,400 HP issue, that the y also recognized the fuel savings and the lowered wear and tear on the prime mover at the lower horsepower, eventhough a DC traction motor has more parts to replace than an AC traction motor. GE also offered a better finance program as well, and NS was not happy with the EMD SD70 and its performance.

All of this was also at a time when BNSF was ammassing 0,786 SD70MAC's and 1,791 C44-9W's, and then went onto buy some 720+ ES44DC's after buying over 120 AC4400CW's.

Management has changed and things are different, but also keep in mind that neither GE nor EMD offer a 6 axle DC locomotive anymore.

Regards,
Russ

The strategy of a standardized fleet model has worked exceptionally well for Southwest Airlines, among others.  One set of parts, one set of seat plans (with some additional rows on a few models), every pilot is certified on every aircraft, every mechanic is certified on every aircraft.

NS may feel that the ability to have just about any road power do any job is worth more than tailoring its fleet to the various tasks like coal country pusher duty versus intermodal.

I wonder if NS has plans to paint some of their rebuilt engines to honor the shops in their system that provide these services?  It would be great to have  units for Chattanooga, Roanoke, Juniata, etc. 

Maybe even incorporate some local area minor league baseball team detail into the result?  Roanoke Red Sox, Altoona Curve, etc.

> One set of parts

A bit of an oversimplification because 20% of their fleet is 733s and 735s that differ in some respects from the newer models. Also I have heard there are configuration differences between the Southwest pre-acquisition 73Gs and the ex-AirTran 73Gs But your point remains valid when comparing Southwest to nearly all other airlines.