Eastern Railroad Discussion > High Hood Horse Head At Shire Oaks

GP38-2 5144 FRESH out of a paint booth somewhere

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Are they only chopnosing the ones that are upgraded to GP38-3's???

Gotta give the NS credit...the added an AC to that high hood unit. They have gone from being one of the worst RR's with regards to cab ergonomics, to one of the best. Those NS guys working on those locals out in Missippi, Florida, Georgia...I bet they really appreciate the relief from that white AC box on top of that cab.

Red, the chopped NS rebuilds are "GP38-2" units rebuilt from GP38/GP38AC's and "GP38-3" units that are rebuilt from GP50's.

The high hood GP38-2's continue to soldier on, many now equipped with remote control equipment for RC operations.


Chris Toth

NSDash9 Wrote:
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> Red, the chopped NS rebuilds are "GP38-2" units
> rebuilt from GP38/GP38AC's and "GP38-3" units that
> are rebuilt from GP50's.
>
> The high hood GP38-2's continue to soldier on,
> many now equipped with remote control equipment
> for RC operations.
>
>
> Chris Toth

Thanks for the info. A month or two ago, I made a request for some photos of the NS former GP50/GP38-3's. I think this was a VERY smart decision on the part of NS to do this, and expect other RR's to follow suit. In fact, Canadian Pacific turned a GP40X into a GP38-3. I look for the remaining UPRR GP50's to end up this way, and, the large number of FURX leasers still in UPRR colors...but I suspect they will wait until the units need rebuilding before they do this.

It never occured to me what a good platform the GP50 would be for a whole new fleet of "new" GP38-3's. The NS units, in particular, look VERY sharp, and these should be good reliable local/switch power for them for at least the next 20 to 30 years.

I also think that the NS was wise to invest in the B32-8 and GP59 series in the early 1990's. That's the most modern local/switch power of any class one RR, and I think it was a wise investment. I bet that NS is not in the chronic low horsepower unit shortage that many railroads find themselves in, and, with the new generation power and all the rebuilds, I'd venture to say that NS has the most reliable fleet of low horsepower units of any of the big four.

They looked even better when painted in tuxedo scheme and running LHF on the Piedmont Div. Ah the memories.