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| Heber Valley Railroad purchases Pan Am GP9s http://rypn.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=42010 |
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| Author: | eze240 [ Sat May 19, 2018 10:06 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Heber Valley Railroad purchases Pan Am GP9s |
I'll just say this.... Having worked for a few shortlines... There is a common belief, expectation, or, perhaps a "rule of thumb" concerning shortlines and their operations that suggests their equipment is generally poorly maintained and if they part with it, it's worn out junk that's ready for the scrapper.... It's not just foamers that have the idea, it's common in the industry, even though the truth is, some maintain their equipment very well, some don't... But only a few are really bad... I suppose, much of that thinking comes from the fact that shortlines have historically been very "thrifty" operations that maximize profit by minimizing costs and because of this are able to make money where class one railroads can't.... |
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| Author: | Alexander D. Mitchell IV [ Sat May 19, 2018 10:56 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Heber Valley Railroad purchases Pan Am GP9s |
In this particular case, considering that the locos' heritage is Springfield Terminal/Guilford, some of that reputation MAY be well-deserved. My personal impressions of Guilford, from watching their operations over the D&H in the 1980s, is that Guilford was 1) poverty-stricken enough to purchase "clapped-out" former Rock Island GEs, and 2) that they were continuing the Penn Central "tradition" of throwing extra motive power on its long-distance trains in hopes that enough of them would keep running to get the train through to its destination. (Conversations with Conrail forces that dealt with these trains mostly confirmed these impressions.) Now, obviously, any loco doesn't keep running for another 30 years after that without proper care of some kind or another, not even a relatively bullet-proof, no-nonsense GP9. And just because their engine terminals and yards may be weed-choked and their paint an abomination of patches and chips says nothing about the talent of engine forces. |
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| Author: | wilkinsd [ Sat May 19, 2018 12:03 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Heber Valley Railroad purchases Pan Am GP9s |
Bottom line: nobody opining here sayingbthe locomotives are junk inspected them. I know who did. I’d trust Mike’s opinion before I’d trust any of yours. |
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| Author: | daylight4449 [ Sat May 19, 2018 12:40 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Heber Valley Railroad purchases Pan Am GP9s |
wilkinsd wrote: Otto Vondrak wrote: I guess I am surprised that the best option was to purchase some clapped out Geeps from the other side of the country? Nothing closer? Also sad these historic Geeps are leaving New England, they only ever operated for one owner their whole lives... http://railfan.com/new-england-geeps-in-twilight/ -otto- They weren't "clapped out" based on the thorough mechanical inspection given to them before a purchase was negotiated. Otto, do you know how to inspect a GP9? Have you bought a locomotive? I mean a "real" road locomotive, not an industrial one? Any idea what the market is like? Your complaints make you sound like a foamer, rather than someone who knows how to run a tourist railroad, or is realistically involved in railway preservation. Dave, I wouldn't blame Otto. That group of Geeps have always had at least one out of service because something on them died for at least the last four years. Hell, I got that impression from the people I know who ran them that they were dogs... But at the same time Pan Am has been putting a lot of work into those engines over the last year or two to keep them running reliably because they had nothing else to replace them with, and none of the issues I knew of circled around the prime mover. It was mostly electrical stuff, and I think an oil leak at one point on the B&M-painted unit. I doubt they're flawless but the reputation they have for being beat up exists for a very good reason. Hell, the two times I saw the B&M unit was around the time it was leaking oil and it sounded like rocks rattling around in a can! Now where you know Mike, you would know what he found. And if he's saying they're good they probably are, but it took an outside set of eyes to confirm that. |
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| Author: | Utah Josh [ Sat May 19, 2018 12:45 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Heber Valley Railroad purchases Pan Am GP9s |
lol this just gets better. David once again brings up something he doesn't know anything about in an effort to insult me. At least he now knows who Otto is. He's not a name that you want to be insulting, considering he just might be someone who could be a valuable service to the railroad. |
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| Author: | NS 3322 [ Sat May 19, 2018 1:09 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Heber Valley Railroad purchases Pan Am GP9s |
Wow this thread turned ugly. |
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