Hello everyone,
I have recently found a liking to the GM&O GP units with ALCo trucks. So i thought, do any of them survive. Well i found one, GP35 No. 631. I found photos of it being displayed up until the early 2000s when it fell into disrepair, from there, she jumped around the South Central area. The last photo I found was from 2015, 4 years ago.

Does anyone know where No. 631 is? Any information would be appreciated!

Stay warm!

Connor







http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=2685195

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=4215336

These photos are not mine, all rights go to the photographers listed on rrpicturearchives.

I believe the GM&O 631 was aquired by VLIX. I want to say it's stored in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, in the Southern Appalachia Railroad Museum.

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=4393348

I recall hearing some of my friends in downstate Illinois talking about a GM&O unit headed southeast, it must have been this one.

Thomas

Why did these EMD locomotives have ALCO trucks on the GM&O? I'm assuming it was just preference of the GM&O, but what made these trucks so good compared to the EMD trucks?

What made them so good? The fact that they were already bought and paid for. Several roads purchased GP-30's or GP-35's on trucks from the ALCO FA's they had traded in... The FA's had problems that went far beyond the trucks. The Soo Line had about twenty, and the C&NW had some, too. Meanwhile, this was the period when EMD had finished Dieselizing the nation's railroads, and were trying to figure out how to keep busy. The flat market made them responsive to the wants and needs of the smaller roads; this was also the era when they were actively doing re-engine conversions of competitor's products.

I have heard that roads that went this route eventually regretted it, but I think that was mostly due to issues with the GE traction motors, not the trucks.

The motors were good. The trucks, not so much. They rode hard compared to a Blomberg, IMO because of the greater unsprung weight. And to change an inside brake shoe required the unit to be over a pit as those shoes were inaccessible otherwise.

I think Southern had them too. W&LE still may be running GP-35's with Alco trucks.

Not only does W&LE still have at least one Alco trucked EMD, its still a high nose. Haven't seen it recently, but it worked the Greentree yard outside of Pittsburgh, and could be seen from the parkway west (376), wearing black with orange lettering.

brian b

W&LE has 12 on the roster with Type B trucks, 11 rebuilt as "dash 3". One stored not rebuilt. Most have high hoods and are equipped for remote control. I think all but one were ex-Southern units. I guess they haven't cut the hoods down since they're used in switching??? Visibility out of those leaves much to be desired.

Sorry, veering way off topic again.

I believe 1 or 2 of the W&LE units was recently damaged (likely totaled) due to a runaway caused by a faulty remote control; they were intentionally used to wreck the runaway.
The EMDs on Alco trucks had the issue of parts, they oftentimes were the only 752 motors and only 'Type B' trucks on lines that bought them.

CD

Not sure of the details but GP35-3 #106 (with the Type B trucks) was switching the east end of Brittain yard in Akron and trundled away eastbound with a string of cars supposedly due to a remote control malfunction. It's short sprint to freedom ended when it attempted to occupy the same place as a westbound standing on the main headed by GP40-3 #304. I assume both units are totaled. At least they certainly looked that way.

Yeah, the WE cut them up within sight of the I-76 overpass over the tracks near the Gilchrist Rd. exit. My info on that was GP35 106, a GP40 and a GP38, as well as an SD40. I believe at least the SD40 was salvageable. The Akron to Kent Akron Barberton Cluster local (they switch industries on the former E-L in Kent and Ravenna) was waiting to get into Brittain yard from the Mogadore end, and the remote control switching crew lost radio contact with it's locomotive. We're not talking about the modern remote units that the Class I's use, this is something like steel mill operations were using in the 1970's. So, no fall protection tilt cut-off switches, or fail-safe shutdown features if radio contact is lost. Also, at least on CSX, units operating in remote mode are limited to 7-8 mph, but this thing supposedly took off in Run 8 when it lost radio contact and was doing nearly 50 mph when it hit the standing train. Fortunately the local crew saw it coming and jumped. No injuries reported.

Assuming it was one of Wheeling's own SD40-2/-3 variants, there's no sign of a retirement having happened for the SD40 (or for the involved GP38-2, #254).

http://www.nsdash9.com/WEroster.html

Not even stored notations, and he's usually right on top of that sort of stuff. So I bet they've already been repaired at Brewster and are out there working again. Just the GP35-3 and GP40-3 appear to have been retired and scrapped.

I bet someone there views with regret that they didn't invest in modern remote control equipment now. It would not shock me in the least if the write-off of two heavily rebuilt locomotives with years of life left in them is more than the price for the installation of the modern remote control equipment in the necessary locomotives would've been.