Ex-Conrail SD60i to Railroaders Memorial Museum

Alexander D. Mitchell IV · **Posted:** Tue Oct 31, 2023 6:19 pm

https://altoona.psu.edu/story/61096/202 ... ers-museum

Quote:

An in-kind gift to Penn State Altoona from Norfolk Southern more than a decade ago, the SD60i freight locomotive had been housed at Curry Rail Services in Hollidaysburg. Now, its ownership will be transferred to the Railroaders Memorial Museum, and it will be stored in the museum’s Harry Bennett Memorial Roundhouse.

The locomotive was originally built by General Motors for Conrail in 1995. Norfolk Southern took ownership of it in 1999 before gifting it to Penn State Altoona with the unit number PSU 2020. The donation has since enhanced the college’s Rail Transportation Engineering (RTE) program curriculum.
A close up of PSU 2020, a locomotive

More at the link.

psa188 · **Posted:** Wed Nov 01, 2023 11:55 am

OK, I feel like a fossil today.

Word also came in today that they're cutting up a 787.
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/10-y ... index.html

PCook · **Joined:** Sat Jul 02, 2005 7:16 am **Posts:** 2127

Motorola 6803 microprocessors. Thirty+ year old technology.

16-bit address bus (64 K addressable): port 3, 4

8-bit data bus: port 3

8-bit input/ output port: port 1

5-bit input/output port: port 2

8 MHz. clock

PC

EJ Berry · **Posted:** Wed Nov 01, 2023 11:23 pm

Interesting. The controls of an FP7 are more maintainable than this engine.

Of course the controls of a C-47 are more maintainable than those of an Airbus 321 neu. .

Phil Mulligan

Alexander D. Mitchell IV · **Posted:** Wed Nov 01, 2023 11:38 pm

In the recent discussions over F40PH locos in preservation, I spoke off the record with a prospective future user of either F40's or ex-Amtrak GE P40s/P42s.

I basically joked to them "So when will you start looking at the GE's Amtrak will get rid of soon?"

They said, and I paraphrase, "We don't want them.

"We've had them on the property several times. They look too new and weird for our [heritage-themed] operation. . . . they are incredibly complex machines. The computer runs everything. We would need to create a whole new department in our shops just to troubleshoot the computer problems. When everything works, they are impressive. But it only takes one small electrical problem to leave you stuck in the middle of nowhere, as Amtrak has found out the hard way repeatedly."

I've mentioned in the past Amtrak personnel telling me they had to keep and stockpile Windows 95 laptops to keep diagnosing problems on the Amtrak Acelas and rebuilt AEM7's................

PCook · **Joined:** Sat Jul 02, 2005 7:16 am **Posts:** 2127

The design technology of the SD60 control system being mid-1980s, you can see why the locomotive is not useful in a college teaching environment nowadays.

"That was a long time ago, a lifetime ago".

Requests for training on the SD60 control system faded away a decade back.

PC