MBTA F40PH's going the wrong way?

I was working my train north from Philly to South Kearny on CSX this morning.

And what to my wondering eyes did appear on a passing southbound freight to Camden, NJ (Q417) but MBTA F40PH-2M's 1028 and 1031 as the 3rd and 4th units of the locomotive consist.

The Q417 terminates in Camden, NJ, just across the river from Philly. Why would T F40's be heading that way? If I recall, Boise is in the other direction.....

Joe

thats odd, i thought those units were going to Shelkirk

oops, never mind

GP40MC1118 wrote:
1036 last known to be in Selkirk Yard for over a week now.

1028,1031 have been shipped back to Boise.

D

is the usual line to boise under construction?

Sometimes locomotives get lost. I've known some folks who have worked for shortlines -- they've got some great stories about locomotives being shipped by the Class 1's getting lost (and to be fair, I've heard stories about CSXT and NS). There's a good one that I can't remember about one locomotive roaming around for quite some time before someone realized it wasn't just another lease/run-thru unit and figured out where it was supposed to go.

Although, with that purple and silver paint, the MBTA F40's should be an obvious exception. Maybe someone's trying to send them to the old ACL part of CSXT's system.

One of the 1050's was sent from Boise to Chicago, then to Arkansas, then Iowa, before finally finding it's way back to Selkirk. The UP instead of handing her over to CSX, put it on a Arkansas bound freight.

Think of it this way- plenty of free publicity for the T with the engine going on an extended vaction around the midwest

Is this the first time this has happened to the locomotives or has it happened before? What caused the mishap in the first place?

This stuff happens all the time with locomotives. A locomotive doesn't look like a freight car that's waybilled to a certain location, and with all the lease and run thru power, how do you tell at a glance that a locomotive is being shipped to a specific location, and not just another oddball. Now, like I said, a bright purple and silver F40 should be obvious that its not the latest rent-a-wreck SD40, but, with the UP as power short, who knows what went thru the mind of a yardmaster somewhere...

I see. Does the MBTA get any compensation for the late delivery of the engines or for any wear and tear that they receive while on those roundabout trips back?

Probably in some way, but who knows.

I think we see now why Amtrak used to forward MBTA engines to and from Boise in their own trains (Lake Shore to the CZ, I believe...). Well, that and that they didn't have to pay for that either...

They are all shipped DIT from Boise to Boston, so UP does not help their cause to haul it around, as it can't do anything for them.

OK, I think I missed something... are these units sold or on their way for repairs?

There most likely going back for repairs

SilverLinerII, I have good news for you...... I saw the 1031 in the loco service center at Selkirk today

ST214 wrote:They are all shipped DIT from Boise to Boston, so UP does not help their cause to haul it around, as it can't do anything for them.

Unless they fired it up and used it themselves..don't laugh, UP has a longstanding tradition of hijacking other peoples motive power in times of crisis.

Union Pacific usually handles the locomotive movements to and from Boise (actually Nampa where they interchange with Idaho Northern) with the MBTA unit(s) on the rear of the train, rather than up front with the power.

The 1028 and 1031 went to the B&P to have main generators removed for warranty work by the supplier that had remanufactured them for Boise.

The move south was a mistake by CSX, they were probably mixed in with a freight block and got misrouted. They came back to Selkirk and then went west.