Metra Locomotive Assignments And Maintenance

MetraMDW211 wrote:With in the next few months there will be to new locomotives rumored to be numbered in the 500's. And are you sure that 211 207 and 209 wernt in Kentucky? Because I got that information from a 110% reliable source

First there is nothing that I know of, or that I heard that Metra will be getting new locomotives in the 500 series, the only newest locomotives that metra got was ex-Amtrak F40PH's 215, & 216 which came from the Tennessee Central Railroad Museum, and gotten rebuilt in Kentucky before coming to Chicago.

Also 211, 207, & 209 never went to Kentucky, Theses are F40PHM-2 the engines that are being sent are the F40PH-2.

I would like to know how are you getting your information, because information like new engines, or coaches would had been posted on this forum when the news comes out.

209 continues to run on BNSF/SWS. Spotted in Westmont on Friday 7/8/11.

Rumor has it that the 600's will be retired by september and the two new mpi locos in the numbered in the500's will be here.

MetraMDW211 wrote:Rumor has it that the 600's will be retired by september and the two new mpi locos in the numbered in the500's will be here.

The F40C's can already be retired with the addition of 215/216... if more MP36's were coming, why wouldn't they be numbered starting at 428 etc..? Also considering Metra's recent advertisement of service cuts due to budget shortages, I doubt more MP36's are on the way.

Engines 171 and 173 (and probably a couple others) have their horns reversed--one bell facing forward and four bells facing backward.

The new locomotives will pay for them selves in fuel savings. a 400 loco only takes 28 gallons round trip from cus to elgin and back. a 600 idles at 57 gallons per hour with no throttle. Mid September is the day the 600's are going to be gone and the new 500 series will be here

I have some questions about these new locomotives: What kind of locomotives are these? What model? Who is manufacturing them? And lastly, who is your source at Metra? E.G. an engineer, a conductor, etc.

28 gallons for a round trip to Elgin with a 645F engine in start/ stop commuter service while providing HEP? You might want to revisit that number. An SD50 uses around 52 gallons an hour in notch 3 alone.

MetraMDW211 wrote:The new locomotives will pay for them selves in fuel savings. a 400 loco only takes 28 gallons round trip from cus to elgin and back. a 600 idles at 57 gallons per hour with no throttle. Mid September is the day the 600's are going to be gone and the new 500 series will be here

With all due respect, I think you may have been given some incorrect information. I am not trying to flame you or anything; rather, I am just being realistic. There have been no reports, other than from you, about Metra obtaining new locomotives. Furthermore...minutes from a Metra board meeting earlier this year indicated that they were going to be sending the 600's down to Progress Rail to be rebuilt at some point. Lastly, I am reasonably sure that any locomotive purchases would have to go up for bid--and if there was anything posted in that department, I am most certain we would have heard about it by now.

I hope that they actually do send the 600s for a rebuild. As I've said all along, they are only a couple of years older than the eldest F40PHs. I was never a big GM automobile fan, but EMD sure built a heck of a locomotive.

Haven't they been rebuilt before? Weren't 215/216 supposed to take their place at some point after the rebuilds are done?

They have been rebuilt before, I don't remember exactly when, but its been a while. Maybe they're looking at funding and figure that its better to have two extra functional locomotives then to come up short if they experience a rash of equipment failures. Its not likely that they'll be able to get new locomotives anytime soon.

F40PH-3 134 is back and operating on UP. Saw it at Ogilvie 8/12.

As many of you probably already know, the horns and bells (and undoubtedly other things as well) are being switched around on the F40PH-3 locomotives during the rebuild process. I have been able to keep track of the horns pretty well, and the bells to an extent. The following is a listing of what units have what horns and bells, to the best of my knowledge.

100: Horn from 111 - Mixed Cast P5A; new horn put on 5/2011
102: Bell from one of the two Amtrak F40PHR's
103: Horn from 118 - New Cast P5
104: Horn from 102 - Mixed Cast P5A
107: Horn not from a Metra locomotive - New Cast P5 with #3 and #5 bells reversed
108: Horn from 116 - Mixed Cast P5A
109: Horn from 100 - Mixed Cast P5A; bell from one of the two Amtrak F40PHR's
117: Horn from 106 - Mixed Cast P5A
118: Horn from 122 - Mixed Cast P5A
119: Horn from 124 - Mixed Cast P5A
121: Horn from 125 - New Cast P5
122: Horn from 123 - New Cast P5
123: Horn from 115 - New Cast P5A; brass bell not from a Metra locomotive
124: Horn from 138??? - New Cast P5A
125: Horn from 121 - New Cast P5; bell from 127
126: Horn from 137 - New Cast P5A
128: Horn from 146 - Mixed Cast P5; horn replaced by 7/2011; bell from 130
130: Horn from 144 - Mixed Cast P5A
134: Horn from 143 - Mixed Cast P5A
137: Horn from 139 - New Cast P5A
138: Horn from 132? - New Cast P5A
139: Horn not from a Metra locomotive? - New Cast P5
144: Horn from 128 - New Cast P5
146: Horn from 130 - Mixed Cast P5A; horn replaced by 5/2011
215: Horn from 108 - New Cast P5A
216: Horn from 107 - Mixed Cast P5A
The horn that 103 went to rebuild with, a beautiful Mixed Cast P5 (the only one like it in service on Metra) has not returned, and I have pretty much given up hope. 107 returned with a P5 likely not native to Metra, as the #3 and #5 bells were reversed. The horns from 114 and 127 are also yet to return, and both of those units now have mixed cast P5A's of unknown origin.

All of the locomotives appear to have had their bells switched out (there is possibly one exception); some engines have returned with a different type of bell than when they were sent out.
Units that had brass bells before rebuild and now have steel bells: 102, 109, 125, 126, 130
Units that had steel bells before rebuild and now have brass bells: 128, 134, 138
139 left with a brass bell and returned with one as well; the pitch of its "new" bell is similar to the one it had before rebuild. That's as close as I'm willing to go to saying 139 ended up with its old bell.
The bells from units 111 and 121 have not resurfaced; 111's pre-rebuild bell sounded like it had a crac, so that one is no surprise. 121's bell was lower in pitch (almost as low as the bell on the 614), so I am a bit disappointed by that one. 127 came back with a higher-pitched steel bell, and I have no idea where that one came from.
Units 102 and 109 left with brass bells and returned with steel bells that have a slightly different tsound than the other steel bells Metra has; furthermore, I have heard such bells on Amtrak ex-F40PHR NPCU's. Thus, my conclusion that the bells on 102 and 109 are from the two ex-Amtrak units.
Of interest is the bell on engine 123. It is a brass bell, and it is definitely not from a Metra locomotive, as the pitch is lower than any of the bells on everything other than the 8200-series and old CB&Q cabcars. If 123's "new" bell did come from Metra, it would have to have come from an old cabcar.

The just-released minutes from the August 2011 Metra board meeting contain some interesting info in terms of locomotives:
"Funding/Grants
–2011 CMAQ funding received for NIRC 6 & 7 conversion to GENSET (approved)
–2012 CMAQ application for AESS for nonregulated locomotives (submitted)
–2012 CMAQ application for conversion of 5 MPI locomotives to GENSET (submitted)
–2012 CMAQ application for conversion of 2 F40C locomotives to ECO 710 engines (submitted)"

AESS = Automatic Electronic Start/ Stop
That's all we know--nothing more, nothing less.