Espee in Philly

I don't know if anyone else spotted it but on Saturday I observed a freight traverse the High Line near 30th St Station being led by a bloody nosed Dash Unit in full unaltered Southern Pacific livery. I go out to the West Coast frequently and the few SP units out there still with any trace of SP are mighty hard to find. Years ago they were modified with UP additions and this is the very first SP unit I have seen that has not been altered. Anybody know where it came from and whether or not it has been in storage or in Siberia to have missed the UP alterations ?

Espee units you saw are probably lease units to either CSX, CP, NS or Conrail. Leasors will buy units, mechanically fix them, change numbers if needed, stencil their own intitials somwhere, and send them on thier way without repainting.

Union Pacific is currently painting several new units into the colors of some of the predecessor railroads it has absorbed. While I haven't heard of any venturing this far east, it is possible you saw one of these new units as UP run-through power is really not that uncommon these days. Either way, definitely a cool sight I'm sure.

The SP locomotive was most likely a leased unit as the second locomotive was a Conrail unit but what struck me was that nothing in the way of lettering had been altered. It looked exactly like an SP unit pre 1995, none of the UP overlay common on the few SP units still used out on the West Coast. It was not one of their newer heritage units as the paint looked quite faded. I am just mystified how this locomotive could have escaped any alterations to itys original SP look, but, in any event, it was a sight to behold on the High Line.

I saw a GECX leaser in Pavonia Yard, Camden, in Sept 2004. The livery was SP except for the "GECX" under the number on the cab.

http://www.transitspot.com/gallery2/v/o ... _05_38.jpg

Bob

This is not the one on the High Line last saturday. That Dash Unit had no lease company logo anywhere and looked EXACTLY what it must have looked like when the SP first bought it, about 1991, I'm guessing, except for the fact that the paint was faded.

There are still a few units roaming around that are still in unpatched SP paint. Here is a pic of an unpatched Southern Pacific AC44CW.

http://geep38.rrpicturearchives.net/sho ... ?id=250219

I have also seen unpatched GP60's, SD40-2's, AC60CW's, and an SD45 rebuild still in the SP paint.

kevikens wrote:I don't know if anyone else spotted it but on Saturday I observed a freight traverse the High Line near 30th St Station being led by a bloody nosed Dash Unit in full unaltered Southern Pacific livery. I go out to the West Coast frequently and the few SP units out there still with any trace of SP are mighty hard to find. Years ago they were modified with UP additions and this is the very first SP unit I have seen that has not been altered. Anybody know where it came from and whether or not it has been in storage or in Siberia to have missed the UP alterations ?

I'd be willing to bet that this is the train that you saw:

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=128053

Yes, it was a rare, unpatched SP locomotive.

That's the one. Wherever did you take this picture from ? It's been difficult for me to find a vantage point ABOVE the High Line.

It looks like that picture was taken from one of the upper levels of the parking gargage at Philadelphia's 30th Street station. I have been hearing that it is a good place to get pics of the high line and some Amtrak in the yard below. Last time I was there, there was a security guard yelling at another guy for taking pictures of the trains.

kevikens wrote:That's the one. Wherever did you take this picture from ? It's been difficult for me to find a vantage point ABOVE the High Line.

I wish that I could take credit for that picture.

Robert Palmer took the picture and I think it was from the parking garage. He had posted a link to this picture on a mailing list (I think tri-state on yahoo) so it sounded familiar to me when you mentioned it.

jrevans wrote:

kevikens wrote:That's the one. Wherever did you take this picture from ? It's been difficult for me to find a vantage point ABOVE the High Line.

I wish that I could take credit for that picture. :)

Robert Palmer took the picture and I think it was from the parking garage. He had posted a link to this picture on a mailing list (I think tri-state on yahoo) so it sounded familiar to me when you mentioned it.

Mr Palmer did, in fact, take the photo from the upper level of the parking garage.

I will be at 30th street this coming thursday when I connect from Acela to the Pennsylvanian on a trip to Harrisburg. I will have like 1.5 hrs there. I would like to go to that parking deck to take pictures. I don't want to be hassled. Last year, I took a few pictures of everything around 30th street from Septa property and no one gave me a hard time. I might step out of the station and get some shots of Amtrak trains by CP Arsenal.