Railroad Forums 

  • PAR GP40-2Ws (MEC 500 Series)

  • Guilford Rail System changed its name to Pan Am Railways in 2006. Discussion relating to the current operations of the Boston & Maine, the Maine Central, and the Springfield Terminal railroads (as well as the Delaware & Hudson while it was under Guilford control until 1988). Official site can be found here: PANAMRAILWAYS.COM.
Guilford Rail System changed its name to Pan Am Railways in 2006. Discussion relating to the current operations of the Boston & Maine, the Maine Central, and the Springfield Terminal railroads (as well as the Delaware & Hudson while it was under Guilford control until 1988). Official site can be found here: PANAMRAILWAYS.COM.

Moderator: MEC407

 #1247221  by KSmitty
 
Note that neither 518 or 519 has gotten the nose globe that was standard on all their recent repaints.

Maybe because they worked so well on the early 500 dips... :wink:
 #1249361  by MEC407
 
Great photo of 504 by Dan Nelson, and the caption is pretty interesting too...

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=469461" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 #1253201  by MEC407
 
It's being reported by "central.vermont" of GuilfordRailSightings that MEC 507, assigned to PH-1, has suffered a fire. Apparently this happened around 9pm-10pm this evening. I haven't seen any other posts on the subject.
 #1253276  by MEC407
 
It's the Portsmouth local.

Photo by Chris Shannon of 507 after the fire was put out: http://photos.nerail.org/s/?p=214239" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 #1253278  by MEC407
 
From NewHampshire.com:
NewHampshire.com wrote:NEWFIELDS – Firefighters battled a fire that broke out in the engine of a freight train near a railroad junction on Route 108 Tuesday night.
. . .
Philbrook said the train was idling at the time, but it was unoccupied.
. . .
“It just engulfed the engineer’s compartment from below,” Philbrook said.
Firefighters cleared the scene shortly after 11 p.m.
Read the rest of the article at: http://www.newhampshire.com/article/201 ... pshire1406" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 #1253284  by BM6569
 
That stinks. I was looking forward to seeing all the 500's back in service. Hopefully it can be repaired. If so, might be blue next time we see it in action.
 #1253301  by gokeefe
 
MEC407 wrote:It's the Portsmouth local.

Photo by Chris Shannon of 507 after the fire was put out: http://photos.nerail.org/s/?p=214239" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Thanks!

Interesting place for a fire. Looks like it may have been electrical. I wonder if leaving the cab heater on could have done this.
 #1253308  by MEC407
 
The person who reported this last night on GuilfordRailSightings stated that it appeared to have started in the battery compartment (the open compartment just below the "MEC 507" reporting marks).
 #1253334  by MEC407
 
Interesting. Any idea what that compartment below the window is for? Traditionally there'd be batteries there; not sure what else it would be used for if the batteries are elsewhere.
 #1253350  by KSmitty
 
MEC407 wrote:Interesting. Any idea what that compartment below the window is for? Traditionally there'd be batteries there; not sure what else it would be used for if the batteries are elsewhere.
Looking in you can see no batteries there. But because of the wide cab, they moved some things around. For example the walk is centered-ish inside the nose (instead of on either side outside the nose on a 300) and the toilet is pushed to one side (instead of centered).
I don't know what they keep in the box under the walk on a regular cab unit (http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=2807947" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) but there are 2 boxes, one under the walk and 1 under the cab. I would suspect they moved the batteries on the 500's back and what ever is under the walk back to under the cab. So as to allow better access to wiring/plumbing/air, etc...

I wonder if whoever is bankrolling the 500 rebuilds (Helm?) will pony up and rewire/repair 507? It will no doubt need major work, but with the current prices for 4 axle EMD's you have to wonder if its not worth it to rebuild.
 #1253382  by newpylong
 
Yes the batteries on the 500 series are at the very rear of the engine room. As for what's under the cab as far as I remember all types of electrical stuff.
 #1253456  by Dick H
 
The GP40-2W #513 has been out of service at Waterville since August
of 2002. I am not sure it ever ran, or if it did, it was for a short period
of time. More than likely, it has been well stripped to provide parts for
the other 19 GP40-2Ws over the past nearly 12 years. However, perhaps
the cab and up front components are still there and they could take the
prime mover and the generator out of the #507 and put them in the #513,
if the #507 is not financially repairable.
 #1253540  by KSmitty
 
513 ran for about 2 years, before dying. Its in pretty rough shape based on Stephen Mayotte's overhead shots.
While it may work that 507's guts become 513, the rumor is that the 5 OOS 500's were sold to Helm and leased back with the understanding Helm would pay to rebuild them. We've seen 4 of the 5 back, with 513 being the worst and so saved for last. If the rumor is true, I'd think Pan Am would want some compensation for a working 645 and main generator. Helm may have already purchased the pieces for the rebuild anyway.

I'm more interested in if Helm will have any interest in the 507 for rebuilding. Seems unlikely Pan Am would take on the rebuilding on their own, but if someone else were to bankroll it...and with the price of 4 axle EMD's even a new cab and rewiring might prove to be a financial win. Even if the rebuild costs 200K, they know they're guaranteed X amount of lease money from Pan Am and a locomotive with good resale value (250K+) and high demand. It seems unlikely there was any structural damage, so it should be repairable if someone wants to spend the money. Seems the economics would be better suited to a locomotive dealer/leaser than a regional railroad that could more cheaply pick up an SD40-2 than repair a GP40.
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 8