west point wrote: ↑Sun May 03, 2020 4:42 am
As an outside observer it appears GE has gone the planned obsolesce route. Spare parts certainly seems a problem. Cannibalizations of out of service locos has been the watchword on GE locos ?
As another outside observer, I think “planned obsolescence” has been part of GETS’ sales strategy from the day they inked a sale on their first U25B. EMD has pretty consistently offered component reuse for trade-ins, rebuild kits, and straight trade-in credit for older units; GETS tended to only offer trade-in credit. The Super Series U-boat rebuilds of the 1970s and 1980s are the big exception to that rule, and they weren’t that popular as compared to the thousands of rebuilt EMDs from the same period (whether from the factory or from railroads like the Rock and the Santa Fe.)
Going forward three decades, I think the Siemens units will likely also be found insufficient for a full frame-up rebuild.