Rebuilt SD70MACH orders

The rumor mill is a-churning.

BNSF is taking Montana Rail Link back, and they are parking the MRL SD70 fleet. They do not have PTC, nor isolated cab, no some other features that BNSF wants or requires. This is about 30 units. The rumor mill has been saying Metra might want them. Anybody hearing more about this?

It was not substantiated by any sources, just idle banter.

If BNSF could somehow predicate selling them on the condition that they get them on their lines, I could see a possible deal in the making.

If you could take them as-is and convert one of the inverters on the fly to HEP like Alaska can, even better. Skip the middle-man...

Why would Metra want a locomotive without PTC? Or would the price be low enough that they could afford to add PTC and still be less expensive than other options?

Non-PTC engines have their place, but on a passenger line the engines need to be able to lead.

It's probably more of a weighting factor in BNSF's decision to be disposing of them than anything else.

Of course they'd need PTC on Metra. Presumably equipment could be removed from F40PH's and reinstalled on the MACH's?

To be absolutely clear, I may not have seen an SD70Mach, but what from what I watched on YouTube, they are very reliable. To be honest, I would like them if they had dark blue LED ditch lights, not incandescent ones.
-Stewart.

There's a bunch of them running on the MILW west line. Got a nice growl as they pull away.

I'm curious why they kept the 16-710 prime mover for B1-1B trucks and an HEP inverter. 4,400 HP seems like overkill.

The Santa Fe was probably the only railroad that selected cylindrical wheels that was an option from EMD rather than tapered wheels like the other railroads. This continued thru the SDP40F era. I’m convinced that this was the real reason the Santa Fe did not have derailments like the Milwaukee did.

justalurker66 wrote: ↑Tue Feb 27, 2024 5:48 pm Why would Metra want a locomotive without PTC? Or would the price be low enough that they could afford to add PTC and still be less expensive than other options?

Given that this is heavy on the gossip/rumor side, I don't know what the answer is. But the current order of SD70MACH all went through significant rebuild/upgrade. I would assume PTC would be added at that point.