SD50F vs. SD60F

I have read plenty of gripes concerning the SD50Fs, but are the SD60Fs better liked by crews, or just as bad as the SD50Fs?

It's my understanding that we are looking at two distinct problems:
1. The 50-series locomotives were a bum-product. This has to do with the fact that the 50-series is very similar to the 40-series, but with a higher red-line to generate more power. Evidently, that higher redline hits a resonant frequency with a lot of components, especially the new electronics installed for the first time on a model line. Stuff vibrated loose a lot. Supposedly this problem has been remedied by now on most 50-series by detuning (lowering the redline) or various factory fixes. This didn't stop CSX from becoming disenchanted with EMD and shifting most business to GE. This is probably a gripe originated by mechanical forces and echoed by road crews when the units died on the road.
2. The "f" means the cowl-body, which is drafty in winter, hot in the summer, dark in back, and a b*tch to operate if you aren't facing forward on the main (IE, switching, etc...) I think this is a crew-originated gripe that applies to anything cowl, IE F45, SD50/60f. If I remember right, Santucci didn't like running WC's F45's, but didn't mind the SD45's.

In terms of operating, the crews in general don't like any of the cowl units.

If I were given the choice between a 5400 (SD50) or a 5500 (SD60), I would take the 5500. Both pull about the same, same lousy visibility, same dead animal smell, but there is something about the control stands. Th 5400's for whatever reason, have worse control stands. The labels above all of the switches (step lights, Gen Field, etc.) have worn away so as to be illegible. Combined with the fact that each switch is different on each locomotive (Ditch Lights may be on the far right on the 5401, second from the right on the 5402) compounds the problem.

Also the controllers are worn out on the 5400's. It's easy to try to slap the throttle into idle, only to have it move past the indent and into full dynamic brake (without the required 10 second waiting period.) The relays behind the electrical cabinet door start switching right away in a machine gun staccato fashion and the locomotive lurches as suddenly you get 600 amps going the wrong way on your ammeter, followed by a squeal of steel on steel that announces you have a fresh flat spot on your wheels.

The material used to cover the control stand is cracked, catching all sorts of dirt, cigarette ash, 20 years of snot and smegma, adding to the unique smell.

The Head End Devices are afterthoughts, sometimes placed up high, sometimes placed low while the radios are perched above you (I have heard of one falling out and striking the engineer on its way to the floor.)

The bells and sand buttons are again placed differently for each unit, some with a push button, some with the older style brass pull valve.

Half of them have lost their clip to hold your paperwork, and since the stands are at an angle (and they vibrate so badly) you have to put your TGBO's, profile and Trip Reprorts in different locations, sometimes obscuring the gauges.

The seats are uncomfortable to sit in for any length of time, but especially for 4 hours in the siding after you are dead while waiting for the cab.

All in all they are not nearly as ergonomic as they were touted in the press upon their introduction.

The one positive of the covered wagons over the conventional styled units, and this goes for the F45's as well, is that with the side door, the cabs are phyiscally larger. You can stash your grip against the back wall and not have to trip over it while you get up to go to the fridge or the can (number 1, you don't want to do a 2, you are better off stopping the train and heading for the woods for that.)

I can't speak for Tuch about the WC's F45's, but the biggest thng I didn't like about them after the lack of rearward visibility was the fact that they just didn't seem to pull as well as the regular SD45's. I know that mechanically and electrically they were the same, but there was a noticible difference in their performance.