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Maybe the SD75s are fine locomotives. I suspect that the fact that they are being retired now has to do with the way that they were originally financed. ATSF used to lease some locomotives while others were bought outright. The leased units always seemed to go away much sooner than the purchased one...

If this is a "brand new" truck, the date code could probably mean that it was made on the 138th day of production of the year 12 (2012). That is not necessarily the same as the 138th day of 2012.

Mark

Very interesting photos. It is very unlikely that what you saw on the flat car was any kind of nuclear waste. It is much more likely that large box like object is some type of transformer which could have been filled with PCBs. Even if all the PCB oil has been drained from such a device, it is still...

Thanks for the information and the link, even though it wasn't exactly what I was hoping for.

Mark

In a news article on the Progressive Railroading News Website it says that "On Monday, President Obama announced that four transportation projects will be expedited in Maine, North Dakota, Oregon and Washington through the “We Can’t Wait” initiative. ". It goes on to describe the Maine Pro...

According to Historical Topo Maps (historical.mytopo.com) from 1953 and 1934 there was a Wye at Squa Pan Jct. (Ashland, ME Quadrangle, Southeast). The 1953 version shows more tracks south of Route 11 than the 1934 version does. These maps are a great resource for research of any kind. Also a quick c...

First: My disclaimer: I have never seen a steam locomotive operating except at a train museum. This may be a great idea but I don't believe that it will go anywhere. Does anyone remember the "Ace 3000"? That never built locomotive was supposed to bring back steam power in the late 1970s. E...

There was almost a second US builder of OP Locomotives which was Baldwin. During World War II, Germany's Air Forces ("Luftwaffe") had numerous Airplanes powered by the Junkers model 207D Opposed Piston Diesel engine. This was a 2 cycle liquid cooled turbocharged six cylinder engine. Bore a...

On Page 33 of "Dawn Of The Diesel Age" (by "guess who?"), The location of the "new" (built about 1888) De La Vergne Refrigerating Machine Company Plant is given as 1189 East 138th Street "near the foot of East 138th Street and the East River" in the Bronx. The...

Didn't all the FM (and Baldwin) Road Units that were equipped with Westinghouse traction motors have 42 inch wheels, as opposed to EMDs and GE equipped Alcos which had 40 inch wheels? The different "axle" was probably actually the "wheel - axle" assembly.

Mark

That "Pioneer Zephyr" could easily be the BM-MEC "Flying Yankee".

Mark

There were three Steam Turbine Electric designs built. The first was made by General Electric for Union Pacific (two units, 2500 HP) in 1939. These units apparently used some type of liquid fuel, probably "Bunker C". They were tested for a few weeks and returned to the builder as unsuccess...

The person who arranged to have the RS-23 donated to the museum, Bruce Nett (since deceased) specified that the diesel engine would be removed. Why he wanted that done was and still is a mystery to me.

Mark

This is either a SW9 or a SW1200. The locomotive's battery box has been modified, removing the louvers from the end which is visible. The only external spotting difference that I know of is that the unmodified SW9 has six louvers in the battery box, and the SW1200 has five louvers there (except SW12...

I have one EMD builders plate which I bought at the B&O RR Museum in Baltimore almost 25 years ago and it is from PRR 2367. Now I know where the other one is. I bought it (they had 3 or 4) because it was the oldest one they had.

Mark