The Valley had SD-45's?!?!?

OK, now that I have your attention, check out this cool Ebay auction I found this morning........A pretty good "coulda been".......Too bad I model pre-1966!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 83003&rd=1

Car Floater

P.S. - I have no conenction with the seller, but I wouldn't be suprissed if it was someone on the list here!

Certainly any interesting "coulda-shoulda been" kind of engines. Obviously, the real LV never rostered any SD-45s but if the railroad had been able to survive (perhaps with help from N&W, Chessie or USRA subsidies) then who knows? LV's staff certainly was resourceful, and maybe they could've gotten some refurbished SD-45s a la several G&W family lines in western NY. The loco certainly looks good...

THE VALLEY DIDN'T WANT SD-45'S. THEY HAD A SET OF DEMONSTRATORS, BACK IN 66, AND PASSED ON THEM. THEY ADDED TO THE C-628 FLEET, WITH SOME ADDITIONAL CENTURIES, FROM THE MONON, VIA ALCO. BY THE TIME THE END WAS UPON THEM, THE SD-45'S WERE ALSO GONE. SD-40, OR PERHAPS A U-30C WOULD HAVE BEEN MORE IN LINE, WITH A "FUTURE PURCHASE". AT THAT TIME, LV WANTED NO PART OF MAINTAINING A LAGRANGE TURBO-CHARGED ENGINE. WHO KNOWS WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN............

I keep hearing about these SD45 demonstrators on the LV..
has anyone ever seen any photos? were they painted in an EMD demonstrator scheme?

im sure if the LV had survived they probably would have had SD40-2's by the 1980's..every other railroad did!

Scot

Personally saw two of the SD-45 demonstrators at the Bloomfield Road crossing located just west of the hamlet of Mendon, NY. I was traveling on RT251 at the time and as luck would have it caught a glimpse of them on an EB freight. If I was driving I would have turned around and chased them....Only time I ever saw them. Seems to me though I have seen published photos in the past

They were in the Blue and White scheme typical of the 1960s'. I had heard though that the crews were impressed with their capabilities. The remark I had heard was related to their performance on ascending grades between Geneva and Sayre.

Anyone ever see the DT&I GP-35's that LV tested while some C-420's were on test loan to the Ann Arbor?

VTM

I JUST SOLD A PICTURE OF THE DEMONSTRATORS, AT BETHLEHEM, WESTBOUND WITH A TRAIN, ON EBAY. THE AUCTION NUMBER WAS #(6505884348). YOU CAN SEE THE PICTURE, WITH THAT NUMBER, TYPED INTO THE SEARCH WINDOW. HOPE THAT HELPS. REGARDS, DAVE

Last year there was an auction on Ebay for an actual proposal from Alco to the LV for C-630's, and I want to say I thought I saw one for GP-30's as well......Again, being a "pre-1960's snob" of sorts, I did not bid on it, but maybe I should have!

Someone here happen to be the lucky owner, or know them?

Ralph "Car Floater" Heiss

I SAW THAT TOO, AS WELL AS THE CONTRACT FOR THE C-628'S. I DIDN'T SEE THE LAST ONE SELL, BUT I WOULD GUESS THE "UN-OFFICIAL LEHIGH VALLEY MUSEUM" WAS THE WINNER. SOMETIMES, CF, IT MIGHT BE WORTH IT, JUST TO BUY IT, MAKE A COPY FOR YOUR PERSONAL FILES, THEN RE-SELL IT. AS LONG AS YOU DIDN'T TRY TO RE-SELL COPIES, WOULD SEEM "ETHICAL" TO ME. YOU KNOW THE AMOUNT OF PAPER I HAVE SOLD, AND OTHER THAN SOME ROSTERS, I DIDN'T COPY ANYTHING. IF I NEED SOMETHING LATER, THOUGH, I WOULD MAKE A PERSONAL COPY. JUST A THOUGHT.....

I hear ya, "G-A"........

I believe in the motto, "You can't take it with you", so with that, a few of my LV friends (most who I met thru Ebay) and I share and look out for each other when stuff comes up for bid that we are interested in, and whom ever wins will make copies for the other guy or guys. I have "won" more stuff this way than I have actually bid upon. Some of this stuff is so priceless (to me at least) that I feel it is almost a sin to not share it with other fans. Yeah, sure, I paid for it, but if somebody else is modeling it too, or whatever the case may be, I like the idea of helping them out, and who knows, the might be able to help me! (I've proved this idea right time and time again)...And usually, they always offer to pay for costs.
Anyways, back to the subject.......I wonder if I can go back and find out the buyers ID off Ebay, and shoot them an e-mail......I know the seller, and am a regular customer, so maybe she'll "hook me up", it can't hurt to ask!

C.F.

Anyone know of pics of the 45's on LV property? and why they didnt want any? Loyalties to Alco?

Thanks.

I have a slide, somewhere deep in my collection, of the DT&I units at Oak Island. Yes, they really made it there.

I believe the Sayre Historical Society may have one, as I remember seeing something like that. We just received the whole collection of files from the former Roadforeman during that time period and I know theres things from that in there. There are proposals from GE for a series of U30C's and a few other oddball engine types. I also believe there are files on performances for those higher series Alcos as mentioned in this forum. If I can find anything, Ill post it.
Whos the unofficial LV museum?

Greg

SORRY, I CAN'T NAME THAT PERSON, AS I WOULD NOT GIVE UP ANY INFO, ON ANYONE, WITHOUT THEIR PRIOR CONSENT. NEEDLESS TO SAY, HE IS A DEDICATED LV COLLECTOR, WHO IS PRESERVING ALL HE CAN FIND. THE VALLEY PASSED ON THE SD-45, FOR THE SAME REASONS THEY DIDN'T GO WITH GP-30/35/40 SERIES ENGINES. THEY DID NOT WANT THE ADDED EXPENSE OF MAINTAINING THE BLOWN (TURBOED)ENGINE, ON THOSE MODELS. THEY WERE MORE EXPENSIVE TO PURCHASE, AND MAINTAIN, FOR THE LITTLE POWER ADVANTAGE THEY OFFERED. I DON'T KNOW ERA PRICES ON THOSE MODELS, BUT I AM SURE ALCO CUT THEM SOME SWEET DEALS. I KNOW THEY DID ON THE MONON RETURNED UNITS. CAR FLOATER IS A GOOD SOURCE FOR MORE INFO, AND IF HE DOESN'T HAVE IT, HE CAN USUALLY FIND IT FOR YOU. REGARDS, DAVE

VTM, the DT&I Geeps are pictured in The Lehigh Valley in Color Vol. 1. This was basically to repay some horsepower hours.