A brief visit to UP's Roseville Yard

Below, an overview of UP's Roseville classification yard (taken by me from Star 6, a LE helo):

And then, on another day, I chanced to encounter a wonderful triumvirate of SD59MX locomotives on a side track whilst I bopped around the Roseville Yard:

The SD59MX -- of which there are three -- the 9900, the 9911 and the 9922 -- was originally built as an SD60M.  Three units were converted to the newest enviro-compliant strictures and then re-named as SD59MX -- SD for its three-axle trucks, 59 for its similarity to an SD60, M due to its comfort cab, and X for experimental.

That said, there is this photograph: 

As well as any number of Union Pacific 59X photos:

Oddly enough, Union Pacific features three former SD60 locomotives as UP 9900, 9911 and 9922.  In intervals of 11?

Information about the SD59MX here.

The EMD SD59M-2, more commonly referred to as the SD59MX, is one of the rarest locomotives in the Union Pacific motive power fleet. SD59M-2s are remanufactured SD60Ms.
Spotting features:

1. Wide-nose, so far only the later two-window wide nose rather than the earlier three-window "tri-clops" wide nose and none of the traditional 40 Series cab SD60s have been converted.
2. Slightly slanted air intakes.
3. High-adhesion HT-C trucks, reused from the "donor" SD60M, rather than the newer "radial" or "bolsterless" trucks. Nearly all SD40-2s and SD50s used the same truck.
4. Safety fuel tank like that found on current SD70Ms.

That said, my tour continued, as documented here on video:


This was an active day at the Roseville Yard.

Amtrak's #5 westbound pounded through the yard, and any number of other freight locomotives were featured in and around the locomotive maintenance sheds and the drop pits.

Here, new and older traction motors await installation or repair.  It is interesting to note that the listed weight on a typical traction motor set, here, is 11,000 pounds or 5.5 tons.

Here, a D90 traction motor awaits replacement for an EMD SD70M.

And that the discoveries are rated and beyond.

Here, another D90 traction motor waits for installation into an EMD SD70M locomotive, again rated at 11,000 pounds.

Below, a GE locomotive reveals its under-cab under-HVAC-and-air guts:

Below, an EMD SD70ACe reveals its clear cab isolation from the rest of the frame.

And elder GE unit just west of the J.R. Davis office building.

Here, an overview of the J.R. Davis Roseville Yard:

Features:

• Encompasses 915 acres
• 55 bowl tracks
• 50 miles of track constructed around local area for bulk and intermodal trains
• More than 86 miles of new track
• 247 switches
• 2 main lines
• 6,500 rail car capacity
• 1,800-2,300 cars per day classification ability
• 8 receiving and departure tracks
• New repair facility

The private varnish at the end of the California Zephyr #5, the westbound, was the Sierra Hotel.

Please click on each photo above and below in order to embiggen.

In the heat of the moment, the bulk of these photographs were taken during the summer in 100-degree inspiration.

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General Electric locomotive manufacturing leaves Erie, PA for Ft Worth, Texas

And it's all because of unions, wages and profitability.

Let there be no mistake: for whatever reason I have somehow favored EMD locomotives over GE locomotives. Perhaps because of the historical issue or perhaps because I watched more EMD locomotives in my area? I'm not sure.  However, why was it that General Electric believed that it had to open a new manufacturing facility in Texas, as opposed to its former and historical plant in Erie, Pennsylvania? Because of margins.


BloombergNews ran this story back in April of this year:

GE Plans to Cut 950 Jobs at 100-Year-Old Train Plant

By Thomas Black - Apr 9, 2013 11:37 AM PT

General Electric Co. (GE) plans to cut 950 jobs at a Pennsylvania locomotive plant, wiping out most of the site’s recent employment growth, as it shifts some production to a lower-cost factory in Texas.
Reductions at the factory in Erie, Pennsylvania, which is more than 100 years old, are slated to start in six months pending 60 days of talks with union officials, who oppose the move. The new plant in Fort Worth, Texas, is about 20 percent more efficient, said Lorenzo Simonelli, head of GE’s transportation unit.

Enlarge image

A file photo shows workers assembling a General Electric Co. GE Transportation locomotive at the GE plant in Erie, Pennsylvania during May 2009. Photographer: Doug Benz/Bloomberg

“Cost is becoming more and more of a factor,” Simonelli said in an interview. “We’ve got to match our competition and that’s what we’re trying to do.” 

GE had expanded its workforce at Erie by about 1,000 in the past two years to 5,500 today as it increased output of locomotives and mining equipment. The plant in Fort Worth, which employs a fraction of that number, began some production in June and started building locomotives in January. 

Transportation and other manufacturing businesses like health care and energy have been a focus of Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Immelt’s growth strategy. He’s shrinking the finance unit after credit-market disruptions in 2008 jeopardized the company. 

Industrial sales accounted for more than 65 percent of GE’s $144.8 billion in revenue last year, with $5.6 billion coming from GE Transportation. The Fairfield, Connecticut-based company is the world’s largest builder of locomotives.

Bigger, at this point, than EMD -- whom Union Pacific quite frankly saved in 2001 with its purchase of 1,000 EMD SD70M locomotives.  In order to keep the domestic locomotive market competitive.

Electro-Motive Diesel, Inc., also referred to as "EMD", is owned by Caterpillar through its wholly owned subsidiary Progress Rail Services Corporation. The company designs, manufactures and sells diesel-electric locomotives and diesel power engines under the Electro-Motive Diesel brand.^[1] EMD offers an extensive range of locomotive products in the rail industry.^[2]

Electro-Motive Diesel, Inc. traces its roots to the Electro-Motive Engineering Corporation, founded in 1922. In 1930, General Motors Corporation purchased the Winton Engine Co. and Winton's primary customer of gasoline engines, Electro-Motive Corporation (a gasoline-electric car manufacturer), combining the two to form GM's Electro-Motive Division (EMD) on January 1, 1941.

In 2005, GM sold EMD to Greenbriar Equity Group LLC and Berkshire Partners LLC, which formed Electro-Motive Diesel, Inc., to facilitate the purchase. On August 2, 2010, Progress Rail Services Corporation completed the purchase of Electro-Motive Diesel, Inc. from Greenbriar, Berkshire, et al. making Electro-Motive Diesel, Inc. a wholly owned subsidiary of Progress Rail Services Corporation.

But here's the smoking EMD gun:

In 1999, Union Pacific placed the largest single order for diesel locomotives in North American railroad history when they ordered 1,000 units of the EMD SD70M. Union Pacific's fleet of SD70Ms has since been expanded by more than 450 additional units. In addition, Union Pacific also owns nearly 500 EMD SD70ACe's, a number of which have been painted in "Fallen Flags" (acquired/merged railroads) commemorative liveries. All of these locomotives are 710G-powered.


That order, simply stated, kept EMD alive today.

Whilst EMD is on the mend, GE is taking hits in its profit margins.

However:

Union Resistance

The United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, which represents about 3,500 GE workers in Erie, said the shift is unacceptable. 

“We intend to resist this with every tool at our disposal and to fight tooth and nail to retain all of the work that has always been done there,” Chris Townsend, the union’s political director, said in a telephone interview.

Let me note: Texas is a "right to work" state.

Texas is sucking up work from most Leftist states, to include my Fornicalia and, here, Pennsylvania as well.

GE and its unions in Erie failed to reach an agreement in June, which meant that GE will cut 950 jobs in October.  It will also shift production of its profitable GE Evolution Series freight locomotives from Erie to Texas.

GE indicated the Ft Worth plant has a 20% productivity advantage over Erie -- and that, now, GE faces a new and stronger competition from EMD than ever before.

I can't help it: a nice video of a GE Dash-8 unit starting up.

And then, there it is.  Once again Obama insists that the economy is back on track when -- in true statistics -- it is estimated that roughly 18% to 20% of the nation is unemployed or uninterested in looking for jobs.

A far cry from his figures.

In the meantime, employment goes where it goes.

And: Detroit is the result.

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UP to resurrect an actual Big Boy steam locomotive?

In a word: yes.

From the actual Union Pacific website itself:

Union Pacific Railroad Acquires Big Boy Locomotive No. 4014

Railroad Plans to Restore One of the Largest Steam Locomotives Ever Built

Resources

• Download
  (74K JPEG file)
• Download
  (1547K JPEG file)
• About Big Boy No. 4014
• UP Steam

Omaha, Neb., July 23, 2013 – Union Pacific Railroad today announced it reached an agreement with the Southern California Chapter - Railway & Locomotive Historical Society in Pomona, Calif., to transfer ownership of one of the world's largest steam locomotives, Big Boy No. 4014, back to Union Pacific.

Union Pacific plans to relocate No. 4014 to Cheyenne, Wyo., where Union Pacific's Heritage Fleet Operations team will work to restore it to operating condition. Details regarding those efforts will be made public at a later date.

Union Pacific donated No. 4014 to the historical society December 7, 1961. The locomotive arrived January 8, 1962, at its current display location at the Rail Giants Train Museum in Pomona.
No other railroad has retained its historical equipment or honored its American roots like Union Pacific.

"Our steam locomotive program is a source of great pride to Union Pacific employees past and present," said Ed Dickens, senior manager - Union Pacific Heritage Operations. "We are very excited about the opportunity to bring history to life by restoring No. 4014."

I commend Union Pacific for their strident support of our railroad heritage via various locomotives and concomitant passenger cars.

I am personally familiar with this static locomotive in Pomona, California, because it rests adjacent an area I visit yearly, where LASO tests cop cars at its EVOC facility, next to the Los Angeles County Fair and the NHRA Museum.

I submit that it is only Union Pacific that could have the strength, the commitment, the wherewithal and the dollars to bring an actual Alco Big Boy back to life.

Above is the Pomona locomotive on static display, kept in reasonable shape by the heat and the lack of humidity in the region.

And here is a wonderful video:

Will Union Pacific make good on its aim?

Only time will tell.

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MP154: three trains in a half hour

And there I was, thinking I could possibly pull off another train meet on video.  As immured here:



I knew that UP 4878 had already passed Alta and was on its way downhill towards my favorite spot under Interstate 80.

Here, UP 4878 West -- a priority Z Train -- heads downhill on the #2 track, an EMD SD70M with 4,000 hp manufactured between 2000 and 2004, one of 1,083 such units.

In number 2 position was UP 7920, a GE C45ACCTE with 4,400 hp, followed by UP 6398 in third position, an original Southern Pacific (and the last of this order) GE C44AC with 4,390 hp manufactured in 1995 and one of 202 such units.  One of a very few units still displaying actual Southern Pacific colors on the UP main.

Because I anticipated a train meet, I kept my camera rolling on the downhill train.  Yes, admittedly, perhaps a bit too long.

That said, UP 6448 East emerged around the same corner and screamed past me in Run 8, as a GE C44AC, one of 120 such units with 4,390 hp manufactured in 2000.

 

UP 6448 East on the nose.

 

EMD SD70ACe.

 

EMD units 620 (UP GP38-2, 2000 hp) and 1567 (UP SD40-2N, 3000 hp).

 

Look closely at the rear of this grain car.  Riders.

Go here for the video on YouTube and, as per normal, click on the link, enlarge, and play with headphones for the best experience.

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MP154: UP 6471 West, a short train with eight engines

Except that, of course, when you actually examine the video, people will only count seven engines.

That is to say: up front.  There is a DPU at the rear of this mixed manifest train -- which also hosts an intriguing set of new UP coil steel cars  YouTube video here.

Above, UP 6471 West (a GE C44AC with 4390 hp manufactured for UP in 2000, one of 120 such units) leads six other GE locomotives:

UP 7452 -- GE C45ACCTE, 4400 hp, 2009

UP 5280 -- GE C45ACCTE, 4400 hp, 2006

UP 5291 -- GE C45ACCTE, 4400 hp, 2006

UP 5290 -- GE C45ACCTE, 4400 hp, 2006

UP 5274 -- GE C45ACCTE, 4400 hp, 2006

UP 5261 -- GE C45ACCTE, 4400 hp, 2006

UP 6559 brings up the rear as a Distributed Power Unit (DPU), a GE C44AC, one of only four manufactured for Union Pacific in 1997, with 4390 hp.

As always, I recommend you click here for the YouTube link and expand fully whilst listening to the sound on headphones.  The only true way to experience my train videos.

Note: you can also hear the westbound detector at 154.4 activate via my radio scanner, which I held up to the videocam.

Some screen captures from the video itself:

Timing is pretty much everything, and I capture what I can when I can.  In this video, however, I managed to exhibit a train during one of the so-called Golden Hours of Photography -- the hour involving sunrise and the hour involving sunset.  Here, it is sunset.  Pure luck, but it does make for striking and radiant colors.

And what were the last six cars?  Correct.  They were the UP version of coil steel cars, now covered.

In the meantime, be safe around the tracks and keep your family close and secure in these tenuous -- and soon to be tumultuous -- times.

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Stalled BNSF train in Gold Run

And not just any BNSF train; a BNSF train with the very newest GE power: two ES44C4s up front.

The story goes something like this:

I was coming back up to my cabin from having worked my week in Sacramento.  I customarily cruise by Colfax, Gold Run and Alta to see what, if anything, is occurring on the tracks.  I happened to catch a stalled BNSF train on the Gold Run siding, a mixed manifest.  As I got closer, I noticed the nearby block signal went green, which meant an eastbound train was approaching from the west.  I scurried back to the SUV and acquired my Flip HD camera (though actually my stupid Samsung Galaxy Note II frigging telephone takes better video), just in time to capture the below event (see it here on YouTube.  Please expand and listen with headphones for the best experience):



On point is UP 7647, a GE C45ACCTE, one of 325 such 4400-hp locomotives manufactured between 2007 and 2008 and, if you look closely in the expanded video, you can see the friendly conductor waving to me as the train approaches and passes.  In second position is UP 6214, a C44AC with 4390 hp, one of 167 such engines manufactured in 1995.  Third place heralds UP 6600, a C44AC with 4390 hp, only one of which was built for UP in 1997.

There are two DPUs mid-train, UP 5262 and UP 5277, both manufactured between 2005 and 2006, both C45ACCTEs with 4400 horsepower, of 301 such units built.

After the UP train had passed, I was waved up by the engineer, who invited me into the cab.  This was about to be a unique experience as I'd never been in the cab of any BNSF locomotive, much less a new GE ES44C4.  I knew UP locomotive cabs were absolutely filthy; I was therefore curious about BNSF cabs.

The first two BNSF units are 6508 and 6563, two of 92 such ES44C4 locomotives manufactured by GE in 2013, both with 4400 horsepower.  The third unit is BNSF 7680, an aging and fading GE ES44DC WarPumpkin with 4400 hp, one of 194 such units built in 2005.

Armed with my monster Flip HD and my phone, I placed my right foot on the bottom step, wrapped my hands around the white rails, simultaneously pushing with my foot and pulling with my hands.  I felt an immediate, white-hot and excruciating pain in my right foot and almost fell backwards off the ballast and down about a fifteen foot drop.

It took me roughly a half hour to hobble my way over the three tracks and back to my Tahoe, only about a hundred yards away on a side road.  The engineer thought I was kidding when I told him I believed I'd broken my foot trying to climb up.  Until he saw the look on my face.  I made my way, the next day, down to Auburn for a visit to a local doc-in-the-box who confirmed: yes.  Foot broken.  Hairline fracture adjacent the tuberosity of the 5th metatarsal.  Stay off foot for at least two weeks.  We don't have crutches.  You can buy them next door.  Stay off foot.  No boot.  Buy ibuprofen.

So how did BNSF 6508 move ahead?  It called for ancient power.  As you can see above in the video (again, after I'd fractured my foot, I still stayed to record this helper set), BNSF units 147 and 139 responded -- both being elder EMD GP60M B-truck units, two of 59 such 3600 hp units manufactured for Santa Fe in 1990.  It was like watching a '59 Corvette respond to a 2013 Vette.

Before I fractured my foot, however, I was able to take the below photographs with my Note II:

A photo taken just before I attempted to climb up into the cab.

(Right click on each photograph to enlarge.)

A little bit about the General Electric ES44C4:

This is a new model whose purpose is to try to make an AC unit as affordable as a DC unit, with roughly equal traction.  BNSF is, to date, the only major railroad to have purchased the C4.  ES44C4 data sheet is here.

GE indicates that, in general, the ES44 locomotives are "powered by GE’s 12-cylinder diesel engine, with the Evolution Series producing the same 4,400 HP as its 16-cylinder predecessor — using less fuel. This 45-degree, 12-cylinder, 4-stroke, turbocharged engine provides efficiency, lower emissions and extended overhaul intervals. The engine also uses enhanced cooling and higher-strength materials that dramatically improve reliability and allow for future increases in power and efficiency."

 4-cycle Model GEVO 12

GE also writes: "In North America, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway is using Evolution Series ES44C4 Locomotives as a cleaner, faster, safer and more reliable alternative to DC-powered locomotives. The advanced technology of Model ES44C4 reduces fuel use by 17% and emissions by 70% compared to existing DC locomotives."

The model indicates C4 because one axle -- the #2 -- is unpowered in each truck.  The ES44C4 has a variable traction control system onboard, whose software adjusts the pressure in the air cylinders and linkages on the truck side frames (see photos above) in order to vary the weight on the four actual drive axles and yield adequate traction under various grades and traction conditions -- where wheel slip may occur.  It is said that each center axle lifts for speeds below 15 mph so as to improve adhesion and get optimal tractive effort from the four AC traction motors.

GE mid-axle lifting linkage on ES44C4, close up.  Note on truck photos above.

 One quote from a railroad forum:

"My dad caught 3 of those here awhile back on a grain load, I've never heard him bitch so much about a motor. Apparently they're slippery and like all GE's, don't load worth a *. These were supposed to be a better alternative to the ES44DC's, but what I'm hearing is most would prefer a 6 axle DC over these C4's."

What people may not realize, regarding AC locomotive power in general, is this: if one traction motor goes offline, more power can be applied to the other motors.  DC traction motors can't handle the transferred load and aren't designed to do so.

This is, at least, the "argument" for producing double-truck, six-axle locomotive power with only four axles possessing traction motors. 

EMD also began production of their own version of a C4 unit, called the SD70ACe-P4.  As best I can determine, this locomotive (see photo of EMD Demonstrator #4223 by Karl Rethwisch below) likewise has two unpowered axles.  However, instead of the mid axles being unpowered, the axles closest to the fuel tank are unpowered.  Also, no axles will be physically lifted, as with the C4.

My question: did this BNSF train stall because the two locomotives on point failed to produce sufficient traction due to the design of the ES44C4s utilized?  I simply do not know.  I can't help but wonder, however.

In closing, one very interesting business point, from BizJournals.com:

GE locomotive plant plans to cut 950 jobs in Erie

GE Transportation is dealing a huge blow to the Erie economy, moving nearly 1,000 jobs to Texas with its AC locomotives and mining vehicle lines.

For GE Transportation, it apparently comes down to economics. The market for locomotives isn't as strong as it has been and the two new plants, in Fort Worth, Texas, is more productive. Plus, the Erie Times-News said the Fort Worth plant, unlike the one in Erie, is nonunion. The Erie employees earn about twice as much on average as the Fort Worth employees and the workers at a competing Caterpillar Inc. plant.

Here's the unspoken fact as well: Texas provides tax incentives and reduced regulations that Pennsylvania doesn't.  Or, on the other hand, is it simply the result of the purposeful decline of coal via onerous restrictions by the Obama Administration?

Thanks for reading, please weigh in, and be safe near the tracks.

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