UP Gen-Set Locomotives for sale!

So why are genset's undesirable?

Fascinating potential opportunity for someone, some museum or shortline!

TexasSP posted:

So why are genset's undesirable?

They were so unreliable that the UP finally got fed-up with them, in various locations around the system.

Hot Water posted:

TexasSP posted:

So why are genset's undesirable?

They were so unreliable that the UP finally got fed-up with them, in various locations around the system.

Thanks HW, I was unaware of that.  Usually happens when you over complicate things.

Scrap 'em.

Number 90 posted:

Scrap 'em.

Tom I love your to the point comment.

In other words, "They may be ugly, but at least they are unreliable!"

I’m not sure I could sneak one of these into the basement without my wife noticing...🤔

Curt

TexasSP posted:

So why are genset's undesirable?

They were such an operational and maintenance nightmare that whatever meager fuel savings they generated was more than offset by what it cost to run ‘em.

Number 90 posted:

Scrap 'em.

AMEN!

There is no “historical fabric” to be preserved here. Give me the torch!

Well? Just looking in here.

You've got the frame already built, bogie and traction motors in place, couldn't someone replace the main drive components (engine and generator) and sell them at a profit? Too much work and costs vs. profit?

…" When I visited there recently a mechanic for Mid-America Locomotives (a locomotive re-builder and second-hand locomotive dealer) from Evansville, IN., was inspecting them. "

 UP said dump them? I didn't know this happened. Wow seems like a shame.

Have other mainline RRs scrap theirs as well?

It would be delicious irony to stick some old Alco prime movers into the little indefinites...  

Mitch 

I thought UP had bought like a hundred of these things, and auctioned them off last year. Am I thinking of another railroad?

(I had the Lionel NS Genset. Outstanding in all ways. So, that's one good thing about these failed engines. lol)

Number 90 posted:

Scrap 'em.

Ya sure Tom, all of you Texans paid for them. 

http://utahrails.net/up-diesel-roster/upy-03.php

Here is a quote from the build sheet on that site:

"Initial assignment will be Houston, Texas, with funding from a public grant from the Texas Emissions Reduction Program (TERP)."

Regards,

Jerry

gnnpnut posted:

"Initial assignment will be Houston, Texas, with funding from a public grant from the Texas Emissions Reduction Program (TERP)."

 

Shouldn't that be the Dallas Emissions Reduction Program (DERP)?  

Mitch

gnnpnut posted:

Number 90 posted:

Scrap 'em.

Ya sure Tom, all of you Texans paid for them. 

http://utahrails.net/up-diesel-roster/upy-03.php

Here is a quote from the build sheet on that site:

"Initial assignment will be Houston, Texas, with funding from a public grant from the Texas Emissions Reduction Program (TERP)."

Regards,

Jerry

 

Texan here myself.  No problem for me, no reason the throw good money after bad.  Cut your losses and move on.

TexasSP posted:

gnnpnut posted:

Number 90 posted:

Scrap 'em.

Ya sure Tom, all of you Texans paid for them. 

http://utahrails.net/up-diesel-roster/upy-03.php

Here is a quote from the build sheet on that site:

"Initial assignment will be Houston, Texas, with funding from a public grant from the Texas Emissions Reduction Program (TERP)."

Regards,

Jerry

 

Texan here myself.  No problem for me, no reason the throw good money after bad.  Cut your losses and move on.

 

The comment was made to Tom in jest. 

Engineer-Joe posted:

Well? Just looking in here.

You've got the frame already built, bogie and traction motors in place, couldn't someone replace the main drive components (engine and generator) and sell them at a profit? Too much work and costs vs. profit?

…" When I visited there recently a mechanic for Mid-America Locomotives (a locomotive re-builder and second-hand locomotive dealer) from Evansville, IN., was inspecting them. "

 UP said dump them? I didn't know this happened. Wow seems like a shame.

Have other mainline RRs scrap theirs as well?

 

I did a little reading; apparently these first gensets, at least some of them, were built on the frames of Dash 7s that UP retired. http://www.trainweb.org/genset...lpower/upy/2693.html The cores would have been approaching the end of their 20-year mainline service lives anyway, so I don't think anyone is going to try and rebuild close to 30-year-old GE parts. 

Regarding other railroads, I can't speak for CSX (which I think has 3 gensets), but according to Chris Toth's NSDash9.com website, NS's 7 gensets (the 300 and 301 3GS21B, two RP20BDs, two RP14BDs (cabless), and one RP20CD) are stored, and have been since at least 2017, when I started using his site. I also came across a PowerPoint from NS online a few years back explaining that rebuilding older 4-axle power made more sense operationally. 

One could argue the EMD E units were genset locomotives.  But both diesels worked at the same level at all times

These gensets had motor-generator sets which would start and stop on a computer controlled sequence.  And I would guess the prime mover of each genset was not an EMD 645 or 710.  Plus computers are not what they are today.  An ACME product for Wilie E.

Dominic Mazoch posted:

One could argue the EMD E units were genset locomotives.  But both diesels worked at the same level at all times

 

No, you can't. 

EMD E units weren't designed to start/stop the diesels automatically based on load demands.  Once you started them up, they ran until manually shut down or by failure.

Rusty

My take on the whole genset design is that they were trying to come up with a cylinder deactivation setup, like many modern cars which shut down cylinders based on load, but using multiple prime movers instead of deactivating cylinders in a 645.

Stuart