Re: Amtrak SDP40F vs. FP45
Author: Hot Water
Date: 03-26-2019 - 09:06
George Andrews Wrote:
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> Thanks, Hot Water.
> I don't know if the issues with the Amtrak
> SDP-40F were the reason for Conrail ordering their
> SD-40-2 units with the older style HD 3 axle
> truck; the 2 trucks were different enough that
> they could not be swapped without replacing the
> main frame truck mounts, so they had to be special
> - ordered that way. Of all the bankrupt railroads
> that were poured into the Conrail pot, only Erie
> Lackawanna had ordered the 6 - axle Dash 2 product
> ( SD-45-2 ) from EMD, and although they didn't
> experience any issues with the HT-C truck, the ex
> - Penn Central mechanical officials held sway in
> Conrail's early years.
The mechanical geniuses in the Conrail Mechanical Dept. took it upon themselves to declare that the HT-C truck was "no good", and as a result they ordered all those SD40-2 units with the old SD Truck (and became the laughing stock of the rest of the railroad industry).