OPRRMS Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> IACN Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I noticed this photo caption. Some SP power
> > leased to Mexico came back home, "not the
> same".
> >
> >
> >
> > SP 8749 Mazatlan, Sin Mexico March 14, 1981
> >
> > In the early 80's Mexico's Ferr. del Pacifico
> > leased a number of SP U33C's. These units ran
> from
> > the border at Nogales to Guadalajara. Upon
> their
> > return to the state, they were just not the
> same.
> >
> >
> [live.staticflickr.com]
>
> > 470d8a6_c.jpg
> >
> > SP 8749 Mazatlan, Sin Mexico March 14, 1981
> > by Deane Motis, on Flickr
>
> Yup.
>
> More than one had been wrecked and repaired (to
> varying degrees). Many others had had parts
> removed before being returned to the SP - which
> may actually have been a blessing in disguise,
> since it made them less likely to be returned to
> service.
>
> Here's my favorite story about this subject:
>
> NdeM had notified SP they'd be returning a group
> of the units via the international railroad bridge
> that spans the Rio Grande from Piedras Negras on
> the Mexican side to Eagle Pass on the Texas side.
> As is typical, the delivering railroad wasn't
> authorized to operate in the other country, so
> interchange moves were accomplished by shoving the
> cut as far out onto the bridge as possible without
> the home road's engine crossing the border line,
> then the other railroad would reach out and grab
> it.
>
> SP would, from time to time, have a Road Foreman
> of Engines take a look at units NdeM was returning
> as soon as SP pulled them into the yard on the
> American side.
>
> On this particular day the RFE was someone from
> SP's Western Division in California who'd been
> temporarily assigned to the T&L Lines during one
> of SP's infamous meltdowns.
>
> He watched from the American bank as the NdeM
> shoved a bunch of the units out onto the bridge,
> then quickly retreated into Mexico. After the SP
> brought them the rest of the way, he boarded them
> to make his inspection.
>
> The cabs had a lot of electrical parts removed,
> but the real prizes, apparently, were the big
> green "Agreement" cab seats. Many of the hood
> doors had metal straps welded to them, preventing
> them from being opened. The local SP crew told
> him the NdeM mechanical forces did that to prevent
> the SP inspector from looking inside the engine
> room, where'd he see that parts - big and small -
> had been removed. If he saw that, he'd be able to
> "refuse" the interchange while it was still out on
> the bridge, but once it was in the yard on the
> American side, it was considered to have been
> "accepted."
>
> A lot of us thought SP should've just told NdeM to
> keep 'em.


Awesome story. Thanks for sharing.