Today’s Trains – March 6, 2010

UP 1996, the SP heritage unit, arrived Friday morning on the MFWEW. I headed out to see if I couldn’t track it down. I drove all around Englewood and Settegast in vain.

I attribute my bad luck to the sun. As it was nice and sunny, of course I wasn’t going to find it. Now if had been cloudy raining, I would have found it immediately!

Nevertheless, I did see a few other things:

US Army 4610 mingles among UP power at Settegast Yard in Houston, March 6, 2010

The 4610 had worked most recently at the Army Ammunition Plant in McAlester, Oklahoma. It’s only my assumption that it’s headed back to work there. If any reader can correct me, please do so via comments or the contact tab at the top of the page.

The 4610, a GP10, appears to be just overhauled, with fresh paint and a new A/C unit on the cab roof

GP 10 is the designation given to GP9’s that went through the  early Geep re-build program done by the ICG at their Paducah, KY shop complex. The boxy air filter housing gives the unit away as a Paducah graduate.

The ICG was so pleased with the economics of their in-house re-builds, when they ran out of their own Geeps to re-build, they went to the used market to buy additional cores for their program.

The 4610 began life as a GP9B, UP 171B, built in March 1954. The UP retired the unit in 1976. Dealer Precision National Corp. acquired the unit, re-selling it to the ICG. The unit was completely re-built at Paducah, gaining a cab in the process.

Upon completion, the unit became ICG 8240 in June 1977. The ICG operated it until 1991, when it was retired (again). Locomotive dealer VMV Enterprises acquired the unit, re-selling it to the U.S. Army where it became their 4610 in early 1992.

UP SD9043MAC 8165 in a bass-ackward roster view, Settegast Yard on March 6, 2010.

I don’t know where the SD90MAC’s have been, but they’ve been all over the place recently in the Houston area. I’m guessing that this unit will not depart like this, as it’s no fun running a unit this long in reverse for more than a bit.

There were a few other things out there, but I’ll have to post that tomorrow…