upon completion. As they were completed, they were released for testing to ensure any bugs could and would be worked out, and they would be fine tuned before shipment to home rails. They were not completed in sequential order, but it didn’t Well, its been a while, but its that time again, time to sort through the news and events of our favorite railroad and try and catch up on things. I should note that the events in this particular column are current up to the beginning of January, 2013. I don’t pretend to admit that everything that has taken place in the past several months will be recorded here, but none the less, there is still plenty of news to go around, so put your feet up and as Jackie Gleason once said: “And away we go….” MOTIVE POWER UPDATE I’ll start this time with the locomotive/power report, since this is one of the areas with the most visible changes to the THS membership (and non THS members as well). As is known by know, the summer of 2012 saw the arrival of new (to the NYS&W) power to the NYS&W, in the form of six EMD SD60 locomotives. These 3800 HP heavy duty locomotives were selected from a feet of former Oakway leased locomotives that saw most, if not all of their service careers on the BN, and later BNSF. As such they were originally built to the specs of the BN. After their careers on the BN, they were transferred to a leasing company and put on the open market, so to speak, looking to be leased out to new operators. The NYS&W, having had CEFX leased units on the property for an extended period, was looking to expand its own fleet of locomotives for a variety of reasons, both financial as well as of as public relations nature. After all, it helps to promote your own corporate image with your own “brand” out there for the public (and the customers) to see on a regular basis. The railroad sent its personnel out to inspect these locomotives, and eventually six SD60’s were selected. They were GMTX (the owners of the units at the time) #s 9016, 9044, 9061, 9067, 9082, and 9094. In keeping with past practice, they were numbered by the NYS&W in accordance with their HP, and even numbers only, indication MU capability. They were numbered 3800 to 3810. One by one they entered the shops at VMV, a locomotive rebuilder in Paducah, KY, and were basically rebuilt from the frame up. Their trucks were given new components, new air brake and electrical components installed, the cabs were overhauled, and of course, a paint job into the NYS&W’s corporate colors of black & yellow. And boy, did they look sharp 14 matter. Soon, the first of the units were on their way to the NYS&W via CSX. Several of the units traveled from Paducah, KY to Cincinatti, OH via CSX, where they were placed on Q366, a train that ran to Selkirk, NY. At Selkirk, the plan was to then place the units on a westbound train to Buffalo, NY, and dropping them off enroute for interchange at Syracuse, NY. For some reason, one unit in particular was re routed south east from Paducah via Alabama to Atlanta where it made its way to Syracuse via Q410 to Selkirk, NY. In the end, it didn’t matter as the locomotives soon found their way to home rails. Upon arrival and pick up at Syracuse, the locomotives were then moved to Binghamton, NY where they were examined, inspected, and prepped for service. This included the initial inspections on home rails, plus installations of radios and head end telemetry devices. Contrary to rumors, the locomotives did arrive with seats installed and ready for use. That said, on July 8th, the first “all SD60“ SU-100 operated east with NYSW 3808 - NYSW 3800 - NYSW 3810 with 40 cars departing Binghamton. Suffice to say, that although the train ran east under the cover of darkness, it was the following day’s SU-99 that garnered the most interest, as it left Ridgefield park in the late afternoon, in daylight. In short order, with the last of the units delivered by mid August, the fleet of “bluebird” CEFX SD40-3s were soon relegated to the dead line to be returned to their owners and lessors, as they were now rendered redundant. As for the SD60’s, the past several months (up to press time) saw them on work trains on both the Northern and Southern divisions, as well as the Binghamton-Syracuse turn jobs and the SU-100/99 turns. And apparently management is quite pleased with their performances. This past autumn marked the first in the years since the Sparta mountain route was reopened in 1986 (has it really been THAT long ago??) that there was no significant loss of time due to road trains stalling west of Butler, NJ owing primarily to the leaves on the rails, as in the past. In fact, I can attest to seeing several westbound SU-99’s in excess of 80 cars making the hill at Midland Park, NJ, and west of Butler pretty much close to track speed. And even those trains that ran slower than track speed, they didn’t stall either, even if they were “on their knees” at times. On January 7th, SU-99 ran west with 4 SD60’s and 86 cars, they made track speed at Midland Park, and made short work of the grade west of Butler, doing what they were acquired for. It looks like the railroad is getting their money’s worth from these units and will do so fore the foreseeable future. As for other motive power, as mentioned, the CEFX bluebirds are no longer being used and as of early January, a few of them were in the dead line in Binghamton, NY awaiting disposition. Also on the sidelines in early January were the 3 SD70’s (4050-4052-4054), one SD40T-2, the three GP20’s (2062-2064 -2066) and 2 SD45’s (3618-3634). Last reports indicated the SD45’s were stored serviceable, but were on the sidelines primarily due to their excessive fuel consumption. No word to report on any possible disposition of the remaining sidelined locomotives. The Southern Division still continues to be the home for “borrowed” 4 axle locomotives from both CSX (GP38-2 #2732) and NS (GP38-2s # 5288, and 5291), plus a six axle NYS&W unit (usually the 3022 or one of the SD40T-2s), with these units being used primarily on the Sparta turn job (WS-5
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