NS SD40Es - The Horseshoe Helpers
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 มิ.ย. 2024
- Altoona, Pennsylvania is a big hub for Norfolk Southern in the Northeastern US. From the Juniata Shops to the bustling mainline, to the popular railfanning location of Horseshoe Curve. Freight trains traverse the hilly mainline on a daily basis, with a pair of EMDs helping at the back. These are the SD40Es, locomotives that started out as failures, to serving the backbone of the hills of Pennsylvania. See where they started and how there going in this new locomotive documentary.
Music used:
Technology Now - Keith Mansfield
Eiiwun - you n I
Rabbids Go Home - Batuta Din Moldova
Yume Nikki - Martian Underground
TF2 - It Hates Me So Much
Wii Photo Channel
Everybody Votes Channel
Mario Kart Wii
Wii Sports - Tennis
I Left My Heart in San Francisco
HOME - Flood
TF2 - Upgrade Station Music
Hello Meteor - What do you Mean About?
ALL PHOTOS USED ARE NOT OWNED BY ME, THEY BELONG TO THERE RESPECTIVE OWNERS.
The SD40E is one of my favorite NS rebuilds! Wish they still continued the SD40E rebuilds and rebuilt all SD50's
I was a stupid Foamer in that opinion
Toes🤤
SD50s have a charm to them, even if they're blemish on EMD's record, as they're some of the last locomotives ordered by the B&O, C&O, and Missouri Pacific. I'm not sure if Conrail just took better care of them or got lucky with not getting bad eggs (supposedly some SD50 645's re-used early 567 crankshafts from very tired GP9s...), but, as you've explained, they've earned their keep after being de-rated and the electrical bugs sorted out. Shoutout to the Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad for rostering a small fleet of SD50s of various heritages and keeping them running (along with some recent beautiful paint schemes)!
Fun fact: you can identify a former Chessie System or Rio Grande SD50 by it's all-forward K5LLA 5-chime horn (if still present) and bell mounted on the engineer's side of the long hood (see CSX 8607 at 11:24). Some former Seaboard SD50s have a very unique spotting feature among all SD50s: nose-mounted headlights instead of cab-mounted!
My memories of the SD40E and SD70ACu was working in the snow on the Connmaugh Line, and the ACu working my worst train in my short career, where we need TWO sets of ACus to shove our train up the Pitt Line.
It’s really a shame they don’t use them anymore on the curve. They were amongst one of my favorites. Excellent documentary CUP!
DID ANYBODY SEE EDWARD RACE BY THE AMYRAK 😂
8:33
I saw Thomas too!
:skull:
LOL I’m playing Thomas while watching this
A Trampy "Percy" reference?
CSX sadly only has 16 SD50s left on their roster, 14 of these are the SD50-3s, which were SD50-2s upgraded further with new electronics and technical stuff, while the other 2 are SD50-2s but they are both in storage. A few of the SD50-3s are still in serive today, mainly in local service, but sometimes they can end up on road trains. Out of all these, only one of the remaining SD50s on CSX are ex-Conrail, that one being 8662, which I was lucky to see leading a rail train a few months ago. Its unfortunate that SD50s are almost completely gone from CSX, but at least they can still be seen a bit more on NS as SD40Es
I'm forever bummed CSX sold off the last B&O SD50 (8595) to Larry's by mistake when it was *clearly* marked to be preserved and sent to the B&O museum as it was the very last locomotive ordered by the B&O.
I saw one of the SD50-3s leading a CN train a while ago. Completely caught me off guard.
It sucks how I never got to see them on helper duty but they're EVERYWHERE in Central and Southeast PA. Most common spots to find them are Enola and Allentown on locals, I'm sure you can also find em elsewhere but those are where I find em. The way you can tell if it was a former helper or not is if it still has the helperlink on it, Those that don't likely never served as helpers at all. As for the ACUs nearly all the helpers have the lower ditchlights while the road units have them in the same spot as ACes. I swear though many of NS's desicions make my brain bleed. Also interesting note, Reading and Northern posseses both unrebilt SD50s (Former UP) and Rebuilt Ex CSX SD50-2s. Take a wild guess which of the 2 is preferred (espescially since 2 Ex UP SD50Ms just died there for being unreliable garbage XD)
Another quick comment, I may be in the minority when I say that ACUs, despite their problems, look SICK AS HELL on helper jobs. They give off SD45/SD45-2 vibes from the 1980s.
Great documentary, I'm glad to see that someone would cover these basic yet important rebuilds as everyone just kinda saw them as mid.
There’s a few SD40E units based out of the GM Plant NW of St. Louis. See them quite often, but never knew the full story until now.
Awesome video on some of my favorite pusher locos! I remember when the rebuilds were brand new during my high school years in the early 2010s especially when I miss the awesomeness of NS before the PSR fall and killed off my beloved ex-CR SD80MACs.
A bit of a interesting side note. NS has at least owned every variant of the SD60 except the SD60F & 60MAC
Im from Pittsburgh my self born and raised and I have fond memories of seeing these at horseshoe curve and around yards in the area
the inertial air filters were supposed to have a greater air cleaning capacity, i believe they use the venturi effect to swirl the air and it gives the air inertia as a result to force it in faster
Love this video, I do hope you make one about Norfolk Southern's SD70M-2 fleet. There is some in service right now for now that I am glad of.
Why am I fall in love of SD50s and NS SD40E these locomotives are awesome as hell. ❤️🔥❤️🔥
I have seen SD40Es on local train in my town and I love the SD40Es.
Wonderful video!!! You should do more of these
Yeah, these SD40Es are good bois. On my local line they are the highest horsepower units NS has, only one of which has stayed around. That being number 6312 of which I've caught footage of. (But sadly lost) usually SD60Es interchange traffic with my line, but they don't stick around.
I love the train animations very cool visuals
Now it’s the SD70ace helping the trains go up the horseshoe curve
Nice video, Halton! Love the new microphone!
Awesome Documentary CUP 😁😊😮
Thanks to EMD’s screw up with the SD50, now GE is the No.1 locomotive producer in the US.
Also, the only SD50 I will trust is the SD50F units. Which are Cowl Body units with the Wide Cab (wide nose).
Nice video mate !
Basically the Edward of EMD diesel locomotives especially when the newer, more modern ones tried to replace them only to still survive
This is great!
The NS SD70ACUs and SD40Es have same number. 6329, and 7261 on that Rolling Line scene of half of the fleet of ACUs being sold off and many SD40Es were still here where the fleet of SD70ACUs and SD40Es.
And also, i liked that the SD40E cab was not changed. The EMD standard cab is my favorite cab.
when i worked for clinchfield back in my day we had sd40s 45s 50s 60s some of the best units ever built they are still my fav yet today love this vid
Fantastic
XD li like the fact while you were mentioning SD40E's "Rescuing Amtrak trains", in the background you can see Thomas helping Edward with a passenger train, which took place in either season 1 or 2 of the show.
One of the NS SD40Es has a experimental horn called a K5LLE supposed to mimic an RS5T or P5A on NS 6333.
Its Avery nice place with really nice engineers and conductors
NS locomotive strategy: keep older less reliable locomotives and get rid of new reliable ones
They were a great replacement for the SD40-2's in helper service, and sounded great shoving tonnage over the mountain. I've also always preferred the standard cab locomotives over the wide cabs as well.
As an Altoona resident, this was nice to see, it just really pisses me off that I only recently got into railfanning seriously, since we never see anything unique around here much, I could kick myself for getting into it so late.. if only I would've started a few years sooner, oh well..
So far I've only seen one SD40E, on the Juniata local, hopefully I can see more soon, I suppose the SD70ACUs aren't too bad though, at least it's not more AC44s lol
It just sucks how NS does things, it's all too copy and paste anymore, and they do things so cheaply.
Anyways, love the content man, can't wait to see what's next.
@@DistantHornProductions hey thanks! also I'm honestly not sure, I've just seen them switching at the Pipe and Steel works siding so far, I'm thinking it might just be when needed
There has never been a 40e assigned to a local in altoona.
@@bobsmith9947 well I've seen some being taken around, maybe it just counts as a yard movement then
Great video! But could you also do one on the BNSF TEBC6? It's this really weird yard slug that I think you should take a look at.
Weren't the SD80MACs used in helper service before the 40E's?
Fun fact: The photo at 13:24 was taken in my home town
for some reason, I can't help but sense a southern accent in your voice (btw great video)
November 2008?! That was when I was born and note it’s November 30th 2008
And I hope they get persevered
@@BradleyRock a CNW SD50 is preserved in the Illinois Railway Museum and you can still watch seven different SD50s earn their keep on the Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad railroad in PA, hauling coal or passenger excursions.
@@NotDaender 7009
Oh I can visit there and no I’m not talking about the sd50 I’m talking about the sd40e’s and I know emd screwed up the sd50’s but man they were retired when I was 14 and when we heard that (and my friends) we were screaming no so loud and I broke down into tears with friends and we fought they we’re getting scrapped but when we found this and I’m glad with my friends but I hope one or more sd40e’s would be preserved
Best rebuilds on the system
Average NS moment
Their incompetence is astounding. They complain about power shortages, and yet had several successful rebuild programs. Why they didn’t extend rebuilds to the SD60M/I fleet and SD70Ms is beyond me.
Also, one of the NS SD50's that was sold to NREX, was 5473 and was ex Conrail. It was wrecked in the kismet collision in 2006 and was the only locomotive from that wreck to be scrapped.
Lol, they figured it was a lost cause.
@@TracksideFoxnFuntimeFox yeah. All the other locomotives were repaired and returned to service.
The SD40E is probably a rebuild that should get more attention by other railroads! And speaking of other models, the SD70M-2 is slowly making a comeback as recently some have been popping up in local and occasionally mainline service! Not only that but it’s rumored that those units will also be rebuilt with AC traction but hey let’s just enjoy the fact the SD40E is still going strong!
Yeparoozie.
To borrow the nickname of an old fallen flag, the SD40Es were, and still are, "The Old Reliables".
i have seen ONE SD40E on a random train in Nov (2022)
csx uses larger engines for helpers, so ns followed this idea. locals use the sd4oe's or similar models. some sd40e's ended up on locals out here on the buffalo line, h53 had 3 last i knew.
I think i did see a SD40E owned by WAMX on a coal train in virginia a while back. (July 2022)
You can also see SD50's on the Reading and Northern.
Funny Train Pusher.
Imagine they built the bypass
Lionel is offering these in their catalog right now in Conrail, NS, Chessie, MoPac, and DRGW! Did you do this on purpose?
Do the video about The BC Rail Pemberton Pushers
A few are always working in Allentown yard.
i saw a SD40E and a SD40-2 not to long ago in Fostoria Ohio. It is the first train on my TH-cam video on my page.
The best SD40E's are 6321, 6322, and 6333. 6321 and 6322 have RS5T's and 6333 has a K5LLE which is a K5HLB on a low profile manifold.
In my opinion, the reason why the EMD SD40E are still used right to this day is because of their ACTUAL character or simplicity shown by SD40-2s, albeit because GM destroy them because of GM's cutting cost programs through their entire subsidiary. If the GM tells EMD that the SD50 get more time to develop and give them a bit more money, they could get at least around 3800hp from 16-645F3, theoritically, with an addition of stronger crankshaft as well as stronger piston, stronger con-rod, stronger cylinder liner block, and also higher pressure fuel pump than the standard 3000hp - 3300hp 16-645E3. Because, at that time, 7FDL-16 could get about 3600hp using the same basis they keep from 1963 (I think) up until 2010s (and until now for export outside USA and Canada only), with differences are in internals and fuel pump and of course, turbo as well as new electronic system.
You see, the engineer of NS and CSX thought that, "The SD40s are so badass reliable and efficient, then why this junk is really a junk?" and their conclusion after discussion sometime later, I think, was, "Well guys, so the conclusion is, this junk here needs to be as same as the SD40-2 but not maintain the same tractive effort as SD40-2. Strip the electronics, get one better, probably from SD60s or SD40-2s and then modify them a bit, then change the engine, the turbo, the cooling, and the lubrication settings to SD40-2 standards. And don't forget to modify the electrical cabinet setup so they didn't catch fire or short circuiting. Hopefully, we can make this junk here as a bud, not a broken home bud."
The results : Tadaaaaaaa
When the chief engineer said, "We had to give him a name, anybody get an idea?" and somebody raise his hand and then said, "Sir, because we make this to SD40 standards, why don't name it SD40E with E stands for Enhanced because as we know, this engine are more enhanced than the SD40s." and then the chief engineer said, "Hmm, nice. Reasonable, I like that." thus, the SD40E were born :v
On the CSX however, I think, they kind of more respectful to the one of the railroads back bone even though it is a problematic child, hence the name SD50-2s. The -2, in my mind, they came from SD40-2 electronic system because at that time, the -2 system you could find anywhere available were the ones for SD40-2s because, well, they are really a McDonald of locomotives, you could find it anywhere in the USA as well as Canada, and Mexico.
They are not a big guys that smarter and muscler to pull things, but, they are actually a good puller and also a good pusher thanks to simple things (after rebuild) which makes them useful. It is also the same with old switchers and road-switchers. They didn't massive in terms of horsepower, tractive effort, size as well as not as more technologically advanced, emission friendly, and fuel efficient. But, they really are efficient and superbly useful on their role, switching wagons and run locals. In those two jobs, using a 3600hp or even 4300hp locomotive is just a waste. That is also why more RR are searching small, nimble, light, and compact 4-axle switcher or road-switcher engines (or some case, early 6-axle engines)
*insert the Pemberton Pushers here*
Never been this early
when talking about the 70acus what did you mean by NS incompetence?
The SD50s had a ton of issues. Conrail still operated them on their roster before the split between NS and CSX. NS has turned a few into more successful SD40Es. We should really save some CSX SD50s for preservation.
I wish I had a Conrail SD50 with an NS number-patch custom made by Scaletrains.
That’s why Lionel catalogued an SD40E on the SD50 page
wasn't one of them in a reck? (please tell me)
A streak of blue
Weird how they are rebuilding sd70m-2s now
What rolling line map is that
1:58 😂this is to funny
Well, well, well. If it isn't Precision Scheduled Railroading.
Are any in museums?
12:27 yeah…sometimes I wonder if NS stands for “Notoriously Stupid” instead of Norfolk Southern. I love their livery and their Saluda Grade…but some of their decisions, not so much.
Who cares what you think?
@@bobsmith9947 you apparently since you replied.
What game is this ?
Correction: CSX classifies their SD50s as SD50-2s.
3:47, it's actually spelled "inertial", and pronounced: "in-er-shall".
yo is that a new mic?
SD-40s are proof old EMDs refuse to die. SD-50s could have been such a good unit had the bugs been ironed out and more time given to perfect them. They were just a victim of a rush job and I’ve always had a soft spot for seeing them around, just like every other standard cab EMD. It’s a shame now basically every unit looks the same with hardly any character. Old U-Boats and EMDs are a sight for sore eyes in todays world
I miss conrail.
i prefer those SD40Es from GEVOs
8:33 Trampy Movie reference?
Class 1 railroads should give away free locomotives
Plot twist!
Who else noticed Thomas and Edward at 8:34?
Me.
@@gloria6229Me too!
well obviously you don't know that the Pennsylvania PRR signals are and have been removed, and know you have DPU engines with DPU units you don't need the sd40s and the DPU engines have much better power
8:34 HALTON EXPLAIN YOURSELF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Acu’s >>>
I’m still never going to forgive NS for not saving an SD80MAC for preservation and we’re still waiting for CPKC(previously CP) to reveal the status of the final two that CRHS is trying to get from them.
No wonder they get made fun of for idiocy all the time, just look at what happened in Ohio that got them in huge trouble with the US government.
Rubbish! 😂 I'm sure the SD40Es will be on the Pocahontas District.
Norfolk southern is a dumpster fire
Yeah literally they gonna act like penn central and i bet their gonna go completely bankrupt
in·er·tial
[iˈnərSHəl]
ADJECTIVE
PHYSICS
relating to or arising from inertia:
"high-speed centrifuges generate large inertial forces" · "the inertial load on the motor"