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Re: (erielack) Another "what if": EL GP15-1 ?

Actually they had some older units stored that were in good enough shape
that a power-short early Conrail got them out and ran them untill they
dropped, as I recall a shot of an ABBA set of EL F-units (consecutively
numbered no less!) in an early Railfan that the caption mentioned EL had had
these in storage.

I tend to think that the EL would have relied on rebuilding RS2/3's and
GP7/9's to last untill such time as any newer units could descend to local
service (IE GP38-2's, GP40-2's that never got ordered/delivered).   What
might be a more likely possibility is that they would have rebuilt GP35's
with a better electrical system and 645 power assembiles a-la Conrail
7635...  and CP uses rebuilt GP9's to this day, so there's no reason some of
those might not still be around on a modern EL as well.

What I would wonder were I trying to model a 1980's or newer EL, is what to
do with all those non dash-2 SD45's and variants.   Conrail and most of the
larger roads (BN, AT&SF, UP, CSX, NS) got rid of their SD45's for various
reasons that mainly come down to maintenance costs.  CNW only picked them up
at that time for an aborted rebuild program.. only SP rebuilt theirs in-kind
untill Wisconsin Central and MRL started picking them up.  They and the
NYS&W are about the only ones running SD45's in original form.   My
suspicion is that you'd see SD40-2 or SD50 replacements for the EL SD45
fleet, particularly if they were able to rebuild that ex-CNJ SD40 and have
it to compare maintenance costs from.   Of course the SD50 is turning out to
be another fairly short-lived locomotive in itself, but that's another
story. You have the same problem with the U33 and U36C's - these didn't last
much past the mid-80s, if that.

Bill K.

- ----- Original Message -----
From: <pat.moore_@_att.net>
To: "A Samostie" <quahog_@_sprint.ca>
Cc: <Erielack_@_lists.railfan.net>
Sent: Monday, October 01, 2001 3:34 AM
Subject: Re: (erielack) Another "what if": EL GP15-1 ?

> > So, my guess is, had the EL continued operation, the GP15-1 (or even GE
> > U18Bs) would likely have served well on EL lines.  Opinions?
> >
> I guess the question I have to ask is...how many units were stored
> unserviceable (in the dead line) on 4/1/76???  I'm guessing that
> most of the dead units were EMD cab units, Alco switchers, and
> RS units.  As a result of these unserviceable units, how many units
> did EL have to lease or borrow in order to run the railroad?
> I'm guessing none.  So, did the EL need any more units than they
> had in working order on 4/1/76?
>
> It would be cheaper to rebuild more Geeps and RS3s than to
> buy new units.  Even in the most optimistic scenarios, had the
> EL reorganized outside of Conrail, they still would have been
> strapped for cash.
>
> pat moore
> #1719
>

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