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Re: (erielack) Preservation and hulks: floods

In a message dated 7/7/2006 7:21:44 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
pontiac_@_dreamscape.com writes:
Just FWIW -

Rotting hulks are a fact of preservation life.   Doesn't the one preserved
U34CH still run?   If it suffered a major failure, or even a minor one of a
fairly unique part, the same part might be able to be robbed from the unit
in the photo link a lot more easily if it were stuffed and mounted as a
"rotting hulk" somewhere.  GE units of the U-series in particular are
extremely rare in operation - I've read there was no support for them when
old, like there is for EMD units or even ALCo's - it's along the lines of
owning a '55 Packard.   You can't go down to Pep Boys and get many parts for
one of those, nor can you go to many salvage yards and find parts for one.

This unit appears to have suffered an electrical fire in the battery
compartment.  But it looks like it was serviceable recently, the paint
appears fresh.  It may be a bargian figured at around $100 per ton scrap
price.

One example of keeping hulks around, the Adarondack RR has had four
operational EMDs, F units and a GP7, but also has or has had at least three
FL9s as parts sources - they came in unservicable, but provided parts for
the other units.  How many remain I am not sure.

Any unit like that can be stuffed and mounted as a display and still used as
a parts source.  It will always be worth the scrap value, which is likely
only to go up as China becomes more industrialized.

A few excellent points there!!! I don't know how much it would cost to repair 
or purchase, but there was another U-34CH (the 4180) that was recently 
retired in April of this year... Anyone know the status of this one??


 

Thanks,
Steve


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