Former UP mechanical employee here... the sd90s were notorious for frame cracks, also most of the units we had in storage were in need of major electrical repairs (electrical harness issues) to keep them "reliable". It is my guess that what you see here are the sd90s that are not worth being saved...
Great insight, and insider information on these engines! I had heard similar rumblings about these locomotives too, and mainly the cracked frame issue. Do you know what was the cause of the electrical issues? Did EMD cheap out the on their harness quality on these locomotives?
@SD457500 I not sure exactly. But I used to work with an electrician from Proviso. He told me that the main harness that connected to the cab electrical cabinet was the problem with the sd90s and later with the 70aces. It was either a pin issue where it plugged in or a wire chafing issue... He also told me that it was a huge job to replace that harness, and the easiest way was to do it when they'd go to Little Rock for a complete rebuild... I do remember hearing a joke that if you had a huge consist of locomotives, and you got an alarm bell on the leader, you at least knew where the problem loco was (the sd90!)
Any information on what the problems with the H engine were? I had contacts within the inland marine industry, and nobody really knew. Walking the back lot of National Maintenance in Hartford, Illinois, they had numerous H engines there with what I took to be UP locomotive road numbers spray painted on them.
@@BilgeDweller They were just extremely unreliable and failed often. The prime movers were not tested thoroughly and many deficiencies emerged during their use, which given how much horsepower each engine provided in a consist, losing 1 SD90H in a consist of two or three meant the entire train was fucked and underpowered if they were on a grade, stalling the train. They were just generally causing headaches that were more expensive than they were worth.
@@erict5234 Live on a division where some of these served out their last days in helper service. The amount of complaints I heard over the scanner was staggering. They use to run them in 5 unit sets mid train on Potash unit trains. Eventually they were all sidelined, and then disappeared.
I was employed as a locomotive engineer at the Soo Line/CP Rail system. Consequently, I got to operate the CP's SD90s back in their earlier days before they were taken out of service. You really noticed the size of these engines, versus a GE AC4400, especially when you walked along the catwalk on an SD90 while performing a daily inspection. Thanks for the update on the UP's SD90s!
Thank you, that's a great story I always wondered about the engineer on those massive locomotives . Living in the Northwest I used to see him on the up all the time back in their day. Thanks again
And yet the half a century old SD40s are still around in big numbers. Probably the best locomotive ever built. But as far as weight goes, some of Alcos biggest models topped 400,000 pounds as well.
There’s actually still an H2 SD90 still here in the states, it’s owned by Knoxville locomotive works (KLWX 1998) and is repowered with a Cummins engine. It runs on the yadkin valley railroad.
In 2004 UP was using these on their coal trains. I caught them several times a week on my 150 mile run from Van Buren Arkansas to North Little Rock. The SD90s were absolute beasts. There were 3 of them assigned to a 17,000 ton coal train. Two up front plus a rear DPU. Leaving eastbound from the siding at Van Buren yard was 10mph until you were all out on the main. By that time you were pulling a 1 percent grade that ascended for 3 miles. We usually never got below 8 mph. These engines could pull! They rode like a bucking horse however. At 50 mph very uncomfortable ride. This may have contributed to the frame cracks. I'll always remember them down on their knees screaming wide open at 8 mph.
Do YOU also whine and snivel and shed tears about the hundreds of millions of automobiles that have been sent to the "cutters torch" over the last century??????
@@jonathangreenlees4772 buddy just can’t stand seeing someone else love a nice thing. Tbh though, it is painful to see cars go before their time, but I’m more of a locomotive kind-of guy.
I’ve noticed over the last decade or so that most railroads are standardizing their fleets more. Settling on just 3 or 4 locomotive types and divesting or rebuilding the units that don’t fit those new rosters. Of course, this makes sense as it reduces costs for spare parts, maintenance and helps operational efficiency. And with a serious lack of diversity in locomotive manufacturers anymore I also see it as a problem. Kind of like how you have to look internationally to find passenger car manufacturers any more.
CPKC has been sending these 90MACs to Alton Steel in Granite City, IL for scrapping over the past several months, been fortunate enough to catch some of these on their final ride over the mainline
A bit of correction for the statement at 04:55 : The first batch of SD90MAC-H featured the same kind of nose as SD9043MAC. The only thing that distinguished both variants was the engine hood roof of the H-model was sloped, while the 9043 had a boxy roof.
I appreciate the clarity on these, and the explanation. I was always under the thought that the MAC-Hs had the notch nose. Thank you for the information!
KCS had 10 of these on a short term lease shortly after UP gave up on them. They were a maintenance nightmare. And spent more time on the deadline in Shreveport.
When a friend of mine and I drove to Roseville to chase 4014 in July, we drove past the big yard there and got some incredibly poor pictures of dead lined Triclopses, SD60s?, SD70s, -8s? -9s and a handful of SD90s that looked like they were in rather good codition in comparison to the rest. And they still had pretty decent UP paint. So cool! Just remember to take fun pics of *"The generic every day stuff"* before it's gone! :)
Australian companies would have gladly purchased some of these loco's secondhand, however, they are too heavy for our main line operations. Great video and excellent information in the narration.
I think you mean that Australian companies *wouldn't* have gladly purchased some of these locos secondhand, because they are too heavy for your mainline operations.
@@beeble2003 Australian railroads in general yes..but in the Pilbara of Western Australia, the 4 major mining companies only use U.S. Locomotive power whether they be EMDs or GEs
The "Conrail Cadillacs'" were great. Pass anything but a fuel rack. Anyone know if any of those survived? The modern engines are almost too heavy to save. If the railroad says "You can have it for scrap price" you are still looking at a serious chunk of money.
Imo...I honestly think both the SD90MACs and SD80MACs are some the best looking widecab locomotives EMD built (tall claim I know)...from the teardrop windows, huge radiators and the overall immense size of the thing puts most locomotives today to shame...
I think the SD70 Macs look the best imo, slick profile and no wide radiators and the ones painted for Conrail by CSX was one of the best schemes, sadly they were not painted in the SD80MAC conrail scheme for long
The UP pulled these SD90s out of storage in 2018 when I was working in West Colton yard. They were constantly in the roundhouse, and the roundhouse was full of SD90s for months. Probably the worst units on the UP roster. But they look cool!
I’m saving diesel locomotives from scrap just like i did with steam locomotives including like what Edward did with Trevor the traction engine and Douglas saving Oliver the great western along with Rusty saving Stepney the bluebell engine.
Used to be an intern for UP and from my understanding was they had a strong preference for GEs over EMDs for mainline operations. I took a tour of their rail yard in North Platte and saw a lot of SD90s over GEs. This made a lot of sense haha
Oh my goodness I saw all those there! I didn't know that they all where going to scrap, otherwise I would've gotten a better look at them and some better pictures. I'm not out that way all that often though.
@@NSaw1 ua-cam.com/video/PKOOhcbaU9Y/v-deo.htmlsi=_Q9eaXOJMWTP4Sg4 Here's a video of when there had returned for a few weeks just before moving closer to their end.
Back on the day 2816 was on display in KC at knocke yard there were some of the sd90macs at the fuel racks now with black CP patches but the UP still showing on the sides
What I find amazing is how the high horsepower wars were ultimately stymied with these locos from EMD, and the GE 6000hp locos. They both lived a very short life, and the industry has settled on the 4000hp locos as standard equipment now.
I miss the CSX AC6000CWs used to see them all the time here growing up in West Virginia. Seemed like every coal train had at least 1 in the consist makes me wonder had they lasted longer if they’d be useful now even with their issues due to PSR. CSX is running 220 car DPU coal trains over the same trackage with more locomotives
Maybe not for all rail fans but an explanation of the financial side of these locomotives would be interesting. I am sure that when the SD90 s were new they were some of the most expensive locomotives of the modern era. Most large capital investments have a 25 year deprecation schedule with a 25% scrap value at the end These were not following that path and CP must have gotten them for scrap value if they were able to scrap them. Interesting to know the behind scenes of "Who pays the butchers bill!'
Idea: Convert the EMD SD90MAC's to run on Bio Diesel and make them into SD90MAC-ECO diesels. That way, the SD90MAC's can continue to be used and also be safer for the environment.
The Soo Line had a track that ran near my elementary school, so I’ve always had a soft spot for them, and by extension CP rail, but man CP really has a flair for half-assing their paint jobs, don’t they?
There are two videos showing quite a number of them several months apart go to Mighty River recycling which is the firm that bought them and is cutting them up in Alton IL and they will be melted down in the adjacent steel mill
Still a fan of Alco's RS-3. Guess it's the way they looked and sounded on the NP pre-merger, with their swinging bell, classification lights and 3M reflective markings -- as seen in my youth on their local (daily) runs and extra (unscheduled) freights between St. Paul and Duluth on the Skally. Am 78 now, and steam was being replaced by these slow and smoky road switchers of the time. But what a sight to see and hear back then, with 3 or more in their lash-ups, including RS-11s, while on their nightly runs thru town. Still, have to admit the SD-90s today just as interesting to see. Thx.
I bought a HO Scale UP SD90MAC at a train show a few years ago. I was going to sell it as its too big for my 22-24 inch curves. Now I will keep the Rail Power Products model as part of my heritage unit. There historic value should not be forgotten and at least one should be saved for musuem.
*I was going to sell it as its too big for my 22-24 inch curves* now that's just crazy that a HO scale locomotive has issues going through a 24in radius curve... 24in radius has always been seen as the BARE MINIMUM and yet that ain't enough for those SD90s
At least they still live on as SD70ACUs. I was lucky to catch one of the NS SD9043s before it was rebuilt and it was pulling a coal train here in West Virginia. Seemed fitting given their original purpose out West. Still see the occasional SD70ACU but mostly now it’s all those Wabtec AC traction dash-9 rebuilds.
The ns acus were decent engines for the short time they lasted but unfortunately ns wouldn't spend good money on the rebuilds. They kept the same unoverhauled combos and everything under the hood. Only thing they really got the acu treatment was the majority of the electrical cabinet and a new cab. Only a very small few remain. The rest were sold for scrap after 2 years, they ran longer still in yellow as unrebuilt 9043s.
Hello, Amtraker here so I'm outside the box, looks like those SD90s are being scrapped, and although they look perfect I'm assuming they've been problem childs. Kinda like the HHP-8 which gave Amtrak problems throughout their 10 year service.
the ones that are left are sd9043's the ones with the 710 engine installed in them not a true Mac-h or Mac-H2. UP returned all the H,andH2's to EMD in 2008. Knoxville loco works 1998 is the shell of a H2, with a Cummins QSK95 engine in it.
"the ones that are left are sd9043's the ones with the 710 engine installed in them not a true Mac-h or Mac-H2." Yes, that's what he says in the video...
That's curious how these big brutes with their originally intended 265H 6000 Hp engines (and also GEs AC6000's, and also EMD SD80Mac,s) did not find preference with North Anerican Railroads, that seem to have settled on the 4300 to 4400 Hp power standard. If one wants to find 'Brutes' on needs to go South to see the outcome of this 1st generation; Brazil. Over there one CSN find SD80ACEs and ES58ACs with ultraheavy trains (one Railroad there operates trains that can weight 50.000 metric Tons, usually with 5 locomotives in DPU).
Actually,all surviving 29 SD80MAC's managed to remain in usage for nearly 25 years under Norfolk Southern until emissions regulations,mainteance,and funding became immense to keep any of them on the roster. A long time ago,one of them had it's frame fractured in a derailment so it was scrapped,this was back when CSX owned 13 of them after the Conrail split before doing the trade deal with Norfolk Southern. Unlike the SD90MAC's,SD90MAC-H's,and AC6000CW's the SD80MAC's actually retain the title of being the most reliable units with the highest horsepower from a singular prime mover. It just so happened that Conrail was the only railroad to make purchases. The CNW was actually in the process to get 6 SD80MAC's but unforunately the Union Pacific merge occured and the orders were discontinued since they were already receiving large numbers of AC6000CW's (Which I know later on they regretted). Half of the SD80MAC's were scrapped at PRLX but others still remain in storage. 6 SD80MAC's were acquired by Canadian Pacific to be used as parts donors when the SD70ACU rebuild program was ongoing. Union Pacific rebuilt the AC6000CW's as C44ACM's while CSX sold all of their CW60AC's to PRLX in order to evade taxes and cut down costs. Most of those units were derated as CW44-6's,CW44AH's,or CW46AC's. Union Pacific scrapped or sold all of their SD90MAC's & SD90MAC-H's including the SD9043MAC's in later years after being in storage. 110 units became SD70ACU's by Norfolk Southern with nowadays only 45 units remaining and the other 65 units with PRLX are being scrapped. Canadian Pacific only has 30 SD70ACU's but have been scrapping the remainder of their SD9043MAC fleet including the 39 units that they bought from Union Pacific.
I ran these units and was not impressed. Before I retired many of them were stored out of service at Long Beach. It was the first unit that I ever saw that had an electric handbrake.
I wonder if any SD80 MAC'S are still in revenue service? They look very similar to the SD90. I know CSX and NS sold theirs many years ago. I really like the looks of the EMD SD70ACE ACU and M-2 all the way around but it seems as though GE is the preferred choice of locomotive. I believe 4 of the class 1's are having units rebuilt by Wabtech.
No SD80s are in service anymore. NS sold off all of them. 24 went to Progress Rail and 6 to CP. All of the Progress ones were scrapped, the CP ones are used to maintain their fleet of SD70ACUs. I don’t know the status of the CP SD80s right now.
@@citxsd70m-2 I doubt if you would have seen any SD 80’s in UP colors if that’s what you meant. They got rid of all of their SD 45’s acquired in the SP merger as soon as they could after the merger. If they were kept, they had 16-645 engines installed and were SD 40’s from then on. Now some of them are slugs mated to an SD 40-N for yard service.
Interesting. Here in the UK we are mothballing 4 year old diesel electric locomotives (built by CAF in Spain) due to electrical etc problems while some English Electric class 37's built in the early sixty's are not only still run but are being shopped and upgraded --- Progress ??
Parts sources for existing units. They got all of the RTO parts they wanted/needed off of them and scrapped the rest because the frames were cracked on most, if not all of them.
That was due to an SD40-2 being right behind me in Union Pacific's Belt Yard. It was about to take YSP68 over to Western Ave Yard. Thanks for the comment, and watching!
Most of them were build here in London Ontario( Canada) by GM-Diesel. I worker for this locomotive plant from 1972 till I retired in 2003. I have build many of these SD90's, they were badly designed hard to work on and over engineered. We knew back then these SD90's would never last as long as their predecessors the SD 40 60 and 70 I use to call them the "EDSEL" of the rail industrie.
SD90’s I can care less about. The SD80’s however I pretty sure had nothing wrong with them, however I’m pretty sure the railroads didn’t like 20 Cylinder engines after the failure of the AC6000’s and SD90’s.
Yes,they are nice locomotive but have issue.cp rail many years ago have bunch park odgen shop calgary due electrical and some frame crack yes imagine weight on this.sad gone.😮
Former UP mechanical employee here... the sd90s were notorious for frame cracks, also most of the units we had in storage were in need of major electrical repairs (electrical harness issues) to keep them "reliable". It is my guess that what you see here are the sd90s that are not worth being saved...
Great insight, and insider information on these engines! I had heard similar rumblings about these locomotives too, and mainly the cracked frame issue. Do you know what was the cause of the electrical issues? Did EMD cheap out the on their harness quality on these locomotives?
@SD457500 I not sure exactly. But I used to work with an electrician from Proviso. He told me that the main harness that connected to the cab electrical cabinet was the problem with the sd90s and later with the 70aces. It was either a pin issue where it plugged in or a wire chafing issue... He also told me that it was a huge job to replace that harness, and the easiest way was to do it when they'd go to Little Rock for a complete rebuild... I do remember hearing a joke that if you had a huge consist of locomotives, and you got an alarm bell on the leader, you at least knew where the problem loco was (the sd90!)
Any information on what the problems with the H engine were? I had contacts within the inland marine industry, and nobody really knew. Walking the back lot of National Maintenance in Hartford, Illinois, they had numerous H engines there with what I took to be UP locomotive road numbers spray painted on them.
@@BilgeDweller They were just extremely unreliable and failed often. The prime movers were not tested thoroughly and many deficiencies emerged during their use, which given how much horsepower each engine provided in a consist, losing 1 SD90H in a consist of two or three meant the entire train was fucked and underpowered if they were on a grade, stalling the train. They were just generally causing headaches that were more expensive than they were worth.
@@erict5234 Live on a division where some of these served out their last days in helper service. The amount of complaints I heard over the scanner was staggering. They use to run them in 5 unit sets mid train on Potash unit trains. Eventually they were all sidelined, and then disappeared.
"We have been trying to reach you about your locomotive's extended warrenty"
😡
😂
😂😂
Yes, "Your locomotive warranty is ending soon......"
🤣
I was employed as a locomotive engineer at the Soo Line/CP Rail system. Consequently, I got to operate the CP's SD90s back in their earlier days before they were taken out of service. You really noticed the size of these engines, versus a GE AC4400, especially when you walked along the catwalk on an SD90 while performing a daily inspection. Thanks for the update on the UP's SD90s!
Thank you, that's a great story I always wondered about the engineer on those massive locomotives . Living in the Northwest I used to see him on the up all the time back in their day. Thanks again
Thanks so much for the information great to have information about these massive locomotives. Thanks again
AC44s and the evos look tiny compared to the SD70s and 90s
And yet the half a century old SD40s are still around in big numbers. Probably the best locomotive ever built. But as far as weight goes, some of Alcos biggest models topped 400,000 pounds as well.
There’s actually still an H2 SD90 still here in the states, it’s owned by Knoxville locomotive works (KLWX 1998) and is repowered with a Cummins engine. It runs on the yadkin valley railroad.
i think that was ex-UP 8558 or8559.
And there's apparently some still in Australia, although they just have the carbodies of SD90MAC-Hs but have 710 engines.
And there's some in the Progress Rail lease fleet.
@@Silver_Turtle those are the 9043's not the macs.
@@rearspeaker6364 Before I made my previous post, I checked the Progress Rail lease fleet. They are the SD90MAC-H version.
In 2004 UP was using these on their coal trains. I caught them several times a week on my 150 mile run from Van Buren Arkansas to North Little Rock. The SD90s were absolute beasts. There were 3 of them assigned to a 17,000 ton coal train. Two up front plus a rear DPU. Leaving eastbound from the siding at Van Buren yard was 10mph until you were all out on the main. By that time you were pulling a 1 percent grade that ascended for 3 miles. We usually never got below 8 mph. These engines could pull! They rode like a bucking horse however. At 50 mph very uncomfortable ride. This may have contributed to the frame cracks. I'll always remember them down on their knees screaming wide open at 8 mph.
Good video. I always liked the look of these big EMD's. Too bad they didn't last.
Doesn’t matter if it’s steam or diesel, it’s always sad to see locos lined up for the cutter’s torch.
Do YOU also whine and snivel and shed tears about the hundreds of millions of automobiles that have been sent to the "cutters torch" over the last century??????
Nah, man, automobiles are mid, but big railroad locomotives are based and super cool. 😄
@@jonathangreenlees4772 buddy just can’t stand seeing someone else love a nice thing.
Tbh though, it is painful to see cars go before their time, but I’m more of a locomotive kind-of guy.
Nice video! I've always loved the 90MACs, I'll miss seeing CP 3747 around up here, not to mention the long gone CP ones back in the 2000s.
Hi
I’ve noticed over the last decade or so that most railroads are standardizing their fleets more. Settling on just 3 or 4 locomotive types and divesting or rebuilding the units that don’t fit those new rosters. Of course, this makes sense as it reduces costs for spare parts, maintenance and helps operational efficiency. And with a serious lack of diversity in locomotive manufacturers anymore I also see it as a problem. Kind of like how you have to look internationally to find passenger car manufacturers any more.
I’m going to miss these beasts. I hope one gets saved.
Apparently you never ran one.
@@VittorioTramontini Nope.
CPKC has been sending these 90MACs to Alton Steel in Granite City, IL for scrapping over the past several months, been fortunate enough to catch some of these on their final ride over the mainline
They are being scraped just down the street from my shop in Alton now.
0:05 DDA40X: Am I a joke to you?
🙃
Well that just made me depressed .. I hope that at least one of the units is preserved
A bit of correction for the statement at 04:55 :
The first batch of SD90MAC-H featured the same kind of nose as SD9043MAC. The only thing that distinguished both variants was the engine hood roof of the H-model was sloped, while the 9043 had a boxy roof.
I appreciate the clarity on these, and the explanation. I was always under the thought that the MAC-Hs had the notch nose. Thank you for the information!
@@SD457500 I also added a correction: engine hood roof, not the cab roof
I hated the notched nose.
Normally I am sad when no examples of a loco survive.
In the case of the -H's I'm not really upset they are all gone.
These locomotives aren't 15 years old. They were built in 1998, so they're 26 years old. Even the newest SD9043s are 19 years old.
KCS had 10 of these on a short term lease shortly after UP gave up on them. They were a maintenance nightmare. And spent more time on the deadline in Shreveport.
So sad. I loved running these motors.
Very good video Douglas! Always pretty good stuff to see :)
When a friend of mine and I drove to Roseville to chase 4014 in July, we drove past the big yard there and got some incredibly poor pictures of dead lined Triclopses, SD60s?, SD70s, -8s? -9s and a handful of SD90s that looked like they were in rather good codition in comparison to the rest. And they still had pretty decent UP paint. So cool!
Just remember to take fun pics of *"The generic every day stuff"* before it's gone! :)
Australian companies would have gladly purchased some of these loco's secondhand, however, they are too heavy for our main line operations. Great video and excellent information in the narration.
Pilbara Rail companies rail could take the axle load.
They could certainly do with extra units where I work, but alas they insist on G.E. tech..😢
@@billsbunts Do they plan to use 50 t axle load?
@@gsf_ryder
The locomotive axle load is approximately 32 ton which our 68kg rail has the capacity.
Our GE AC4400s ars are slightly heavier
I think you mean that Australian companies *wouldn't* have gladly purchased some of these locos secondhand, because they are too heavy for your mainline operations.
@@beeble2003
Australian railroads in general yes..but in the Pilbara of Western Australia, the 4 major mining companies only use U.S. Locomotive power whether they be EMDs or GEs
I miss the SD80's. Occasionally one would wind up in the ohio valley around cincinnati, and they still had the 20-710.
The "Conrail Cadillacs'" were great.
Pass anything but a fuel rack.
Anyone know if any of those survived?
The modern engines are almost too heavy to save.
If the railroad says "You can have it for scrap price" you are still looking at a serious chunk of money.
Imo...I honestly think both the SD90MACs and SD80MACs are some the best looking widecab locomotives EMD built (tall claim I know)...from the teardrop windows, huge radiators and the overall immense size of the thing puts most locomotives today to shame...
Nobody cares
@@trains2057 I do. Shut up and take your medication before commenting.
Maybe--- too big.
I think the SD70 Macs look the best imo, slick profile and no wide radiators and the ones painted for Conrail by CSX was one of the best schemes, sadly they were not painted in the SD80MAC conrail scheme for long
It makes GEVOs look small
I made a lot of money running those things on unit grain trains. The hotplate was always a welcomed perk.
Another breaking it friend 🚂🔝👍🏼
SD70ACU in CP red looks so cool.
The UP pulled these SD90s out of storage in 2018 when I was working in West Colton yard. They were constantly in the roundhouse, and the roundhouse was full of SD90s for months. Probably the worst units on the UP roster. But they look cool!
20+ year old power. Just a ton of hours and millions of miles later.
@@CGW116A they had problems from the very beginning, there notorious.
Great video 👍🏻😎 love the macs 👍🏻😊
Hope one of the original SD90MACs get preserved
I’m saving diesel locomotives from scrap just like i did with steam locomotives including like what Edward did with Trevor the traction engine and Douglas saving Oliver the great western along with Rusty saving Stepney the bluebell engine.
Used to be an intern for UP and from my understanding was they had a strong preference for GEs over EMDs for mainline operations. I took a tour of their rail yard in North Platte and saw a lot of SD90s over GEs. This made a lot of sense haha
There used to be a bunch here in Nampa Idaho on the UP, but 2 years ago, they were presumed to go to scrap.
Fuuuuu. I wish I would have gotten into Rail fanning sooner. I live in Caldwell.
Oh my goodness I saw all those there! I didn't know that they all where going to scrap, otherwise I would've gotten a better look at them and some better pictures. I'm not out that way all that often though.
@@NSaw1 ua-cam.com/video/PKOOhcbaU9Y/v-deo.htmlsi=_Q9eaXOJMWTP4Sg4
Here's a video of when there had returned for a few weeks just before moving closer to their end.
This is great storytelling
You’d be surprised about the warranty. UP’s AC4400 fleet are still under warranty (MSA contracts).
Back on the day 2816 was on display in KC at knocke yard there were some of the sd90macs at the fuel racks now with black CP patches but the UP still showing on the sides
What I find amazing is how the high horsepower wars were ultimately stymied with these locos from EMD, and the GE 6000hp locos. They both lived a very short life, and the industry has settled on the 4000hp locos as standard equipment now.
They were awful
I miss the CSX AC6000CWs used to see them all the time here growing up in West Virginia. Seemed like every coal train had at least 1 in the consist makes me wonder had they lasted longer if they’d be useful now even with their issues due to PSR. CSX is running 220 car DPU coal trains over the same trackage with more locomotives
4400 is the magic number for horsepower. Bigger proved it wasn't better.
Very solid point there; seems like that is what the industry has settled on for the time being. Thanks for watching!
Great info, sorry to see them go.
Awesome Video👍👍🙏
5:03 AFAIK some still operate in Australia's iron Ore Region. with some of the H variants being converted into SD9043AC's
All were scrapped a couple years back
@@Amigafur that's FMG, and they bought some sd70Ace's after that, and just bought some GE's too.
@@Amigafurnope, 901 -909 are still onsite parked up, 901 & 902 might return to service for a little bit longer.
Maybe not for all rail fans but an explanation of the financial side of these locomotives would be interesting. I am sure that when the SD90 s were new they were some of the most expensive locomotives of the modern era. Most large capital investments have a 25 year deprecation schedule with a 25% scrap value at the end These were not following that path and CP must have gotten them for scrap value if they were able to scrap them. Interesting to know the behind scenes of "Who pays the butchers bill!'
Idea: Convert the EMD SD90MAC's to run on Bio Diesel and make them into SD90MAC-ECO diesels. That way, the SD90MAC's can continue to be used and also be safer for the environment.
Not a bad idea! I heard a lot of these had frame issues, so that is kind of a nail in the coffin for them. :/
It would be great to see one go to a railroad museum
Sadly they weigh so much it would cost a lot to buy one at scrap value.
Glad I got my pix of them in service 👍
The Soo Line had a track that ran near my elementary school, so I’ve always had a soft spot for them, and by extension CP rail, but man CP really has a flair for half-assing their paint jobs, don’t they?
it would be good if you could tell us whats going to replace these trains what future trains will be taking there spot.
Great idea when I do another of these videos in the future! Thanks for the suggestion!
I rode on these engines when I was new. They rode rough and had less than ideal reliability.
There are two videos showing quite a number of them several months apart go to Mighty River recycling which is the firm that bought them and is cutting them up in Alton IL and they will be melted down in the adjacent steel mill
Still a fan of Alco's RS-3. Guess it's the way they looked and sounded on the NP pre-merger, with their swinging bell, classification lights and 3M reflective markings -- as seen in my youth on their local (daily) runs and extra (unscheduled) freights between St. Paul and Duluth on the Skally. Am 78 now, and steam was being replaced by these slow and smoky road switchers of the time. But what a sight to see and hear back then, with 3 or more in their lash-ups, including RS-11s, while on their nightly runs thru town. Still, have to admit the SD-90s today just as interesting to see. Thx.
I bought a HO Scale UP SD90MAC at a train show a few years ago. I was going to sell it as its too big for my 22-24 inch curves. Now I will keep the Rail Power Products model as part of my heritage unit. There historic value should not be forgotten and at least one should be saved for musuem.
*I was going to sell it as its too big for my 22-24 inch curves*
now that's just crazy that a HO scale locomotive has issues going through a 24in radius curve...
24in radius has always been seen as the BARE MINIMUM and yet that ain't enough for those SD90s
At least they still live on as SD70ACUs. I was lucky to catch one of the NS SD9043s before it was rebuilt and it was pulling a coal train here in West Virginia. Seemed fitting given their original purpose out West. Still see the occasional SD70ACU but mostly now it’s all those Wabtec AC traction dash-9 rebuilds.
I recently acquired the original K3HA off of 8052. So, she may already be long scrapped, but her voice at least lives on.
Why?
I wonder how many cans of spray paint they went though doing those markings...
The ns acus were decent engines for the short time they lasted but unfortunately ns wouldn't spend good money on the rebuilds. They kept the same unoverhauled combos and everything under the hood. Only thing they really got the acu treatment was the majority of the electrical cabinet and a new cab. Only a very small few remain. The rest were sold for scrap after 2 years, they ran longer still in yellow as unrebuilt 9043s.
There’s a bunch here in Arizona paralleling I-10 south toward Tucson
I saw a NS SD-90 go over the train bridge at Danville trail
Nothing like a nice "rattle can" custom paint job......🤔🙄
Self inflicted grafitti
Hello, Amtraker here so I'm outside the box, looks like those SD90s are being scrapped, and although they look perfect I'm assuming they've been problem childs. Kinda like the HHP-8 which gave Amtrak problems throughout their 10 year service.
the ones that are left are sd9043's the ones with the 710 engine installed in them not a true Mac-h or Mac-H2. UP returned all the H,andH2's to EMD in 2008. Knoxville loco works 1998 is the shell of a H2, with a Cummins QSK95 engine in it.
"the ones that are left are sd9043's the ones with the 710 engine installed in them not a true Mac-h or Mac-H2."
Yes, that's what he says in the video...
@@beeble2003 never turned the audio on.......
How's that Cummins working out???
@@Joe-d7m6k must be better then the C175-20 in the F125's
Another one bites the dust! Only five years of service!
Funny. I was just seeing a listing for one of these in HO scale on Amazon. I think I may just go ahead and order the model.
I was never a fan of the sd90s but it is really sad that there going to be retired soon
Can you please talk about Union Pacific GP15-1 unit 615 next???
or the gp38's used on donner summit in the winter....
Theres one reminant of the SD90MAC-H and its on the Yadkin Valley. its a cummins rebuilt QSK95
That's curious how these big brutes with their originally intended 265H 6000 Hp engines (and also GEs AC6000's, and also EMD SD80Mac,s) did not find preference with North Anerican Railroads, that seem to have settled on the 4300 to 4400 Hp power standard. If one wants to find 'Brutes' on needs to go South to see the outcome of this 1st generation; Brazil. Over there one CSN find SD80ACEs and ES58ACs with ultraheavy trains (one Railroad there operates trains that can weight 50.000 metric Tons, usually with 5 locomotives in DPU).
Actually,all surviving 29 SD80MAC's managed to remain in usage for nearly 25 years under Norfolk Southern until emissions regulations,mainteance,and funding became immense to keep any of them on the roster. A long time ago,one of them had it's frame fractured in a derailment so it was scrapped,this was back when CSX owned 13 of them after the Conrail split before doing the trade deal with Norfolk Southern. Unlike the SD90MAC's,SD90MAC-H's,and AC6000CW's the SD80MAC's actually retain the title of being the most reliable units with the highest horsepower from a singular prime mover. It just so happened that Conrail was the only railroad to make purchases. The CNW was actually in the process to get 6 SD80MAC's but unforunately the Union Pacific merge occured and the orders were discontinued since they were already receiving large numbers of AC6000CW's (Which I know later on they regretted). Half of the SD80MAC's were scrapped at PRLX but others still remain in storage. 6 SD80MAC's were acquired by Canadian Pacific to be used as parts donors when the SD70ACU rebuild program was ongoing. Union Pacific rebuilt the AC6000CW's as C44ACM's while CSX sold all of their CW60AC's to PRLX in order to evade taxes and cut down costs. Most of those units were derated as CW44-6's,CW44AH's,or CW46AC's. Union Pacific scrapped or sold all of their SD90MAC's & SD90MAC-H's including the SD9043MAC's in later years after being in storage. 110 units became SD70ACU's by Norfolk Southern with nowadays only 45 units remaining and the other 65 units with PRLX are being scrapped. Canadian Pacific only has 30 SD70ACU's but have been scrapping the remainder of their SD9043MAC fleet including the 39 units that they bought from Union Pacific.
I worked on each and every one of them at the Denver Locomotive shop A K A ( Burnam shops )
I bet you saw the best, and worst, of these locomotives over the years! I heard many of them later suffered from cracked frames.
@SD457500 the SD90'S did, but the 9043' didn't.
I ran these units and was not impressed. Before I retired many of them were stored out of service at Long Beach. It was the first unit that I ever saw that had an electric handbrake.
Thanks 😊
A lot of them where rebuilt SD70ACUs in NS and CP
In Australia these Locos would still be in service for another 40 years
Reminds me the old DD's
Cool story bro
do you know what happened to the central maine and quebec loco that sat for a year or two in st. paul? 9014?
I wonder if any SD80 MAC'S are still in revenue service? They look very similar to the SD90. I know CSX and NS sold theirs many years ago. I really like the looks of the EMD SD70ACE ACU and M-2 all the way around but it seems as though GE is the preferred choice of locomotive. I believe 4 of the class 1's are having units rebuilt by Wabtech.
No SD80s are in service anymore. NS sold off all of them. 24 went to Progress Rail and 6 to CP. All of the Progress ones were scrapped, the CP ones are used to maintain their fleet of SD70ACUs. I don’t know the status of the CP SD80s right now.
Damn that sucks I was hoping at least one of the CPKC ones would have possibly had a chance of getting preserved
@CSXincyRailfan dang that sucks…if only EMD accepted the CNW’s initial order of SD80s, we probably could have SD80s running into today with UP.
@@citxsd70m-2
I doubt if you would have seen any SD 80’s in UP colors if that’s what you meant. They got rid of all of their SD 45’s acquired in the SP merger as soon as they could after the merger. If they were kept, they had 16-645 engines installed and were SD 40’s from then on. Now some of them are slugs mated to an SD 40-N for yard service.
@@citxsd70m-2 The Progress Rail SD80's are still in the lease fleet.
Interesting. Here in the UK we are mothballing 4 year old diesel electric locomotives (built by CAF in Spain) due to electrical etc problems while some English Electric class 37's built in the early sixty's are not only still run but are being shopped and upgraded --- Progress ??
The INRD parked theirs this time last year.
They probably will be stripped for reusable components, like trucks, traction motors, and engines before scrapping.
Nice video Douglas! I have to wonder why CP spends money to purchase these engines only to send them to scrap?
They changed their mind? Because the situation changed? Because the merger with KCS changed their locomotive requirements and availablility?
Parts sources for existing units. They got all of the RTO parts they wanted/needed off of them and scrapped the rest because the frames were cracked on most, if not all of them.
It would nice to be able purchase one these before they get scraped. Think how cool a air BNB would be?
That would be cool, and reminds me of the F45 in Montana. I think that all of the ones in this video have been torched already though.
How do they rebuild locomotives
Some need to be saved to rebuild the SD80.
Wow interesting
4:51 don’t know why it looks a lot like the SD70ACe/AH
The Aces used a modified 90 car body.
aw man, i really liked these things, what a shame
Why wou[d CP buy them just to scrap? suspect there will be some parts harvesting before the torches are lit.
They changed their mind? Because the situation changed? Because the merger with KCS changed their locomotive requirements and availablility?
@@beeble2003 that might be the decisive point !
*Sounded like a SD40-2 prime mover throughout this video? Or was that just for sound effect? **6:30*
That was due to an SD40-2 being right behind me in Union Pacific's Belt Yard. It was about to take YSP68 over to Western Ave Yard. Thanks for the comment, and watching!
Put two of Union Pacific SD90s one in arizona railway museum another pacific southwest railway museum
Who do you call when you need a lot of locomotives moved? The railroad, of course!
What happened to the EMD’S 20 cylinder power plants?
In which application? The V20 645s? Or 710s? I know a decent amount of 710s are used for marine applications all over the world.
I believe that to 645 locomotive engines.
Most of them were build here in London Ontario( Canada) by GM-Diesel. I worker for this locomotive plant from 1972 till I retired in 2003. I have build many of these SD90's, they were badly designed hard to work on and over engineered. We knew back then these SD90's would never last as long as their predecessors the SD 40 60 and 70 I use to call them the "EDSEL" of the rail industrie.
The repainting job is was haphazardly done poor effort from CP.
SD90’s I can care less about. The SD80’s however I pretty sure had nothing wrong with them, however I’m pretty sure the railroads didn’t like 20 Cylinder engines after the failure of the AC6000’s and SD90’s.
Didn’t the San Luis and Rio Grande own a few SD9043’s? What ever happened to those?
AC6000
whats the reason for the SD90MAC-H failing?
Issues with the engine and frame, among others.
Just let one be preserved at least if the rest are gonna be scrapped.
Yes,they are nice locomotive but have issue.cp rail many years ago have bunch park odgen shop calgary due electrical and some frame crack yes imagine weight on this.sad gone.😮
Up SD70AC
5:11, more like 20/25 years ago.
26, in fact -- built in 1998.
Appreciate the correction! My mind still thinks that 2000 was 10 years ago...not 24. :/
@@SD457500 😂🤣 It's alright. I'm just as guilty as you are.
these are my favorite locomotives along with the ACE’s and the 80MAC’s
Tell us even more
These do not have 'baby wings', baby wings are /were used on standard/narrow cab units
On a trip to hometown Altoona Pa. I saw several in the Juniata shop yards. 2012-2015 time frame….