Some CSX Action

2-8-2

2-8-2

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Jan 6, 2005
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Delaware, Ohio
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I travelled to Sidney, Ohio today for some railfaning. I wanted to take some pictures of the Big Four Bridge there to enter in April's photo contest. Be sure to check out my entry (shameless plug)!

While I was there, I drove down to the Cargill plant and photographed a couple CSX engines waiting for some covered hopper cars to be loaded. I'm not going to try and identify these engines, I'll let the experts do that. Click on the thumbnail image to view it full-sized.





 
I ain't no "expert" but,those are GP38-2s..Commonly referred to as the GP9 of the 70s..I agree with that statement..:D
As far as telling locomotives apart anything after the SD40-2 I gotta look on the cab to get the model type especially on the newer look alike GEs and the newer EMD SD units or write the number down and look it up when I get home and I been in the hobby 55 years..:oops:
 
The easiest way to tell is because they are 2600-series units. And since you were trackside with them you should be able to tell because it says right under the road number, too. :D
 
I did not imply that all 2600-series units are GP38-2s nor did I imply that all GP38-2s are in that series.

2-8-2 said:
To me, the modern era engines all look the same.
Click to expand...

However, knowing what models are in each series will help the original poster narrow down the unit from "all modern era engines" just a few that might be easier to pick (or randomly guess) from.
 
Brian Schmidt said:
The easiest way to tell is because they are 2600-series units. And since you were trackside with them you should be able to tell because it says right under the road number, too. :D
Click to expand...

Ha! I didn't even notice that until you mentioned it. I'll be sure to keep an eye out for that from now on. These photos were taken in kind of a hurry...I didn't want someone shaking their fist at me for being on private property. I would've asked, but there wasn't anyone in sight as it was a Sunday. The engines were running, but I didn't even see an engineer.
 
Well Brian,IMHO it would have been best to say all CSX GP38-2s are in the 2500 and 2600 series...The way you worded your replay could be interpreted by those that isn't familiar with the CSX roster that ALL GP38-2s are numbered in the 2600s.That's why I wanted to mention the GP38-2s in the 2500 series...:D
 
That leads me to a question I have...

How do prototype roads number their engines? Is the CSX way par for the course? For example, would all engine types be within a certain series of numbers? Are shortlines different from the Class I railroads?

The reason I ask is, my first freelance engine is in the process of being painted. I'm going to have to choose a number for this engine. My railroad is a shortline, and I don't really want to number it "1" or "27". But is that prototypical for a shortline?
 
Everything is a mess. Honestly. They do really want to have a nice and neat system but it doesn't always work out that way. As a general rule Class 1 railroads try to keep similar engines numbered together, but it doesn't always work out. As evidenced here, the CSX GP38-2s are in the high 2500- and low 2600-series. I believe NS has three non-consecutive series for their C40-9W units because of how many they have acquired. It just depends on the individual railroad.

Shorelines sometimes will renumber to their own scheme and sometimes will keep a unit's original number. It all depends on each line's management and what they think is best.
 
Brian,The NS C40-9W(NS calls 'em a D 9-40CW) numbers are in the 8689-9978..However the GP38-2s numbers could be misleading if one forgets the 4160-4163 which are ex-IT units..Recall the GP38-2 are numbered in the following series 5000-5393 and then 5501-5580 and the 5601-5634..Then the GP38-3s are numbered 5801-5819.
Now in this flock of GP38-2s we find exCR SD50s numbers 5400-5477.

Its hard to keep up with todays railroads number system after all the mega mergers.
 
Where are you finding these numbers?

I know there are standard cab C40-9s in the 8800-series so that splits the C40-9W series (8689-9978 by your account) into at least two separate series.

When NS reached 9999 they started again back in the 8000-series somewhere. Are those the units you have listed lower than the 8800s?
 
Loco numbering is an arcane art. There is a story that the Pennsylvania numbered their locos by drawing numbers from a hat holding all the unused numbers. Someone speculated that the Midland numbered cars (and it looks like locos as well) on the principle that there should be no gaps in the sequence, even after removals.
British Railways use a 5 digit system. The first 2 digits are the class, and the first digit of the class id the power classification. This ranges from 0 (800hp switchers) up to 6 (cut down SD40s). Then 3 digits for a sequential number. If sub-classes are required (electric vs steam heat vs no heat) the 3rd digit is used.
The LNER in the 20s and 30s had a chaotic system. It started as a straight steal from the roads it was formed from (add n thousand to their engine number), but when they started building their star pacifics, they had to stick them in wherever they thought there was a big enough gap.
 
Brian,First my bad..My eyes skip to the wrong numbers.:oops:
The C40-9W should be 8889-9978..The standard cab C40-9s are 8689-8888.
I have a NS motive power sheet that was given to me by a NS employee last year and may be incomplete as far as any new C40-9W beyond the 9978..It does give all NS locomotives horse power and tonnage rating though.
 
No, I believe we were both a bit wrong.

The original order of ES40DCs was supposed to start at 9979 and go up from there before starting again at a lower number. That was changed just before delivery hower and they all start in the 7500-series now.
 
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