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Post by ztrack on Mar 25, 2019 21:14:31 GMT -5
  In April of 2016, AZL released SD45s lettered for the Montana Rail Link (MRL). I was immediately drawn to these locos for their look and feel. But being in Ohio, I had never viewed one in real life. Well fast forward three years. While in Cincinnati OH, I came across these two monsters in MRL blue. To my surprised, they were two former MRL SD45s! Both units today work for the CCET (Cincinnati Easter Railroad). They were parked by the companies headquarters. One has switched hands a few times in it's history. Locomotive 332 started it career with the Erie Lackawanna before going to the MRL. It then would go to Yakima Central (YCR) in Washington state before ending up in Ohio. It still carries the YCR lettering. While the road numbers aren't the same as the one AZL offered, it is tempting to possibly try and model one of these beast. What a great find! Rob |
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Post by cwrr on Mar 26, 2019 9:12:04 GMT -5
Glad to see these were saved! I remember a few of these were scrapped in the Portland, OR area a few years back and being upset they weren't saved. Good to see some were!!
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Post by dazed on Mar 26, 2019 15:43:24 GMT -5
Cool find. I love MRL locos and they were often found wandering down to Texas on BNSF trains in the late 90's and early 00's.
One point of note: while the CCET #330 unit is indeed an SD45, YCR #332 is an SD45-2. Among the many differences, the most glaring is the lack of flared radiator section on the 45-2, which is a pretty unique signature spotting feature on SD45s.
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Post by domi on Mar 26, 2019 18:04:16 GMT -5
Cool find. I love MRL locos and they were often found wandering down to Texas on BNSF trains in the late 90's and early 00's. One point of note: while the CCET #330 unit is indeed an SD45, YCR #332 is an SD45-2. Among the many differences, the most glaring is the lack of flared radiator section on the 45-2, which is a pretty unique signature spotting feature on SD45s. I wanted to point this out but you were faster than me ! BTW, does one know whether these units are still -45 basis, ie with EMD 20-645 prime movers, or technically retrofited as -40-2s with EMDs 16-645, such as most of remaining ‘‘externally looking SD45’’ locos ? Dom |
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Post by ztrack on Mar 26, 2019 20:02:44 GMT -5
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Post by dazed on Mar 26, 2019 21:06:20 GMT -5
Huh, weird about that being the SDP45...I knew they had one but missed that piece of the puzzle. The photo seemed off to me but I just thought it was lens compression. I will admit I'm not an expert on this, I just knew it wasn't an SD45 as it was missing the flare.
Anyway, I think MRL put "SD45-2" on every variant they had of SD45. So that isn't necessarily a spotting feature either. Although, again I'm not an authority on this. Regardless, thanks for sharing the pics...neat to see them.
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Post by dazed on May 13, 2019 11:25:01 GMT -5
Saw this today on the MRL Facebook Page. First, it is a cool pic of SIX of the MRL SD45s. And, they are auctioning the framed photo off for a good cause. So anyone interested should consider bidding on it.  |
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Post by cwrr on May 13, 2019 11:39:22 GMT -5
I could see that on my wall in the train cave!!  |
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