Next up for Enzo

A quick check of a source quotes a length of 79.5 feet. For all the size of the thing the actual cabins were tiny, cramped and very basic. I couldn't stand up straight in one and I'm 6 feet tall. The front windshield is rather tiny and the view restricted to just what's in front and not too close to the engine. It was good to remember to check on the headend brakeman's location at all times when moving slowly.

Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr.

Yes. Where changing things on EMD designs only involved taking the heads off and replacing whatever, the F-M designs required lifting the whole engine out and doing the work then lifting it back in. Where Time=Money they failed the test.

Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr.

when i first encountered it on the northest corridor's boston to nyc, i was amazed, smooth, quiet, no bumps. i could actually read without that damned clickety click. if there was a good set coast to coast and it wasn't 4 times airline price to ride, they'd have something.

that is pretty decent, actually.

that's not to shabby. what kind of tranny?

They have expanded it to Harrisburg. I no longer can hear that clickety-clack but I still get the horns and if I'm really lucky I can catch the sound of the engine.

Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr.

...3 blocks from the tracks and can't see anything...

Yes. Deltics would never have made it here. Maintenance costs would have doomed them.

Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr.

any nostalgia for the clackity disappears in about 1 second after the train starts. i can sleep on trains now.

our rail companies seem to ride them hard and put then away wet. bnsf has some beat looking locos, in every livery the company has had for 50 years.

Bet they don't have any of the Shouldn't Paint So Fast scheme anymore. :) [SP-SF, the proposed merger that didn't happen back in the '80s (also called the 'Kodak' scheme)] They aren't alone there as it is quite a shock to see the E44 down at the Strasburg museum. That is one clean shiny engine and it doesn't look 'natural'. I never saw one out on the road that wasn't flat and dirty.

Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr.

no but there are plenty of pre bn merger locos around here. i like the old sf scheme a lot. some of the engines are really beat to s*it, old scheme, rust, bare metal repairs, panels off other engines, panels with wildly different paint schemes. i'd swear they buy tin from defunct roads or at yard sales and don't care about the colors. i've seen red engines with a partial black and white panel, a yellow panel and different color doors on the sides and on the drivers cab. on one train with a bunch of auto haulers, there were 11 cars in a row and not one matched. it would appear that running in the desert and up and down cahon pass, anything goes and the philosophy is, it's all good.

at least we have neat stuff to look at. the ex-copper sounds cool. you wouldn't have a pic?

Reminds me of the early days of Conrail. They had six railroad's worth of units and they were all different colours. Of course with PC being the biggest outfit there were far more black units out there.

We're back in black here as NS got this half of Conrail but there are still some rusty blue units around. They just have NS'd number blocks below the cabs. Amtrak had quite a parade going for awhile with all the different schemes they were running on the 'Blunt Bullets'. I suspect they were trying to find just the right scheme. The old scheme had begun to grow on me. The new one is kind of dull. I've got a shot of a GP they must have acquired from Kennecott Copper as it has a high ground clearance and I've seen them in the 2nd Diesel Spotter's Guide. They're now in Amtrak's silver and black maintenance scheme. Once in a while I see an F40PH hauling MOW trains. Hard to believe these are that old already.

Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr.

Yep. I'll send you a copy.

Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr.