Bob,
Until 1970 and its new constitution, the state of Illinois charged
sales tax on all new locomotives delivered within the state. To avoid
the tax, most RRs that could, took delivery outside of the state
(Chicago & Illinois Midland and a few others could not avoid it). An
SD40 in those days was a little less than $200,000 and the tax was
about 4%. When a locomotive was completed at La Grange, it was shipped
as freight and there were established tariffs for such purposes. Q took
delivery in Lincoln. NE. Other RRs had their own favorite delivery
locations. The locomotives were shipped shut down and had to be
prepared for service at the delivery point. EMD used to send a delivery
team to assist the RR with set up, preservice and training (my first
full time job at EMD). As indicated in one note, Indiana Harbor Belt
switched the La Grange plant. Locomotives went in all directions
depending on the purchasing RR's instructions (RRs often made part of
the shipment over their own lines so that they received a portion of
the shipping charge back as earned income).
After Illinois' tax law changed, exempting locomotive purchases, most
RRs started taking delivery of new locomotives in the Chicago area. If
they didn't have their own facilities there, they made arrangements
with local RRs to place the locomotives in service. I spent from May,
1970 to August, 1972 assigned by EMD as the local Service Engineer to
Clyde Diesel Shop. During that time, I placed many locomotives from a
variety of RRs in service there. The primary ones were Union Pacific,
including the last of the DD40x's and Western Pacific as well as many,
many BN units including the last of the SD/F45s and the first of the
SD40-2s. Other RRs have also received their locomotives at Clyde
including Alaska RR. The agreements between the RRs usually stipulated
that the cost of placing the locomotive in service and the required
supplies were offset by the use of the power enroute to the parent RR.
Before the tax law change, most locomotives were shipped drained, i.e;
no water, engine oil or fuel except for a residual amount in the fuel
tank left over from testing. Later, after the tax law change, we were
often instructed by the purchasing RR to include fuel and/or engine
oil. The engine oil was easy since we had to put in in anyway to
complete our tests. Diesel fuel was more difficult since we didn't
normally store that much fuel on property. Of course, the customer was
billed for the supplies. During at least one order, BN made
arrangements to have fuel shipped to our plant for fueling of their new
locomotives since they could obtain the fuel cheaper. BTW, it was
clear, not dyed.
Winter was often difficult. Since locomotives didn't use antifreeze,
you could not leave water in a unit that was shut down. Engine oil also
caused problems in cold weather because it became so thick in a dead
locomotive. Starting the unit was often difficult. A locomotive that
has normalized to an outside temperature of zero takes a long time to
warm up, even if you get it started! Once in a while, we did ship a
locomotive "live", but usually only under special circumstances that
required extra arrangements with IHB. They didn't like handling live
locomotives and they weren't always the speediest in delivery. Except
with special arrangements (usually and extra movement) IHB always
switched EMD on a southbound movement. So locomotives going to Q would
go south to the IHB yard in Argo, IL and then come back north in a
northbound train to Congress Park which was a northbound switch
movement. Thus, it often took a locomotive several days to go from La
Grange to Clyde, even though they were only a few miles apart!
Bill Barber
On Sunday, February 1, 2004, at 02:37 AM, CBQ@yahoogroups.com wrote:
> Date: Sat, 31 Jan 2004 20:55:08 -0600
> From: "Bob & Marian Sorensen" <rksmes@earthlink.net>
> Subject: New Engines
>
> Group: This may be off the normal subject but is a question that I
> have often wondered. In the delivery of a new engine from the final
> assembly plant, is the engine run or is it a dead haul? And, if it is
> run, does the owner receive compensation from the roads it is run > over?
> I think that the CB&Q was the only road into GM when they did final
> assembly in Illinois, so new engines must have been delivered to
> transfer points.
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