[CBQ] re: BN GP20s

[ANDREW KOETZ <andrewkoetz@gmail.com>]

Also in the SD45s, EMD had installed the IDAC wheel slip system, which was perfect for slow speeds in preventing wheel-slip. I have a brochure someplace of a train pulling through the Superior Midwest Energy Terminal in Superior, Wisconsin; it shows 3 sets of GEs on one train. One set on the front, another mid-train, and the third on the rear. This was also way before the advent of aluminum coal hoppers. 

Most of the EMDs were assigned to manifest freight service while the GEs were assigned to coal service. The GEs were favored in coal service because they were considered to pull better under heavy load. EMD recognized that to participate in the coal business, they needed to change the perception. Modifications were made to improve tractive effort and performance at low speeds. Comparison performance tests were made and training programs were established at Alliance to train the staff in EMD maintenance. The efforts were successful because in the last three years of the 1970s, BN purchased more than 600 SD40-2s. During those same years, BN was spending huge amounts to improve the Powder River basin trackage, including the addition of the Orin Cutoff which greatly improved access. At the same time, coal traffic was increasing rapidly.

Bill Barber
Gravois Mils, MO

-- 
I will keep my freedom, my guns, and my religion, you can keep the "change".

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