SCL U 36-C IN BLACK AND YELLOW

greenspun.com : LUSENET : ACL and SAL Railroads Historical Society : One Thread

A FRIEND AND I WERE TALKING AND DISCOVERED THAT WE COULD NOT DETERMINE THAT WE HAD EVER SEEN A U 36 C IN SEABOARD COAST LINE BLACK AND YELLOW COLORS. IF ANYONE CAN HELP ME WITH A PICTURE, I WOULD GREATLY APPRECIATE IT.

-- WARD CREECH (THATBEAR@NC.RR.COM), January 13, 2002

Answers

The trade took place in August 1977.

Steve Kamp

-- sakamp@hotmail.com (sakamp@hotmail.com), March 15, 2002.


Southern Pacific became disenchanted with EMDs because of their radiator design, which pulled in supposedly cool air at the top of the locomotive. This didn't work well in tunnels because the locomotives began to overheat and shut down -- the EMDs were pulling already hot air into their radiators. GEs pulled in air from lower and therefore didn't suffer in tunnels. (This led to the EMD tunnel mods.) It would have been natural for GE sales reps to tell all the mountain railroads the SP experience. Just conjecture on my part about the Clinchfield.

-- Chuck Till (ctill@nc.rr.com), January 17, 2002.

makes me wonder why the clinchfield even bought them given the fact that they were more or less an emd railroad. I never understood why the crr was so into the SD45 and 45-2, considering the terrain of the railroad, sd40, 40-2 or 38's would have served them just as well and saved them a TON of cash. heck it took scl long enough themselves to realize this themselves

-- troy nolen (tnolen12@tampabay.rr.com), January 17, 2002.

When those U36Cs showed up and we learned that a like number of SD45-2s had been "given away" for them, it angered a lot of us who thought the SD45 (we nick named them "Clydesdales", because with those 20-cylinder prime movers, they were indeed horses) were the best locomotives we'd ever run up until that time. Like all GEs, these U-boats, while supposedly powerful, were slow responding to the throttle because of their 4-stroke/2-cycle engines--more suited to drag freight operation. Obviously, because of the hilly terrain of the Clinchfield (where slack runs in and out constantly, and the need to maintain a tight train is essential) versus the relatively flat profile of the former ACL (which the U36Cs and most SCL GEs) were assigned to, it probably made good sense to the pencil pushers and the bean counters who never had to nurse a train over the rail, but then, that's railroading.

-- doug riddell (railroaddoug@erols.com), January 16, 2002.

Ward, CRR and SCL traded 7 for 7 if you will. CRR received 7 SD45s from SCL while SCL received 7 U36Cs from CRR. CRR was not typically a GE oriented road and hence didn't have a large familiarity with them, i.e. Parts/maintenance..., so SCL took the units in trade. Below is some roster info for further clarification:

Unit: Built: Builder's # Owners: 2125 10/1971 38228 CRR 3600 SCL 2125 2126 10/1971 38229 CRR 3601 SCL 2126 2127 11/1971 38230 CRR 3602 SCL 2127 2128 11/1971 38231 CRR 3603 SCL 2128 2129 11/1971 38232 CRR 3604 SCL 2129 2130 11/1971 38233 CRR 3605 SCL 2130 2131 11/1971 38234 CRR 3606 SCL 2131

The units did wear multiple paint schemes including CRR black and yellow, SCL black and yellow, SBD Systems, and eventually CSX. These units were retired in the early 1990s and sold for scrap. I have documented a small write up on my website with a brief history and details on modeling one if interested as well. Hope this helps and have a good one, Justin May

http://members.tripod.com/seaboard_coastline/

-- Justin May (mayjustin@msn.com), January 14, 2002.



wow, i was completely unaware of this...

-- troy nolen (tnolen12@tampabay.rr.com), January 13, 2002.

Ward, The SCL recieved a few U36C's in a trade with the Clinchfield RR for some SD45's. I photographed SCL U36C's 2125 and 2128, both in full SCL black/yellow, at Collier Yard in 1982. Not sure when this trade took place, but I was surprised that they did'nt get the FLS gray scheme. Possibly some of the last units to get the SCL colors. For what it's worth, I've seen shots of the SCL SD45's on the CRR in SCL paint, but lettered Clinchfield. Can anyone add to this?

-- Russell Underwood (Jay611@home.com), January 13, 2002.

SCL did not own any U36C's... that is why you never saw one painted for them

-- troy nolen (tnolen12@tampabay.rr.com), January 13, 2002.

Moderation questions? read the FAQ