Siemens SC-44 Chargers - Michigan Edition

[NSSD70ACe]

Westbound? Aren't they supposed to come back today?

Sounds like the test train is west bound through Potterville on CN at 21:45.

[rettop]

Went to Kazoo station to see it on the Blue Water (10:30am) as listed on this site; good old 30 upfront with 26 taking up the rear. Has anyone seen the Chargers or is this a "Fake" time table?????

[PerRock]

Has anyone seen the Chargers or is this a "Fake" time table?????

The east-bound Wolverine run was accurate (delayed 30mins). But after that they seemed to have abandoned the TT. IF you scroll back a little ways you can find the pictures I took of it passing Dexter.

peter

[Buster Manning]

Westbound? Aren't they supposed to come back today?

I mentioned this earlier to Z on the chat....due to the lack of storage space for the equipment to overnight in PNT (no room) and PTH (not enough room with the second station track OOS), both of the test trains turned back the same day

You will see these turds soon enough in regular service....

[NS3322]

You will see these turds soon enough in regular service....

You don't like them? When will the P42s be phased out on the Michigan Lines?

[PerRock]

You will see these turds soon enough in regular service....

You don't like them? When will the P42s be phased out on the Michigan Lines?

When the Chargers are ready.

You know I wasn't a big fan of the Charger's look originally. But seeing one in person it didn't look that bad to me. I still think they look better with the Brightline nose, but they aren't that bad.

peter

[Buster Manning]

It isn't the looks.....the design team obviously did not have an engineer to help out...the cab layout is not comfortable....it has even less vision out of the cab than the P42...climbing into and out of the cab will be treacherous when the steps are wet...too much of the mechanical aspect of the engine itself relies on the HEP to operate...I can already imagine how well the engine will operate with that radiator room stuffed full of snow and ice....I think the Brightline engine looks better with the nose-cone...without the cone, it looks too much like one of the electric motors

[PM1946]

A Siemens SC-44 Charger did a test run April 29th and 30th on Pere Marquette's route. If the info posted with the video is correct, MDOT (along with other states) purchased a bunch of these. Hopefully the Pure Michigan logo will be part of the paint scheme.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSJuMeM5Tso

[tadman]

Any idea when entry into service is? I'm staying in Berrien County until October-ish for work and would love to catch one.

[PerRock]

Any idea when entry into service is? I'm staying in Berrien County until October-ish for work and would love to catch one.

When their ready.

They've just started line testing & training. Things can go wrong & hold them up. That being said if there are no problems & delays (unlikely), I would expect them to have started phasing them in before October. Additionally Michigan may be the last state to get them as they still need ITCS installed.

peter

[justin_gram]

Looks like the first solo SC44 revenue run ran out of Chicago this morning as Hiawatha #329.

http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/20 ... n-hiawatha

So maybe we'll start seeing some of these soon... Especially on the west side of the state. Not sure if any are equipped yet with ITCS for the Wolverine/Blue Water route.