The relevant information apparently quoted from a BNSF safety briefing:
"SafetyBriefing
July 11, 2009 GE Evolution Series Turbochargers SB-2009-03G
On another Class 1 railroad there have been two recent turbocharger failures on
General Electric Evolution Series locomotives which resulted in portions of the
turbine rotating assembly penetrating the turbocharger case and exiting the
locomotive carbody. The root cause analysis into the failures is still in process
but preliminary investigation has revealed that the failures that have occurred
are due to catastrophic failure of turbocharger shafts which were produced by
one of two of GE’s suppliers for that part.
The suspect turbocharger shafts affect new Evolution Series locomotives
produced from January 2007 to March 2009 as well as any Evolution locomotive
which has had a turbocharger replaced due to failure or engine change during
the same time period.
Over the next several days the specific locomotives containing suspect parts
will be identified and those locomotives will be removed from service pending
turbocharger replacement. Until such time ALL EMPLOYEES SHOULD NOT
ACCESS EXTERNAL WALKWAYS OR BE IN THE PROXIMITY TO THE LONG
HOOD AREA OF ANY GE EVOLUTION SERIES LOCOMOTIVE (BNSF 5718-7799)
WHICH IS OPERATING OR BEING LOAD TESTED UNDER POWER IN NOTCH 4
OR ABOVE.
Avoid these areas
REMEMBER -- All BNSF employees are empowered to work safely. If
you think a condition is unsafe, protect it, report it, assist in correcting
it, or use your expertise to provide a better and safer way.
BNSF Safety Vision "
Sounds like each railroad is 'passing the buck'. CSX said BNSF and CN had the problem. BNSF says "another Class I". I'm sure the CN and NS said "Some other Class I."
Bring back the old reliable SD70 and 75's! The modern version of the SD40-2
PatC created a monster, 'cause nobody wants to see Don Simon no more they want AARR I'm chopped liver, well if you want AARR this is what I'll give ya, bad humor mixed with irrelevant info that'll make you roll your eyes quicker than a ~Z~ banhammer...
I thought the SD70 series (pre -2ace) was liked by crews.
PatC created a monster, 'cause nobody wants to see Don Simon no more they want AARR I'm chopped liver, well if you want AARR this is what I'll give ya, bad humor mixed with irrelevant info that'll make you roll your eyes quicker than a ~Z~ banhammer...
I thought the SD70 series (pre -2ace) was liked by crews.
Nope. The way I've heard it is that SD40-2's are great, SD50's are so-so, SD60's are ok, and SD70's and beyond suck. Aopparently UP's 1,000+ SD70M's are junk.
This really surprises me. I knew that 50 series was disliked. But heard 60 series was better and early 70 series were good until they started that 70-2ace nonesense. Maybe they were comparing early 70 series to GE's of that time and the GE's were worse. But I've heard GE's have gotten better since and are much better liked than 70-2ace's.
PatC created a monster, 'cause nobody wants to see Don Simon no more they want AARR I'm chopped liver, well if you want AARR this is what I'll give ya, bad humor mixed with irrelevant info that'll make you roll your eyes quicker than a ~Z~ banhammer...
The UP SD70M's pull ok, but they sound like a bunch of spare change in a dryer in the cabs. I've also had a few that had dynamic brake issues, but that may just be UP's upkeep on them showing through.
I like the SD50's personally, they had issues initially, but EMD worked them out with new electronics IIRC.
If GE could rectify the problem with the ES series dynamic brakes, they would be great locomotives. GE is known for their dynamic brakes, but ES series seems to have them 'toned down' a bit or something. Takes forever to get any kind of action out of them, and they just seem 'weak' compared to other GE offerings. Might be a software issue or something, because every railroads ES series have the same problems.
The AC6000's had issues with the crankcases which is why they were de-rated for awhile until a better fix could be made. As it was, the crank case cam had to be removed, re-installed, then a part of it bent into place. The bending is what caused the concern, as there was the chance the tool used for bending could slip, resulting in injury to the shop person performing the fix. The AC6000's were eventually re-rated for 6000 hp, so I can only assume a better method for repair was developed.
I agree about the SD50s' and you could say the same about the 60s' series also--at least on the NS; on more than one train I was on we had 3 or 4 GP60s' and we would pull faster than some of the 6 axles as long as the rail was dry. Sometimes bigger isn't always better; I think if somebody was to build a 4 or 6 axle engine with say a 8 cylinder 710 block and rated it around 2500-3000 hp, it would last forever and get pretty good fuel consumption also. Throw in steerable trucks and extended range dyn. brakes and you got a ultra-modern 40 series engine.
K5HL's are bada$$. They are 10 times better than K3LAR's getting put on all the GE's (UP & BNSF anyway). Now, if they would mount them facing forward and not use push-button solenoids, they would sound better. Like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WceirKOQMg (skip throught the BS to 4:00 where the run-bys start). I wouldn't mind seeing some K5HL's show up on some shortline power.
PatC created a monster, 'cause nobody wants to see Don Simon no more they want AARR I'm chopped liver, well if you want AARR this is what I'll give ya, bad humor mixed with irrelevant info that'll make you roll your eyes quicker than a ~Z~ banhammer...
Mr. Tops wrote:K5HL's are bada$$. They are 10 times better than K3LAR's getting put on all the GE's (UP & BNSF anyway). Now, if they would mount them facing forward and not use push-button solenoids, they would sound better. Like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WceirKOQMg (skip throught the BS to 4:00 where the run-bys start). I wouldn't mind seeing some K5HL's show up on some shortline power.
To tell you the truth I like K5HL's ,but most people that hate gevo's say they hate there horns. I think K5LLA's are the best horns out there and go great with there designated engine (SD70ace/M-2). And one thing I like to think about the K5HL's and K5HLL's is that they sound like there saying "GEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEVOoooooooooooooooooooo" when there blown. Oh and the horn switches on the gevo's are nice! (Iv'e had my share of cabtours) I like them alot better then the button activated ones (Like you said tops) on the desktop controls. By the way ,what company makes those switches ,Square D? Iv'e been looking for one to buy.
And you know that the horn switches on the 70's and GEVO's are nice how? You had a what? Oh wait a tour? Try working on them they are a pain in the ass, every time you go to reach for something in the direction of the horn, or even turn around in your seat, you keep hitting the lever and making the horn blow.
sd70accsxt700 wrote:every time you go to reach for something in the direction of the horn, or even turn around in your seat, you keep hitting the lever and making the horn blow.
Ah yes...I've put my knee into it or leaned into to it. Hey, why you blowing the horn? Oh wait, that's me...nevermind...
I like them alot better then the button activated ones (Like you said tops) on the desktop controls. By the way ,what company makes those switches ,Square D? Iv'e been looking for one to buy. 