I love seeing old GTs. Having lived in Michigan for over 30 years, I miss seeing them. I also miss the old double horns that they had.
In case anyone is wondering why there are still GT units nearly 50 years after the CN/GT merger. It's mostly due to US laws, so it's a Holding company. I believe that it's due to taxes, tariffs, utilities, salaries and wages for employees, and such. This means that CN, based in Montreal, can pay US employees, pay taxes, tariffs, fuel costs and such without having to worry about exchange rates.
|
A bit more. It costs a lot of money to repaint any locomotive. Even if you blast away the old paint it takes time. It also cuts down on the MPGs that the units get since the paint, a heavy duty paint, ads a lot of weight to them. Therefore they only repaint them when the paint is faded to the point that the unit can rust. They also do it if it's in for a full rehab and parts are replaced.
|
|