Why did NS let this one go?
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Grew - I believe it had major issues, as this was the only AC44C6F made by them. They sold it, and was leased to KLWX (as shown here). Wonder what exactly happened to the locomotive.
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| Posted by gsere on February 22, 2022 | |
Are those solar panels on the DB & electrical cabinets? Were they installed by NS?
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Each speed mane had a different electrical system in it I can't remember which system was used in the red one but looks like there was nothing but trouble with it .
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AC44C6CF*, my apologies for the incorrection.
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I believe this one had the Spanish electrical system. Add that this wasn’t done in Knoxville. Maybe it will disappear like all their other demos.
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Sid - Why in the world would NS add a spanish system into that thing?!
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This was supposed to solve the problem of dash 9 trucks being too narrow for AC traction motors. All of the other AC44C6M rebuilds have new trucks. This unit was meant to alleviate that problem, but as it has been reported thoroughly in the railroad press, there was a litany of issues with the unit and NS invested almost two years in trouble shooting it, but was ultimately unsatisfied. As to the motor swap, Knoxville has the only other Cummins powered freight engine and possibly a third in the works, so it appears that they are working on kits to retrofit all types of platforms. The FDL from this motor is likely very valuable as well and may have been sold to GE or a railroad that has a fleet of GE's.
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As to the electrical system I am using notes from the definite NS roster, nSDash9.com. Notes are not there now because unit is off roster. I would suggest doingg a search on this site. The notes had the name of the manufacturer.
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8520 is currently on A432 with its hood back on. Last spotted in Centralia, IL.
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The 8520 not only had a third party AC transmission from CAF but also a third party fuel rail/injection system (cannot recall the manufacturer at this hour) being tested to achieve that long sought holy grail of a Tier 2 emissions compliant 7FDL16. As we see one FDL being swapped for another FDL my guess is the transplant is more of the 'stock' variety.
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As an aside, the SD70MAC recently rebuilt with the QSK95 is also sporting the CAF AC traction system.
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The engine parallel to the unit looks smaller. Is it an FDL or something else?
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Both prime movers are 7FDL16s.
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