[GL][T-245] CP's Super Power: Switching with the AWESOME EMD SD70ACU!! | Trains 21

[@douglasbohnstengel9902]

Got to correct you right off of the bat. The inverters were Siemens but were replaced by Mitsubishi inverters. I know because I’m a retired technician from UP who worked on all of the SD90 iteration of locomotives for UP with EMD tech help. Siemens were a pain to work with because they kept much of their info proprietary & even the programs we used to interface with their electronics was in German.

[@GreenRC24]

You are correct.

[@Slim_Slid]

On several aspects those were the worst units that EMD actually built. Many of which were scrapped because of cracked frames and why Union Pacific sold them dirt cheap to Norfolk Southern only to inevitably have the same problems again as SD70ACU rebuilds. The same electronics were also used on the SD70ACE's and equally junk as well.

[@douglasbohnstengel9902]

@@Slim_Slid The cracked frames on the 90s was actually causes by UP themselves. The fuel tanks were designed to float on the frames because of the length of the loco. UP decided to hard tighten them to the frame causing the underframe to flex in a vulnerable place causing this crack. SD70Aces were actually one of the more reliable locomotives UP had. The SD70 was very reliable and have been put routinely back into service. Tell me where the Dash8/9s are as far as DC units? GE loco engines routinely caught on fire from leaking fuel lines. It was a rare occurrence for me to change out an inverter on an Ace while it was a daily item for GE ac locos. The advantage for the GE’s was that you could cut out single inverter stacks where the Aces required you to cut out an entire truck.

[@Slim_Slid]

@@douglasbohnstengel9902 There is plenty of C44-9W's returning to Union Pacific as C44ACM rebuilds. Practically it's the same process they did with the AC6000CW rebuilds. On the other hand,the SD70M's are being scrapped or put into storage with hardly anything being done to them. Those units are still out there,but it becomes faint with each day. The early production SD70ACE's were junk,this was before CAT/PRLX took over EMD,this was when things really took a bad turn just years before the SD70AH-T4's unforunately were produced. Hence the notorious "Thundercab" nickname,later on was when the production line had better built cabs and remained decent for awhile. The C40-8W's and C41-8's disappeared around the same time as most of the SD60's and SD60M's. Those units aren't very rebuild compliant compared to the C44-9W's or AC4400CW's. Years ago it was different,but modern GE units are actually becoming more reliable,easier to diagnose,and are less expensive to rebuild than most EMD units. It's not just the whole ordeal about EPA regulations. Wabtec did major changes to the market and production that GE refused to do. GE was never easy nor friendly on customers like EMD was. GE units actually outdo EMD units on horsepower and traction,everything else is debatable or complicated. For the longest time EMD retained reliability with the 645 & 710 series compared to GE's 7FDL's but that has changed over the years. As for the actual frame information on the SD9043MAC's,I never really knew about that so I stand corrected.

[@douglasbohnstengel9902]

@@Slim_Slid Yes that’s correct too but I was referring to useage as DC locos. The ACM rebuilds being done by Wabtech will still invariably suffer from the same engine/inverter problems I suspect. I’m retired now and do occasionally talk to some UP & former GE (now Wabtech) tech & engineering guys but that’s becoming more rare. With the cutbacks in Mechanical there & the bad feelings they left with their laid off work force there aren’t many seasoned guys that would take a call back. It’s a specialized field & takes time to acquaint yourself with all of the different locos. I was an electrical tech & they’ve got rid of most of those jobs except for maybe North Platte. BTW the real clunker was the SD90Mac Phase 2. The H engine was a disaster because GM was trying to sell EMD at the time so provided no funding for engineering development for that engine. The idea was that as that 6000HP became refined in the 50 locos they made that they would be able to drop them into some of the existing Phase 1 90s. Excessive vibration caused the oil pans to crack over time. I’ve seen these locos repaired one day - put out on a train - & be dead offline the next.

[@SocialistDistancing]

I like canadian Pacific's old paint scheme. I'm happy that they've gone a bit retro. The first train that I ever set foot on was a CPR S2 switcher in about 1968. It was in the old scheme. I lived in a warehouse district a block away from the CPR yard. Tracks served numerous businesses across the street. Westons bakery, swift meats and Scott national. As well as Marshall wells. Good memories.

[@lackawannavalleyrailfan]

Awesome video!!!! on 5/8/21 K81 had three engines one being an SD70ACU (leading) so I'm glad I saw it yes I've been aware of the SD70ACU lack-age my friend caught the funeral train in Altoona

[@TheMax0005]

The 710 has a distinct "Ying Ying Ying" sound

[@iBackshift]

Its the planetary gear for the turbo.

[@ctf6420]

First the SD70M-2s and now the ACU's, looks like NS is becoming a GE-heavy railroad like CP. Awesome video AC!

[@Trains21]

They are!

[@dhritisamanta4382]

@@Trains21 for which reason NS is throwing away these EMD locomotives? I think that after throwing the ACU's, the ACe's of NS's roster will deserve the same fate. What the hell is NS upto now?

[@yankeesforlife24]

@@dhritisamanta4382the aces are reliable locos they aren’t going anywhere. The acus were bad locomotives

[@IronhorseRailProductions]

Seeing all of that CP power in Taylor was a very interesting sight to see. T'was a good thing I got up to taylor every once and a while to see them. 7010 was great to see, that paint job was probably the best I had ever seen in person.

[@Rob-tr1st]

Another awesome video AC! I love the sound of EMD's also from earlier. Nothing like that EMD idle.

[@Trains21]

Thanks Rob, I agree.

[@northjerseyrailfan9326]

0:24 note the placement of the handbrake, would get very annoying to walk around the whole engine, great video AC!

[@iusetano]

Excellent video AC. You do not disappoint.

[@Trains21]

I appreciate that!

[@CraftyFoxe]

Very nice view

[@Maikaexe]

real

[@kens.3729]

It’s Safe to say it would be Difficult if not Impossible to find someone with your Railroad Knowledge

[@Trains21]

I'm flattered by the compliment but there's lots of people that know way more than I do!

[@taylorbaggarleyunionpacifi4082]

Looking awesome trains21 I love seeing Canadian pacific my area it’s so cool

[@hi-railhardin]

Love those red CP engines!

[@martindoyle831]

Hey.. the CP ACU program.. is actually the ending of a contract dispute with the 9043s. When CP took deliver of the 9043s the contract was to have them rebuilt to pure 90MACS within 10 years. Cp stored the 9043s after the 10 years and im assuming this remidy (Acu) program is a comprimise to the original contract.

[@Slim_Slid]

The original SD90MAC's & SD90MACH's which were owned by Canadian Pacific and Union Pacific are singlehandedly the worst units that EMD ever created. Much of the failures were due to rushing developments and the fact that EMD was making the four stroke 265H's due to EPA compliance. The 265H's had little to no harmonic balancing and alot of internal vibration. The result of that from the prime movers was the cause for broken motor mounts,crankshafts,and other critical components. The other malfunctions on them were the German Siemens electronic systems and inverters,plus the units sucked at loading tractive effort for the traction motors. Even though later on the 265H's were improved and rebuilt EMD discontinued them for any usage in North America even though they did see prolonged service in Asia,China,and India .After Canadian Pacific and Union Pacific put their SD9043MAC's into storage Norfolk Southern purchased 110 units dirt cheap for the SD70ACU rebuild program while Canadian Pacific rebuilt 30 of their units. Part of that was them acquiring 6 SD80MAC's from PRLX to use as parts donors. Norfolk Southern sold 65 units to PRLX. CEFX has some SD9043MAC's as well that were even loaned to Norfolk Southern at a time.

[@galaxyrailfanning7860]

Awesome video AC! You can just hear the pure power in the rumble of the ACU!

[@aoilpe]

For miles around ! They should electrify the line !!!

[@darrelgibbs4898]

Amazing Video Work Love Those CP

[@peterjhillier7659]

What great Video, thanks AC, so glad your back, doesn’t that Red Livery really suit those Engines. See Locomotives like these is one the the Things that makes North American Railways so appealing. Thanks once again and stay safe.

[@Trains21]

Thanks Peter, you as well.

[@Trains21]

C H E C K O U T T H E S E R E L A T E D V I D E O S: ► [GL][T-137] DC-2-AC FAMILY: SD70ACC, AC44C6M, ECOs, Gevos and the Locomotive Rebuilding Craze www.youtube.com/watch?v=44ykU...​ ► [SS][T-127] EPIC POWER MOVES!! BNSF Heritage, Heavy Wye Action (Summer Special 2019) | Trains 21 www.youtube.com/watch?v=JA5GE...​ ================================================================ S U P P O R T T H I S C H A N N E L: ► PAYPAL: paypal.me/WorldCliqueEnt?loca...​ S U B S C R I B E T O T H I S C H A N N E L: kzbin.info/door/o5W...​ M O R E T R A I N S O N O U R W E B S I T E: ► TRAINS 21: trains21.org​ C O N T A C T / B U S I N E S S: ► EMAIL: [e-mail] I N T R O / O U T R O: ► MUSIC: Catas & Kasger - Blue Shift

[@Yourmoosehead]

Thank you for making this video!

[@Trains21]

My pleasure!

[@michaelstone3093]

Excellent narration and very informative

[@Trains21]

Glad you liked it!

[@bethanybarrow4380]

Quality! This was worth the wait! And by the way, we are STILL waiting for the T....

[@Trains21]

Thanks Bethany, you gotta raise a little hell, tell em' to get their butts in gear! haha. Thanks.

[@wesw9586]

So good to see ya back at it! Thanks. Really the great combo of info and great video.

[@Trains21]

Thanks Wes.

[@northeastpennsylvaniarailf7441]

Oh I miss these

[@RailfanNetwork]

Great video! Sure glad to see you back in action!

[@Trains21]

Thanks!

[@Rob-tr1st]

Seems like NS is really heavy on keeping the GE's on the roster and selling off mainly EMD.

[@Trains21]

Been that way for a while.

[@missmelissa4850]

I love ❤️ CP Engines

[@rael5469]

Very, very, impressive presentation.

[@Trains21]

Glad you liked it!

[@DarkTerritory71]

Of course! Another great video!

[@VisionsofEd]

Great video AC, enjoyed watching

[@Trains21]

Thanks for watching, Ed.

[@calvingrondahl1011]

CP 7000, red coat... impressive, thanks AC.

[@Trains21]

You're welcome, Calvin.

[@3006USMC]

Excellent work!

[@K-Effect]

7038 she is a Cadillac of the rails. I could care less for GE but I wish Union Pacific would request a modern turbine locomotive from them. Also earlier in the video is that just a massive amount of bugs flying around or static? Thank you for another great video

[@Trains21]

Thank you.. It was a massive amount of bugs!

[@NashRailfan]

CP 7033... is, is EX-CP SD9043MAC 9120

[@railfanmcneal2527]

Nice video Love your videos

[@Trains21]

Thanks McNeal.

[@Thomas1980]

Greatnt Vídeo my friend !!! 😉👍

[@Trains21]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@3171jmpoor]

Guess I'm too old school, I hated switching with wide cabs. The GE's were a little better cause they loaded up a bit slower. I remember switching out the yard with an AC4400 one day. That sucked. Great visibility going forward, backing up I was half blind. Not a good combo with a green conductor.

[@Trains21]

I love hearing from railroad workers, especially your piece on the EMD vs GE video.. Eyes out, the next one is the SD70ACC vs AC44C6M.. Probably out next week.

[@LocoPro]

@@Trains21 AC44C6Ms surprisingly have a lot of turbo charger damage considering how relatively new they are, and almost all the P5s on the SD70ACCs sound horrible.

[@Trains21]

@@LocoPro Agreed.. Fire damage seems to be prevalent on GE diesels.. Whether that's from shoddy workmanship or excessively hard use by the railroads is unknown to me.. But I've never seen it on an EMD.

[@3171jmpoor]

@@LocoPro , It was the bearing assemblies in the turbos that have gone bad, heard the batch was basically under engineered for the purpose, that's just from the grapevine though.

[@brianburns7211]

@@Trains21 GE uses high pressure fuel lines to the injectors. Sometimes they leak, and spray against something hot. EMD/Cleveland/Detroit Diesel/GM used the unit injector, which has no high pressure fuel lines.

[@michaelnotigan7796]

How the wormed has turned.....CP under Green and later, Harrison, was a stagnant, imploding from within mess railroad that was gutted under Harrison's PSR concept. Their SD90 MAC's were put into the deadline due to reliability issues. Meanwhile, the NS under Goode and Moorman were becoming a dynamic eastern powerhouse; and with ownership of their SD80's, their innovative build-it-inhouse philosophies helped create the DC2AC program for their older GE's and to the delight of us EMD fans, buying up deadlined UP SD90's and creating the SD70ACU program. But gone are leaders like Wick Moorman, who also spearheaded the great Heritage Locomotive roster; replaced by lawyer bean counters like the current CEO, Mr Squires. Gone too is the innovative thought processes that gave new life to proven engines like the SD70ACU; gone are the Conrail Cadillacs, the 80MAC's and gone forever is the idea of seeing a grouping of NS SD80 ACU's running up the eastern slope of Horseshoe Curve. And hard to believe, but CP is now run by probably the best railroad guy in the business, Creel, who helped spearhead their own Military Heritage program based off of his new SD70 ACU program built from his deadlined 90MAC's. Did he not pick off a few 80MAC's in NS's garage sale? Not to mention, he's now in the business of creating the first true transcontinental railroad going thru 3 countries. An amazing turnaround. Meanwhile, even CSX is handing the lunch to the NS bean counters, who continue to implode their railroad from within; maybe setting themselves up for some golden parachutes as they gut their railraod built by Goode, Moorman and McClellan, on their way to selling out to either UP or BNSF.....sad.

[@Trains21]

Very well spoken.

[@BeefShack]

Any reason why theres been a lot of CP ACus on the Sunbury line?

[@stephenroberts4895]

Probably payments of horsepower-hours back to NS, or NS needing some extra power.

[@ccjohncc1]

Trust me it's all new news to me!

[@CSX_Doolittle]

Going to miss them when there gone

[@Trains21]

Me too.

[@dave6695]

Slight correction. The Metra Milwaukee Rd. heritage scheme is orange and maroon not orange and chocolate. The Illinois Central scheme was chocolate and orange.

[@Trains21]

If that's accurate, thanks for pointing it out.

[@lnproductions3227]

Nice video AC!

[@Trains21]

Thanks L&N.

[@fostoriadistrictrailfan3907]

ive only filmed 1 NS SD70ACU, 7309

[@Trains21]

Get em' while you can, no telling how long (or short) NS will keep the rest.

[@DJinNJ08830]

👍 anther great one. Like the intro

[@Trains21]

Thanks DJ.

[@bwan13]

@12:43 you said that the Southern was the first railroad to fully dieselize. That is incorrect as the Carolina and Northwestern and Detroit and Mackinac Were the first to fully dieselize in 1948

[@Trains21]

Ok, thanks for pointing that out.

[@mfgc2610]

Miss the sound of EMD...

[@LocoPro]

Seeing what happened with Norfolk Southern’s SD70ACUs, I doubt any future railroads will embrace the locomotive model.

[@Trains21]

You never know, UP might.

[@brian5606]

Has caterpillars progressive rail did any good at helping the EMD Locomotive or is GE going to continue to run off with the trophy 🏆. . . There's close to 70 year old EMD switchers still active today and still doing what they were designed to do, so is it just been a Patient Lawyer and EPA thing that's brought EMD to its knees then not so much of GE being a better product

[@brianburns7211]

GE never had a better product. They’ve always been junk. It’s all about making cheap junk, then flipping in in 15-20 years. It’s all about finance.

[@PowerTrain611]

100% agree. EMD has always been superior as far as reliability and ease of maintenance is concerned. GE's always have some sort of ass-ache, turbo seals go bad, pre-EFI fuel injectors sticking, or some electrical issue or another. Not to mention the slow loading. The computer diagnostics are great, you can find out what's wrong with it no problem. But EMD has that too, and replacing anything in a GE is a real hassle. You can replace a power pack on a 2 stroke EMD in a few hours with basic hand tools and have it back on the road. Why do you think you still see 60 year old EMD's on class 1's but you can't say the same for GE's? The oldest GE you're likely to see still in service is MAYBE 20-25 years old.

[@Slim_Slid]

GE outdid EMD when it came to horsepower and traction,not to mention being more efficient because of stricter emissions regulations. EMD hasn't had it perfect since the GP40-2's & SD40-2's. GE also debuted microprocessors,wheel slippage prevention,AC traction,and stronger traction motors on top of stronger dynamic braking in comparison to EMD. After what happened with the GP50's & SD50's,the GP60's & SD60's did well but the GE -8's already proved to be better products. Everything else changed when the SD70 series came out but then the GE -9's and AC4400CW's showed. At that time EMD was still proving better reliability with the 645 & 710 series prime movers. The last two major mistakes from EMD were the SD90MAC's and earlier production of the SD70ACE's. The rest is history once CAT/PRLX took over and ruined the company. The modern GE units are actually becoming more reliable and are less costly for rebuilding than EMD units which is why there is alot of investment happening. Wabtec made massive changes after taking over GE's locomotive market,which is perhaps better in my opinion. GE themselves were never really customer friendly like EMD always was.

[@wasatchrangerailway6921]

Hey AC----- I'm a retired engineer, and I can say that you are absolutely right!!! The railroads are their own worst enemy! Are you aware that UP is looking at the technology that is being used in Australia??? CREWLESS TRAINS!!!!!! Not a man on them anywhere!!!!!!! BHP Iron Ore trains make the entire journey without a single man on them-----it's coming and it isn't good!!!!!! One day, engineers and conductors will be a thing of the past!!!!!!

[@maxrshelltrack7443]

So who the fuck's gonna fix anything that goes wrong like a broken couple mechanical issue and what not. that's not something a computer can control maybe to a point but still.

[@Trains21]

Sad but true.. It's been talked about for a while. I think it started over in the trucking industry where they're planning on driverless trucks.

[@IronHorsefan1869]

Im not crazy about it either, but driverless trucks are 1000 times worse.

[@rorirocks6663]

BHP Billiton still has manned crews on their trains Your thinking of Rio Tinto's AutoHaul iron ore trains

[@wasatchrangerailway6921]

@@rorirocks6663 You are correct! Thanks!!!

[@r.w.7232]

"Black varnish?" LOL

[@kens.3729]

I would Bet you say ALL this Railroad Lingo in your sleep. It’s obvious you Live, Eat & Breathe this.

[@Trains21]

Nah, just a hobby.

[@calvingrondahl1011]

And now CPKC has a new paint design and CP redcoats are no more. January 2025.

[@SantaFe19484]

Where have you been hiding?

[@Trains21]

Been working on other projects that don't involve railroading.

[@terrywallace4109]

This doesn't make sense!why would you rebuild them,and then after a few years you want to get rid of them?! It is easy to see that ns management don't know a reliable locomotive when they. See one!these units are very reliable, so, why would you get rid of them? They should keep them, because those ge units ain't gonna last forever!

[@Slim_Slid]

The SD70ACU's are just rebuilt SD9043MAC's. The SD9043MAC's much like the SD90MAC's and SD90MAC-H's always had frame issues. Many of the SD9043MAC's in later years were scrapped because of cracked frames. The electronics from Siemens were also problematic just like in the SD70ACE's and the cabinets can actually overheat. Norfolk Southern only did 110 units of the SD70ACU rebuild program because Union Pacific was selling their units dirt cheap. Canadian Pacific only did 30 rebuilds and then bought 39 SD9043MAC's from Union Pacific. The 65 units that were sold to PRLX are being scrapped even though some of them are being leased to Ferromex only because they're desperate for motive power at the moment. Modern GE units are actually more reliable and less costly to rebuild than any EMD units that have been built within the last three to four decades. EMD hasn't manufactured any perfect locomotives after the GP40-2's & SD40-2's.

[@hakeemsd70m]

​@@Slim_SlidUnion Pacific's 1,000+ unit order of the EMD SD70M says otherwise.

[@Slim_Slid]

@@hakeemsd70m Union Pacific has been scrapping and selling SD70M's since late 2023. There are a bunch of those units rusting away in Brownsville Texas. The SD70M's & SD70MAC's were the last good EMD units in modern times. Still, none of them have gotten to the standard of the outliving GP40-2's & SD40-2's.

[@kennyspry5189]

Funny How CP is now doing what NS did year's ago updating there EMD ENGINE'S and then Stopped NOW NS don't even care about what or how there Engine's Run or Look ANYMORE so SAD Hopefully CP doesn't End up doing the samething They seem to Really Care about How they Run and Look Good for them

[@Trains21]

PSR.

[@afleetcommand]

Seems like a trend, those EMD's from the 1960's on just keep getting refreshed and reused, how many sd40's are still out there? As a Manufacturer it would be a shame to loose any of them. From my perspective regulations put GE on top with a four stroke easier to make "compliant". Other wise those two strokes would still likely rule the rails. Almost an artificial modification of market conditions. I'm lucky our local railroad is ALL EMD , now with some cast off emd sd70m-2's

[@Trains21]

I think that you're on to something Commander.

[@matthewtidwell9813]

NS was only selling the Progress Rail rebuilds NOT the Juniata rebuilds as the progress rail units had bad issues that NS had to sell them off.

[@richintalent]

When a loco is going very slowly or idling I hear a lot of ticking and hissing sounds. What are those noises?

[@Rob-tr1st]

Air compressor

[@Rob-tr1st]

Also spitter valve

[@3171jmpoor]

dpending on which loco it is, I noticed some of the newer GE's and EMD's, you can actually hear the electrical contacts for the compressors and fans click when they switch on from the outside

[@brianburns7211]

There are valves which eliminate moisture from the compressed air.