CSX Overhauling Idled SD70ACs in Huntington

CSX had begun overhauling SD70AC that have been stored for several years in order to return them to revenue service.

The work is being done at the locomotive shop in Huntington, West Virginia, and involves 25 units.

Trains magazine reported that the work includes replacing the original Siemens control system with a new Mitsubishi MELCO control system.

CSX officials hope that the new components will enhance the performance of the SD70AC locomotives. They described the work as more an upgrade than a rebuild.

The first rebuilt unit could hit the road in early September.

Other work being done includes rebuilding the EMD 710 prime movers by giving them a refurbished engine block and all new components.

The locomotive cabs are receiving new floors and ceilings, LED lighting and new display screens. An electric refrigerator has been installed in the cabs.

A new CCB2 airbrake system is being installed and the trucks are also being rebuilt or replaced with new wheel sets being added.

A CSX supervisor told the magazine that some of the newer components on the locomotives will be easier to service and replace.

He said that tests have found that a rebuilt unit has a smoother ride and better transference of power from the engine to the wheel.

The big difference between the old and the new has been that the throttle response time in the rebuilt units is better, saying “you don’t get that jumpiness and hesitation.”

The rebuilding process is taking about six weeks to complete.

CSX expects work on 15 SD70ACs to be finished by the end of this year. The remaining 10 will be completed in 2020.

The rebuilt units will carry a special decal to distinguish them from those locomotives not included in the program.

CSX has 200 SD70ACs in the 4500 and 47700-4030 series that were built between 1997 and 2006.

The 25 units being overhauled in Huntington are in the 4500 series.

C&O F7 Going to CSX Paint Booth

A former Chesapeake & Ohio diesel is headed for the paint booth at a CSX shop in West Virginia, but it is not clear what livery it will have when it emerges. It is now painted in C&O colors.

F7 No. 8016 is being transported from the North Carolina Transportation Museum to the Huntington locomotive shops, Trains magazine reported.

The unit had been at the Spencer, North Carolina, museum since a streamliners festival in 2014.

Built by EMD as F3 No. 800 for the Clinchfield Railroad, the unit was converted to an F7 in the 1950s. It later served C&O and CSX.

The Trains report said it is not clear how extensive the painting will be or where the locomotive might operate after it leaves the shop.

CSX Shops Paints ex-PRR Passenger Car Tuscan Red

A former Pennsylvania Railroad passenger car is being restored to its original colors at the CSX shops in Huntington, West Virginia.

The Braddock Inn is being repainted into its original Pennsy Tuscan red after wearing Maryland Area Regional Commuter colors for several years.

The car is slated to operate in October on the New River Train, which is hosted by CSX for the Collis P. Huntington Railroad Historical Society.

The society owns the 69-year-old car, which it also plans to operate in charter service in Washington, New York, and the Midwest beginning with trips later this year.

It was built in February 1949 as a 21-roomette sleeper and regularly assigned to the Iron City Express between New York City, Washington and Pittsburgh.

A latter assignment found it on the Indianapolis Limited as a through sleeper before it was converted to a stainless steel coach.

New Jersey Transit operated the car for several years before selling it to MARC in 2004.

As part of the restoration process, the Baddock Inn received new floors, shelving, cabinets and other lounge car amenities.

C&O H Unit Reaches Buckingham Branch RR

An SD40 locomotive recently repainted into Chesapeake & Ohio markings and colors has arrived at the Buckingham Branch Railroad in Staunton, Virginia.

The blue and gold locomotive, carrying its original C&O roster number 7534, was repainted in the CSX locomotive shops in Huntington, West Virginia, for the C&O Historical Society.

The locomotive will be stored in Staunton for security reasons, society officials said, noting that it is on railroad property that is not accessible to the public.

Although No. 7534 might be used to pull Buckingham Branch trains, it is not currently operational because it is missing six traction motors.

The C&O group is seeking help in obtaining traction motors for the locomotive, which was CSX 4617 before being retired in 2011.

CSX Repaints Locomotive to C&O Livery

CSX shop workers in Huntington, West Virginia, have repainted another diesel into heritage colors.

The Huntington Locomotive Shops has adored former Chesapeake & Ohio SD40 No. 7534 into the livery it wore when it left the Electro-Motive diesel assembly plant.

The locomotive was repainted on behalf of the Chesapeake & Ohio Historical Society, which plans to display it at its museum in Clifton Forge, Virginia.

The unit was previously CSX No. 4617 and was the last locomotive in the CSX fleet to wear C&O colors.

The C&O group might use the locomotive to pull trains on the Buckingham Branch Railroad.

Rob Catlin, project manager at the C&O Historical Society, told Trains magazine that although the locomotive is serviceable, it is missing six traction motors.

Earlier this year, the Huntington shops repainted a locomotive in Chessie System colors. That unit is currently in Erie, Pennsylvania, waiting to be moved to the Lake Shore Railway Museum in North East, Pennsylvania.