F-40 231 received a new turbo charger in Portland.

The two locos are well used with all issues that high mileage locomotive have, but near operable... (batteries and such and we have a set of usable take out batteries... ) As a FRA "non insular tourist railroad" we need a very complete annual inspection... Likely several weeks of volunteer labor...

At 3,000 hp they are bigger than we need for our regular operations... not too big but bigger.

They are also appropriate for our mission... Railroads of Southern Nevada. 231 was a regular on the "Desert Wind"... 644 was of the class of locos used on the I-80 corridor across northern Nevada... Then as an ATSF loco was used on their mainline 60 miles from our museum in the Mojave desert...

I also note that Dynarail has been a wonderful partner...

The way I understand EMD 2-Stroke engines from what the railroad has tried to teach is yes, it would need a turbo if this one is inoperable. At the lower speeds, the turbo is driven by a clutch vs. the traditional turbos which are completely exhaust driven. This takes over the function of a Roots Blower found on non-turbocharged models that helps create the pressures needed for proper operation.

Correct. The two-stroke-cycle EMDs require forced air scavenging whether by Roots blower or a turbo-charger that is driven through a clutch at low power levels.

Chris F, dad to these two units, had a rebuilt turbo installed in 231 in July 2010 so lets put that issue aside. He reported other issues back in Jan. 2012 and I don't know if those have been corrected.

Remember when both of these locomotives were donated in Portland. Never heard of saw the F40PH move in all the years I visited there. If I remember right it was owned by a very young person who wanted to do some sort of Operation lifesaver type traveling show. This was in 2001.

The SDP40F was blue carded and operational when it was donated but it was some time ago. It had just came from Maersk after doing some promotions involving television commercials where it was pulling stack trains as a single unit. I filmed some video from around 2006 (date could be wrong) where it was leading the SP #4449 from Sherwood to Portland, Oregon. This is the only time I have seen it operational. I was very happy this locomotive was saved as the rest of the fleet was turned into scrap metal so quickly it was hard to believe. If it hadn't been used for the Maersk promotions there is little question it would have joined its brothers and sisters.

The SDF40-2 wasn't made operational when BNSF had her repainted when Maersk-Sealand wanted to celebrate the opening of its then new Los Angeles terminal in August 2002. She was pushed by a similarly painted NS SD40-2, which was operable.

Presumably, she was still dead when she attended the opening of the Joliet intermodal facility that Fall, and was similarly there just for looks.

I know the SDP40F was leased to the local Portland shortline for a period of time, as well as 231 doing helper duty on some of the Christmas trains with 4449 in the last bunch of years.

The SDP40F was operational when it was in Portland. Here is a video showing that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_cont ... JKTX35-8Pg

Yes, but it wasn't operational when doing the Maersk promotion.

231 did not serve in helper duty during the Christmas trains. It led as the cab car on the first ORHF move from Brooklyn Yard to the Oregon Pacific Railroad, where the steam locomotives had their inaugural return to Oaks Park in 2003.

A long overdue update to the DynaRail website just went live-- pics of this year's restoration work on F40 locomotive 231 located in Boulder City, NV. New windshields were purchased and installed; 250A aux. generator breaker replaced; carbody prepped and painted in Platinum Mist and black; and misc. repairs done to air lines and electrical wires. The next step in this repaint process is applying the red, white, and blue stripes, and for that, we need to raise $2000 to place the paint order, and get paint supplies, such as masking tape and paper/plastic (at least 1,600 linear feet total), strainers, etc. Donations are absolutely welcome!

Pics of this year's work: https://www.dynarail.org/galleries/2023repaint.html

Tax exemption and donation info: https://www.dynarail.org/contact.html

231 fired up and idling in Sept: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFacpb_Qy2o

Once the stripes and decals are complete, we'll shift toward sourcing and reconnecting traction motor cables, and fuel needed for further fire-ups and testing, which will bring it one step closer to having it operational. Exciting times ahead!

Fantastic work sir! Just sent a donation your way. Looking forward to seeing a freshly painted Phase III F40!

Thank you for your donation; we're up to $890 now!

Update: Fri Dec 8: $1,715!