Article #104: NS 135 w/ UP SD70M's 4792 & 4744 + AC44CWCTE 5876 + SD60M 6748 Downtown Hickory, NC (October 10, 2013)

 

In this new article, we are taking a look at NS 135 westbound through Downtown Hickory, NC in October of 2013.

On this day, the train had a four engine lashup consisting of Union Pacific locomotives 4792 (SD70M), 4744 (SD70M) and 5876 (AC44CWCTE) along with NS 6748 (SD60M). Every now and then, this train along with the other manifest freights that ran between Salisbury and Asheville would have UP locomotives.

The SD70M's on UP have 4,300 horsepower and feature the wide cab (comfort cab). They first ran in 1999 on Union Pacific. The AC44CWCTE's are variants of the AC44CW. The difference between the two include things like being DPU's on trains and software that is better for wheel slip prevention.

The SD60M's on NS were built in the late 1980's and early 1990's where they were on Conrail initially. The letter M in the name stands for Modified which refers to the wide cab which was safety focused. These locomotives were retired in 2019.

A side view of AC44CWCTE 5876.

Here is a side view of 6748.

Here is the back of 6748.