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Number 6522
This is not a famous locomotive, HCLX number 6522. When you hear 4449, you think of SP’s remaining GS-4 steam locomotive, a 4-8-4 usually resplendent in Daylight colors. 5344 brings to mind New York Central’s 4-6-4 Hudson, the Most Famous of the Most Famous. But HCLX 6522 is not famous. It began life as EMD builder’s number 33766 in April 1968 and went to work as Rio Grande’s 5334, an SD45 with a V-20 engine and 3600 horsepower.

While it was retired from service by DRGW on September 10, 1996, it was still around when UP took over and was sold to Helm Financial in March 1997. It went to Boise Locomotive Company and had its V-20 replaced with a more fuel-efficient V-16, was given Dash-3 electronics, and entered service again as Helm Leasing (HCLX) SD40M-3 number 6522 in November 1997.
There he sits, clean and shiny, ready for another day of work. HCLX 6522 looks like an SD45 but is really an SD40M-3.
6522 apparently got around, spending at least some time at work on Conrail. In the fall of 2002, it turned up on Central Oregon & Pacific RR (CORP) as one of four SD40s leased to run the southern end of what used to be Southern Pacific’s notorious Siskiyou Line. CORP worked hard to repair this portion of track so that it could once again use six-axle power on grades reaching 3.67% and curves as tight as 10 degrees.
I recently spent nine hours riding in the cab of 6522 as it worked job 504 north from Medford to Glendale in Oregon and then ran job 505 south back to Medford. Mixed in with loads of veneer bound for a plywood plant and fresh-smelling Douglas-fir dimensional lumber headed south to become new homes were tanks of LP gas and covered hoppers passing through. We had HCLX 6061 and CORP 3807, a GP38 which is really a derated GP40. Number 6061, an SD40-3, started life as Pennsy SD40 number 6065, kept that number under Penn Central, and became Conrail 6381. Number 3807 (EMD builder number 36174) started off as Western Railway of Alabama GP40 number 705 in 1970, became Seaboard 6796, then CSX of the same number before heading to VMV to have its turbocharger removed and Q-tronics installed, making it a GP38-3.

On one hand, it would be tempting just to think of them as numbers, industrial electric power plants which pull freight around. But each one has its own history and character, and all three are survivors. Other members of their respective tribes are falling to the scrapper’s torch every day. It was somehow fitting for this old retiree to spend time with these other old retirees, all of us with new careers and work to do.

Inside 6522, I found a Conrail notice regarding the idling of diesels. Another sign was particularly ironic, stating that the maximum speed for this locomotive was 70 miles per hour, when the top speed on CORP south of Roseburg is 25. I think the old guy wasn’t working as hard that day as he undoubtedly did for the Rio Grande. It’s good for retired entities to work, but not too hard.
A shot out the back shows the flared hood followed by 6061 and then our train. At this moment, neither one of us was working particularly hard.
We have a lot in common, 6522 and I. Neither one of us is exactly huggable, but on a fine fall day, I think we came to respect each other, mostly because we didn’t push each other’s buttons. We’ve both endured a lot of repairs and upgrades along the way. I got used to the triple clack of the wheels beneath the cab window as they crossed the unwelded rail joints. My young friend, Mike Baker, rode along with his video camera, making instant memories. He remarked that the ride wasn’t as rough as he thought it might be. I guess that’s my job as your editor — to move the freight and give you as smooth a ride as possible.
Merry Christmas and I’ll see you next year!

John Sipple, Editor
To respond to this month's Editorial, send comments to: Editorial@modelrailroadnews.com