For a complete overview of the last workings of the roundnoses in the world you can visit my country pages with a strong accent on the GM bulldog nose units. For each country you will find it under "Bulldog nose GM Locomotives by country". The calendar for upcoming special trains run by roundnoses you will find here.



Roundnoses news in 2022

Denmark

  • Due to a shortage of its MZ locomotives, DB Cargo Danmark uses CFL cargo MY 1146 now and then;
  • Railcare sold its MY 1134 to Contec.

    Germany and Kosovo

  • TRAINKOS lends its 2640 001 (ex-UNMIK Railways 005; ex-NSB Di3.619) to Bahnpark Augsburg for 25 years. The date of transport is still unknown.

    Sweden

  • At the start of 2022 CFL cargo Sverige took over the railway operations of Vida, amongst others with a TMX rented from STAB. Vida returned TMX 1024 (red cabs/whity body livery) to Svensk Tagkraft (STAB);
  • BLDX sold TMX 1017 and TMX 1019 to Svensk Tågkraft in March 2022;
  • Mid 2022 TÅGAB bought Inlandståg and one of its roundnoses.

    USA

  • Sierra Northern bought EMD F7A 100 of the Fillmore & Western Railway. The company currently operates freight trains on about 100 miles of track in Northern California, and 30 miles of track in the Santa Clara River Valley in Southern California. It also plans to use the locomotive for films aqnd special passenger trains.

    Roundnoses news in 2021

    Australia

  • In 2018 the private Streamliners Australia initiative bought CLP10 and they are restoring it at SSR in Cootamundra. In October 2022 it will re-emerge as CL17, the last built streamliner in the world, at the Streamliners 2022 event.

  • In August 2019 Southern Shorthaul Railroad bought CLF1, CLF3, CLP9 and CLP12 from Genesee & Wyoming Australia. Since early 2021 CLF1, CLF3 and CLP12 (along with GM10, GM22, GM27 and Rail First Asset Management S311) are used for grain trains in New South Wales and Victoria and both have a white livery. CLP9 is being reactivated in Seymour. The roundnoses (amongst others) are also used for one to two ad hoc roundtrips between Forbes (Mountain Industries siding) and Port Botany.

  • Since early 2020 Chumrail owns 42103 and 42105. 42103 is operational, is hired by SSR and has the SRA Candy stripe livery. 42105 is being overhauled and being repainted into the Northern Rivers Railroad yellow/orange/blue with white stripe livery.

  • RailPower owns CLF2 and CLF4 which are used for SCT's Dooen to Docklands container grain trains via Geelong. Besides that, they own CLP11 and CLP13 which are in store at Goulburn.

    Germany

    Altmark Rail's MY 1149 got a blue/silver Tuborg Christmas Beer design.

    Hungary

    Koplex Rail Di3.629 (now numbered 618 629) is now operational and has a green with white stripe livery.

    USA

  • Southern California short line and excursion railroad Fillmore & Western Railway ceased operations June 30, 2021. Source: TRAINS. Their equipment is currently for sale (except for the F-unit).

  • The Keokuk Junction Railway has sold FP9A 1752 has been to Dieselmotive Co., based in Turlock, California which will use it on the tourist passenger train operated by Ohio River Scenic Railway, based in Tell City, Indiana. FP9A 1750 and F9B 1761 were sold to Gary Southgate, a farmer of Battleford, Saskatchewan, who wants to create a Super Continental (Canadian National’s transcontinental train) from 1954 to the late 1970s. he also onws FP9 6304 (ex-VIA) and FP9 6311 (ex-VIA), which are currently stored at the Alberta Railway Museum. All locomotives will be painted back to the Canadian National scheme of 1954 and 1955.

  • The Aberdeen Carolina & Western Railway used F7A 271 and F7B 276, which were bought from Norfolk Southern, for the first time on 16 may 2021. They pulled a special passenger train in a magenta and gold paint scheme.

    Kosovo

    Trainkos 006 (2640-002, ex-NSB Di3.633) has been scrapped in February 2021.

    Roundnoses news in 2020

    Denmark

    new On 20 June 2020 ex-DSB MY 1104 was transported from Tønder to Gedser where it will reside in a shed. The locomotive belongs to Danish railfan Peter Malmqvist who hopes to run specials with it in the future. At the moment, this roundnose is in an inoperable condition and it is still in its classic brown livery from 2003.

    DB Cargo uses Midtjyske Jernbanes My 28 to serve customer Koppers in Nyborg. This service is normally carried out by CFL Cargo Danmark, but since they do not have a re-established safety certification at that time (and on the 4th of June 2020 still not), DB Cargo has been responsible for the runs.

    Germany

    Michael Frick's MY 1131 got a new livery.

    Hungary

    The positions of the M61.002 and M61.010 can be traced on this website.

    Kosovo

    Trainkos 005 (now numbered 2640-001, ex-NSB 3619) is out of order with an engine defect and was given on loan by the foreign minister to Bahnpark Augsnurg in Germany, but it is still in Kosovo.

    Sweden

    new Trafikverket has contracted Railcare T with the availability of a 24/7 standby rescue locomotive including train driver for three years (plus optional twice an one year extension) starting from 26 October 2020.

    Svensk Tågkraft now owns TMY 1111 (ex-DSB MY 1111). A couple of years ago STT overhauled the locomotive in an eco-friendly locomotive project. The locomotive got a new Cummins diesel motor and now has an orange and silver livery with black on top.

    Roundnoses news in 2019

    Australia

    In August 2019 Southern Shorthaul Railroad bought CFL1, CFL3, CLP9 and CLP12 (all stored) from Genesee & Wyoming Australia.

    In January 2019 Pacific National had its roundnoses A73, A77, A81 and A85 scrapped at Dynon, Melbourne.

    Denmark

    Strukton Rail bought the MY 1159 from DSB Museumstog in March 2019. It has now a black livery with yellow cabs and it is operational for work trains and sometimes special passenger trains.

    Hungary

    Komplex Rail Kft. bought 3.629 from SkJb and arrived in Hungary early January 2020. The loco will receive an overhaul for several months.

    USA and Canada

    There are only three railroads left who operate roundnoses (cab units) in regular freight service in North America:
  • The Durbin & Greenbrier Valley Railroad’s 132-mile West Virginia Central in the United States. The shortline railroad regularly operates two EMD FP7As, a F7A, F7B, and a 1948-built BL2. The cab units are assigned to freight and passenger excursions trains and operate as often as three times a week pulling revenue freight between the railroad’s interchange at Tygart Junction and Elkins in West Virginia’s eastern mountains. Commodities include aggregates, salt, scrap metal, and other dry bulk commodities. In addition to cab units, the railroad has a growing fleet of EMD GP9s that is has acquired from terminal and quarry operations in the tri-state region.

  • Early 2005 the Escanaba & Lake Superior purchased FP7 71A from Wisconsin & Southern Railroad. In the end of 2019 the locomotive (now numbered 600 and still in the Wisconsin & Southern red-and-silver livery) was made operational again and the Escanaba & Lake Superior returned it into revenue service.

  • The Ontario Southland Railway serves freight customers on its more than 75-mile network in southern Ontario in Canada. With six different operations, the freight railroad continues to regularly use three EMD FP9As and it has no intentions of sidelining the locomotives.
    Source: TRAINS.

    USA

    A Lot of roundnoses are up for sale:
  • Former Milwaukee Road EMD F7A No. 96C (in Monon Railroad livery) and Milwaukee Road EMD F7B 68B have been put up for auction by the city of Noblesville, Indiana, their current owner. They were part of the collection formerly held by the Indiana Transpiration Museum, which was evicted from its former home in Noblesville last summer.
  • Florida’s Gold Coast Railroad Museum, which slims down its collection, has put two EMD cab units for sale: an E8 painted as Florida East Coast No. 1594 and an FP10 painted as Seaboard Air Line No. 4033.
  • Iowa Pacific Holdings has put up for sale: F9PH 1101 and 1102 from the former Santa Cruz & Monterey Bay operation in California, E8A 807 and 808 from the Saratoga & North Creek operation; BL2 Nos. 52 and 56 from the Saratoga & North Creek operation.
    Source: TRAINS.

    The Keokuk Junction Railway's new owner Brookhaven Capital Partners decided to stop the use of F-units. On 7 August 2019 the last train with F-units (FP9A 1751 and F7B 1761) ran between Peoria and Good Hope. All other three F-units were already sidelined by then.

    Also Gettysburg & Northern halted its F-unit operations (with No. 402).

    Early 2019 'The Friends of the 261' acquired former Milwaukee Road E9A 101 wearing Wisconsin & Southern colors. It is now operational again and will be painted a variation of Milwaukee Road’s orange and maroon passenger train color.

    In the end of 2019 Norfolk Southern sold its 4 F9 locos. F9A 270 and F7B 275 were sold to Pennsylvania's Reading Blue Mountain & Northern Railroad for excursion trains. The railroad operates special trains over much of its 350-mile system throughout the year, using freight locomotives and its large collection of passenger cars. F9A 271 and F7B 276 were sold to North Carolina’s Aberdeen Carolina & Western, a 150-mile short line that runs on original Norfolk Southern Railway trackage between Charlotte and Aberdeen, N.C. The latter two will pull the Economic Development/Corporate Train as from July 2020 in a magenta and gold paint scheme.

    The Texas State Railroad made FP9 125 (ex-CN 6521) operational and gave it a silver/red/white Katy paint scheme. It also owns FP9 126 (ex-CN 6533).

    Roundnoses news in 2018

    Australia

    In August 2018 Aurizon 42103 was painted in the classic Candy livery scheme (red/yellow/orange/white from top to bottom).

    In January 2018 Pickles Auctions Pty Ltd put up CFCL Australia's bulldogs S300 and S311 for auction. You could have responded until 1 March 2018.

    Denmark

    The last roundnose built for Denmark (MY 1159, owned by the Danish railway museum) was sold to someone in Denmark.

    Germany

    In Spring 2018 Cargo Logistik Rail-Service bought MY 1142 from Braunschweiger Bahn Service.

    In 2018 NEG bought MY 1148 (NoHAB 2599, 1964, ex-DSB MY 1148) from Scandic Rail Partners ApS (SRP). This former EuroRail Laising MY 1148 locomotive carried a NVAG red livery with white NVAG stripes, but was painted in classical brown DSB livery in June 2009. The locomotive is currently used by Captrain in Denmark.

    Sweden

    In January 2018 Tågab promised to hand over Tågab TMY 101 (ex-DSB MY 1121) to Sveriges Järnvägsmuseum when it will take her out of service. For now, it is still in use for Tågab freight trains.

    USA

    Six Connecticut Department of Transportation Electro-Motive FL9 locomotives, stored out of service since 2009 and still in their original red, white, and black New Haven “McGinnis” color scheme, have found new homes from New England to Texas. The new owners include the Boston Surface Railroad Co. of Woonsocket, R.I. (2027); Massachusetts Coastal Railroad, headquartered in East Wareham, Mass. (2011 and 2026); Webb Rail LLC, in partnership with the Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum of Lenox, Mass. (2024); and the Grapevine Vintage Railroad of Grapevine, Texas (2014 and 2016). All plan to restore their new acquisitions to running condition. Source: TRAINS.

    The Monticello Railway Museum operates with amongst other locomotive types Wabash F7-A 1189 and Canadian National (ex-VIA) Alco FPA-4 6789 and booster FPB-4 6862 between the Nelson Crossing Depot at the museum north of Monticello and the Wabash Depot in downtown Monticello. Locked inside a building is PRR 5764 E8A, which will emerge as Illinois Central painted (chocolate brown and orange) 4044 in November 2018. Source: TRAINS.

    Indiana Transportation Museum in Noblesville repainted former Milwaukee Road F7 83A in a scheme derived from the Electro-Motive Division blue-and-white demonstrator scheme worn by F7s in 1949 while on the Nickel Plate Railroad. The museum will probably move to another location in Logansport. Nickel Plate Heritage Railroad will operate excursion trains with the locomotive. Source: TRAINS.

    In February 2018 Tom Myles owned FP7 1306 (ex-CP) left the work shop as pennsylvania Railroad 9880 and will be used on the Stourbridge Line tourist line operated by the Delaware, Lackawaxen & Stourbridge Railroad. Another FP7 and a B-unit are slated to be overhauled and repainted. Source: TRAINS.

    Roundnoses news in 2017

    Australia

    Qube uses B76 and S313 for its 9187 Melbourne - Birchip (Mildura Line) grain trains.

    Continental Rail Leasing B75 and Seymour Rail Heritage Centre S303 are used by Qube to power the Tocumwal freight trains (train number 9375 is used for the trains toward Tocumwal).

    V/Line A66 is the only bulldog nose still hauling regular passenger trains in Australia (and is actually the last one to haul regular public passenger trains in the world). On weekdays it hauls the 16:04 Melbourne - Bacchus Marsh passenger train and the 07:39 return working from Bacchus Marsh.

    Of GWA's bulldog nose fleet, only CLF5, CLP14, CLP16, CLP17, GM37 and GM43 are in operating condition and hauling freight trains.

    Canada

    CP 1401 (ex-VIA 6541) has been overhauled and received a new engine (16-645E). It is used for CP's business trains.

    Denmark

    Lokaltog M36 has been painted all over yellow in November 2017.

    Since 6 January 2017 Altmark Rail V170 1155 (ex-DSB MY 1155) was used for CFL Cargo's cement train CG 6103 (Taulov-Padborg) in Denmark. The locomotive returned to Germany mid August 2017.

    Germany

    The major overhaul of Altmark Rail V170 1155 (ex-DSB MY 1155) was finished on 18 December 2016. It still carries the same red/brown with yellow stripes livery it got since August 2011. MY 1155 returned to Denmark on 15 May 2017 to work CFL Cargo's cement train CG 6103 (Taulov-Padborg) in Denmark again.

    Cargo Logistic Rail Service MY 1138 recently got an overhaul (REV date 26 June 2017) and Altmark Rail MY 1143 is currently undergoing a major overhaul. Erfurter Bahnservice MY 1131 will get a major overhaul as well and Braunschweiger Bahn Service MY 1142 is awaiting a decision for a major overhaul.

    Hungary

    Kárpát Vasút MY 1156 (459 022) got a pink Sziget 25 livery.

    Kosovo

    In the end of October 2017 Kosovo Railways reinstated the passenger train Pristina - Peja, which was run every third day by Di3 2640.003 (= ex-007):

    Tuesday - Thursday with 2 ex-DB coaches, Friday - Monday with 3 ex-DB coaches:
    Train IC760 Pec/Peja 05:32 - Kosovo Polje 07:21 - Pristina 07:32
    Train TL4201 Pristina 07:50 - Kosovo Polje 08:01 - Pec/Peja 09:57
    Train TL4200 Pec/Peja 12:10 - Kosovo Polje 13:59 - Pristina 14:10
    Train 4401 Pristina 14:25 - Kosovo Polje 14:35
    Train 4402 Kosovo Polje 16:00 - Pristina 16:10
    Train IC761 Pristina 16:20 - Kosovo Polje 16:31 - Pec/Peja 18:16.

    However, in the end of 2017 2640.003 was put aside and will probably not be reactivated any more.

    Sweden

    Railcare T's TMY 1122 (already in 2016) and TMY 1134 (recently) got a new grey/white/red horizontal stripe RailCare T livery. TMY 1134 is in use with CapTrain Demark.

    In November 2017 Strukton Rail sold its TMY 9505 (ex-Tagab TMY 102, ex-DSB MY 1128) to Inlandsbanan AB.

    USA

    The Orlando & Northwestern Railway runs the Royal Palm Railway Experience tourist train with amongst others Chesapeake & Ohio F3Au 8016, originally Clinchfield 800 and later CSX Transportation 116, built in February 1949. It has been painted in Clinchfield yellow and gray in the end of 2017. The locomotive was acquired from the C&O Historical Society late 2017 and painted in its original Clinchfield colours by CSX for its 2017 Santa Train.

    Reading & Northern stated in June 2017 that they will make two ex-Southern Railroad of New Jersey F7 units 250 and 251 operable. One wears New York, Ontario & Western gray-and-yellow, and the other carries a red, white, and black scheme. The two will be repainted in a Rock Island-type scheme, with the same colors – red, black, and white, which coincidentally are those that are used in R&N’s “Road of Anthracite” logo. It is envisaged to use the covered wagons to pull the railroad’s business trains.

    Roundnoses news in 2016

    Australia

    CFCLA S300 and S311 are in storage at Goulburn workshops since September 2016.

    In December 2016 Continental Rail Leasing B75 was outshopped in CRL yellow/red/black livery and is in use with Southern Shorthaul Railroad.

    Since November 2016, GWA GM37 and GM43 are used to haul new rails trains from Port Augusta to work sites between Adelaide and Tarcoola 4-5 times per month for a period of two years. Other GM Class locomotives have been put into storage. The CLF Class and CLP Class locomotives still run freight trains.

    All A Class and S Class locomotives of Pacific National have been put into storage at South Dynon.

    Twice a week GWA's CLF/CLP units (amongst others like the FQ Class) work an empty ore train on from Adelaide to Wirrada siding (80 km west of the Peculiar Knob Mine of Arrium) on the Adelaide - Darwin line to fetch iron ore from Wirrada to Whyalla Port. Subsequently, the empty train returns to Adelaide.

    SSR GM27 has been painted in the black/yellow stripe SSR livery (just like the S317 has).

    SSR B61 is now in a special silver Streamliners 2016 livery.

    Aurizon CLF7 has been scrapped.

    Belgium

    Unfortunately, TucRail (ex-NMBS) 5202, 5302, 5303, 5305, 5307, 5309, 5313, 5316 and 5401 were scrapped in March 2016.

    Denmark

  • Midtjyske Jernbaner MY 28 was painted in orange/red/white livery, just like MX 26 mid 2016. Both were in use for DB Cargo trains from Taulov to Aarhus and from Kolding to Fredricia (Vamdrup freight trains), just as Contec Rail MY 1158 was.

  • The keeper of the MY 1148 is NEG and the locomotive is currently used by CapTrain in Denmark.

  • Early 2016, CFL Cargo Danmark stopped running the sliding door wagon trains between Padborg and Herning. This traffic from and to Germany now starts in Padborg.

  • In February 2016 CapTrain started a new six days a week intermodal freight train between Geleen DSM (NL) and Høje-Taastrup (DK). It leaves Padborg (DK) at 05:50 hours and arrives at Høje-Taastrup at 10:30 hours on Tuesdays through Saturdays as train 41550. The return train 41551 leaves Høje-Taastrup at 18:30 hours on Mondays through Fridays and arrives at Padborg (DK) at 22:30 hours. As well as CapTrain roundnoses as MZ locomotives are used as traction for these trains. However, this train stopped running mid 2016.

  • Since DB Cargo Scandinavia took over the freight trains to Rønland mid December 2016, the roundnoses of Midtjyske Jernbaner don't have scheduled work any more. Sometimes they are hired to DB Cargo Scandinavia to haul the weekly container trains between Aalborg and Skagen.

    France

    In February 2016 the Somei owned 5215 (in CFL red/yellow livery and numbered CFB 1605) and 5217 (in NMBS light blue/yellow livery, numbered P 5217) were transfered to Nîmes in France to serve as shunting locomotives at an LGV construction base. They both still have their modern cabs in place.

    Hungary

    In February 2016, Di3.623 which was bought by the NoHAB Foundation in Hungary was moved from its previous owner Tagab in Sweden to Hungary. The locomotive got one cabine burned out after an accident in Fagelsjö on 5 April 2014.

    Sweden

    On 1 January 2016 Railcare and Three T merged into Railcare T, which is a rail infrastructure contractor and provision of locomotives, staff and freight cars. Workshops are in Langsele and Skelleftehamn. Railcare T owns 10 roundnoses.

    USA

  • The Thunder Mountain Line Railroad, a tourist excursion that operated on the Idaho Northern and Pacific Railroad in Idaho, announced that it would cease operations. Thunder Mountain Line owners will decide later this year if the closure is permenant. The Idaho Northern & Pacific will continue to operate freight on its 210 miles of former UP branches between Payette and Cascade in Idaho and La Grande and Elgin in northeastern Oregon.

  • The Stourbridge Line tourist line operated by the Delaware, Lackawaxen & Stourbridge Railroad acquired ex-Bessemer & Lake Erie F7A No. 725 in February 2016. The unit was last used by Coe Rail on a dinner train in Michigan and is stored in Lansing, Mich. It currently wears a paint scheme similar to the Erie Lackawanna, but railroad owner Tom Myles is asking for paint scheme suggestions via the railroad’s Facebook page. The railroad currently operates another rare EMD, ex-Bangor & Aroostock BL2 No. 54. Source: TRAINS.

    Roundnoses news in 2015

    Australia

  • SSR S317 has been painted in a reverse SSR livery. It is black with a yellow stripe now, instead of yellow with a black stripe for the other SSR livered locomotives.
  • The non-operational GM1, owned by the Rail Heritage Western Australia, will soon move from the Islington Workshops in Adelaide to the Railway Museum in Bassendean in West Australia. It is the intention of the museum to return the GM1 in operational condition.

    Canada

    In August 2015 Ontario Southland Railway revealed its latest paint scheme on former Canadian National FP9 6508. The short line acquired the locomotive in 2013 and restored it to operation for freight service on its former Canadian Pacific routes connecting Woodstock, Ingersoll, St. Thomas, and Tillsonburg. The roundnose was in storage in Toronto for nearly 10 years after the end of service on the Waterloo St Jacobs Railway in 2001. The railroad owns a further two roundnoses.

    Germany

    MY 1148 was repaired in Haldensleben and currently stands in Niebüll. It is only equipped with the Danish ATC train safety system.

    Hungary/Sweden

    In April 2015, Kárpát Vasút bought TMY 1156 (ex-DSB 1156) in DSB red/black livery from Tågab in Sweden. It was transported to Hungary in April 2015.

    Kosovo

    The 007 (2640 003) is the only operational roundnose in Kosovo at the moment (the 005 has an engine failure and the other two roundnoses are only to be used as spare part donors).

    USA

  • Tourist Operator Wisconsin Great Northern bought F7 1950 and F7 1951 from the Columbia Star Dinner Train in Missouri, which ceased its operations in 2014. These two locomotives carry the Wabash paint scheme. The company already owned two other F7s.

  • The Morristown & Erie Railway has announced that 2015 will be the final year for its Maine Eastern Railroad subsidiary’s freight and passenger excursion operations. There are no current plans for the continuation of passenger excursion service along the Rockland Branch in 2016 by the succeeding operator. The remainder of the Maine Eastern’s 2015 excursion season will continue to operate as scheduled, with Saturday and Sunday round-trips running throughout October. The final day for excursion service on the Rockland Branch will be Sunday, Oct. 31, 2015. Source: TRAINS. The roundnoses FL9 488 and FL9 489 will be transfered to New Jersey for passenger operations of the Morristown & Erie Railway.

  • The Keokuk Junction Railway runs once a week pipe trains from LaHarpe, Illinois, to a truck trans-loading area at the Keokuk Junction Railway Twin Rivers Yard in Keokuk. This tyraffic is thought to last until December 2015. In addition, Keokuk Junction Railway 1762, an F9B, which has been stored with mechanical issues since debuting in fresh paint on the company Santa Train in December of 2014, has returned to service making for an A-B-A set again, which has appeared on the pipe trains (source: TRAINS). This is the only three lashup (and for that matter the longest) of roundnoses in the world used in commercial service.

  • The Hub City Heritage museum in Oelwein, Iowa, has restored its ex-Chicago Great Western FP7 116A to full operational status and painted it in the “dip” scheme, which debuted in 1954, with the entire body solid maroon, the roof and running gear below the frame in black, and Chicago Great Western “Lucky Strike” logos on the nose and centered on the car body.

  • Larry's Truck Electric sold the two ex-CN/VIA FP9s, 6302 (ex-CN 6533) and 6308 (ex-CN 6521, ex-VIA 6521) to Iowa Pacific and the Texas State Railroad Authority. Both wear a variation of the old Central of Georgia Railroad colors. They are stored in the Ohio Commerce Center, an industrial park in Lordstown, Ohio. In between a passenger car is placed as customers meeting center of Larry's Truck Electric.

  • Iowa Pacific took over the lease of the Illinois Railway Museum owned E9A 103 (ex-UP957, ex-Amtrak 430, ex-Alaska Railroad 2401) from Wisconsin & Southern Railroad in August 2015. The locomotive is operational. Iowa pacific bought E9A 91 (former MARC 91 in Burlington Northern livery) and E9A 102 (Wisconsin & Southern livery) from Wisconsin & Southern parent Watco in August 2015.

    Roundnoses news in 2014

    Australia

    V/Line's scheduled bulldog passenger trains workings ceased on 27 April 2013. That makes Kosovo the only country in the world with scheduled passenger trains hauled by roundnoses (two are operational).

    El Zorro ceased its operations in the beginning of June 2013. Reportedly, AWB assigned its grain haulage contract to PN National. PN National now also operates the freight trains to Warrnambool and the mineral sands trains.

    Aurizon has stabled most of its bulldogs in Goulburn and they have put them up for sale: CLF3 + CLP12 + 42103 + 42105 + CLP13 + CLF1 + CLF2 + CLP11 and CLP10 (CLP11 and CLP13 are painted in QR National yellow/black/maroone livery). These bulldogs of Aurizon are not seen on the Sydney - Newcastle - Brisbane corridor anymore. CLF4, CLF7 and CLP9 are still in use in Aurizon freight trains.

    This is an update of the bulldog roundnose whereabouts in Australia per 31 December 2014:

    Long time Port Pirie resident GM28 (wearing the identity of GM22) has been sold to the Seymour group and moved there for restoration. Source: The Lubricated Flange, July 2012.

    The following roundnoses are active in New South Wales:
  • GM10, GM22, GM27 and S317 (all in SSR livery and SSR owned) are active with work trains and intermodal trains between Port Botany and Kelso Bathurst (a.o. train 1845 to Kelso);
  • SSR B61 (in SSR livery) and S302 (in El Zorro livery) work wheat trains for Westons Mill between Cootamundra and Lithgow since early 2014.

  • CFCLA S300 (in CFCLA livery) used to be employed by El Zorro, but is now available for other work;
  • 42103 (since 18 September 2008 in new QRN livery), 42105, 42107 and 42109 (all three in Interail livery; 42107 is QRN/SCT trip train loco between Yennora Industrial and Glenlee; 42109 is parked at Casino).
  • The CFCLA B65 (in a red with yellow livery with silver lines as advertisement for Auscision Models); currently on standard gauge bogies) is used for work trains.

    Below you will find a wonderful picture of B65 made by Stewart Anderson in Bendigo on 30 October 2007.

    B65 in Auscision Models livery at Bendigo on 30.10.2007 (picture made by Stewart Anderson)

  • At Goulburn Roundhouse (NSW) Rail Power GM19 (in AN green livery) is still awaiting a possible overhaul. Privately owned 42101 (in NSWGR livery, owned by James Gray) received a major overhaul in the end of 2014 and is operational again.

    In the states of Victoria, South Australia, West Australia and/or Northern Territory the following bulldog noses are to be found:
  • B76 (CFCLA silver/blue/yellow livery; CFCLA owned) and B80 (CFCLA silver/blue/yellow livery; CFCLA owned) are working work trains in and around Melbourne for Metro and have received special Metro decals.
    Together with Steamrail S313 (in VR blue/gold livery) they are also currently used by QUBE to transport rice for Sunrice at Deniliquin. Empty container train 9071 runs daily from North Melbourne yard (departure around 05:25 hours) via Bendigo and Echuca (broad gauge passenger lines) to Deniliquin (arrival around 11:15 hours). The daily full container train 9072 with rice departs Deniliquin around 16:00 hours. CFCLA S311 is used by Qube on its Melbourne - Horsham container trains which have a 17:51 - 18:19 hours runthrough Gheringhap (depending on the day) on Monday-Thursday and at 20:30 hours (but normally runs on the times of the other days of the week) in the direction of Melbourne.
  • A60, A62, A66 and A70 (all but A66 in V/Line blue/red livery; A66 has been outshopped in V/Line red/yellow/grey with white stripe livery in December 2009) are standing by on reserve, since they do not haul passenger trains any more. However, A66 still makes a roundtrip from Melbourne to Bacchus Marsh once or twice a month (preferably the Friday) and is used for infrastructure trains.
  • A71, A73, A77, A78, A79, A81, A85 (in FA green livery) are used to haul broad gauge freight trains in Victoria:
    - A71 is sometimes used as power for the 9552/9553/9556/9558 Pacific National Long Island steel trains between Westernport and Long Island, which even run on Saturdays.
    - The 9305/9306 Tocumwal freight trains. The 9305 departs Melbourne Appleton Dock on Tuesday and Thursday at 18:50 hours and runs via Sunshine and Broadford (20:58 hours) to Tocumwal (arrival 01:00 hours the next day). The Sunday 9305 runs approximately half an hour later. Return working 9306 on Monday, Wednesday and Friday depart Tocumwal at 16:05 hours and runs via Broadford (19:53 hours) to Appleton Dock (arrival 21:45 hours). Sometimes, these trains run on other days of the week as well.
    - The 9461/9462 Maryvale paper trains (6 times per week with a 9462 departure at 17:55 hours (Monday-Friday)/17:38 hours (Sunday) and arrival of 9461 around 06:00 hours from and to Melbourne).
    - The 9141/9142 Maryborough grain container trains. The 9141 departs Melbourne West Tower Arrival Yard at 17:40 hours on Monday and Wednesday (via Bacchus Marsh 19:25 hours) and on Friday at 20:15 hours with return working 9142 departing Maryborough at 23:00 hours on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday and arrival at Melbourne Kensington at 06:00 hours). There is also a trip train on Monday and Thursday planned from Maryborough (d. 11:30/a. 17:45 hours) to Boort (a. 14:25/d. 15:00 hours).
    - The 9080/9280 daily freight train services from Melbourne Tottenham Yard (d. 22:20/a. between 01:40 and 04:30 hours) to Piangil (a. 08:20/d. between 18:15 and 19:05 hours).
    - The 9245/9246 Tuesday, Thursday and Friday cement trains from Somerton Cement Siding (9245 d. 02:00 hours) via North Geelong Yard (a. 03:45/d. 10:35 hours) to Waurn Pounds (a. 11:05 hours). Return working 9246 departs Waurn Ponds at 12:15 hours and arrives at North Geelong Yard at 12:45 hours
    - The 9101/9102 container trains between Appleton Dock and Merbein. The 9101 departs Appleton Dock on Mondays at 10:35 hours and runs via Gheringhap (12:50/13:43), Ballarat (14:50/55) and Maryborough (16:17/22) to Merbein (arrival at 23:49 hours). The Appleton departure on Wednesday and Friday is at 20:15 hours and runs via Bacchus Marsh (21:44) to Merbein (arrival the next day at 08:00 hours). Return working 9102 has different time schedules on Sunday (Merbein departure 17:25 hours; arrival Appleton Dock the next day at 05:05 hours), Tuesday (Merbein departure 16:05 hours; arrival Appleton Dock the next day at 03:45 hours) and Thursday (Merbein departure 17:25 hours; arrival Appleton Dock the next day at 06:25 hours). There is also a Tuesday and Thursday trip train service 9148/9149 working between Merbein (departure 12:30 hours, arrival at 14:20 hours) and Mildura Cement Siding (13:10/13:40 hours).
    - And sometimes the Monday-Friday operated 9340/9318 Apex quarry stone train (Westall Apex Siding departure of 9340 at 09:00 hours, Kilmore East Apex Quarry Siding arrival at 11:50 hours; return working 9318 departs at 13:50 hours and arrives at Brooklyn Hanson Siding at 15:25 hours. There is also a pair 9319/9430 (Monday-Thursday 9319 departure 19:50 from Brooklyn Hanson Siding; return 9430 Monday-Thursday departure at 22:20 hours from Kilmore East Apex Quarry Siding).
  • S301 (in FA green livery) and S306 (in PN blue/yellow livery) are stored at Dynon. S307 (in PN blue/yellow livery) is used by PN for banking duties in the Adelaide hills.
  • The Victorian Division of the ARHS owns the S308, which resides at Newport.
  • GM32 (green), GM37 (GWA livery), GM38 (green), GM40 (green), GM42 (GWA livery), GM43 (GWA livery), GM44 (green), GM45 (GWA livery), GM46 (green) and GM47 (GWA livery) are hauling grain trains in South Australia (Bowmans, Dimboola, Jamestown, Gladstone, Port Pirie, Tailem Bend, Lameroo, Snowtown) and between South Australia and Junee, Temora, Wolseley, Melbourne Appleton Dock and Geelong Grain Loop, along with CLF 5 (which as the last CLF/CLP locomotives got a GWA orange livery in mid November 2007), CLF6, CLP8, CLP14, CLP16 and CLP17. GM40 is used as temporary shunter at Whyalla (steel plant). GM34 is stored at Dry Creek. CLF5, GM44, GM45 and GM47 are frequently used to haul passenger and freight trains between Adelaide and Darwin. CLP14 is working out of Darwin on the Territory Iron Union Reef ore trains.
  • ARG GM30 was planned to be outshopped by EDI Rail Forrestfield (Perth) as a 2,235 kW Type AT26C-3 unit in the spring of 2008, but this plan has been cancelled and was scrapped in the end of 2013.
  • SRHC owned S310 undergoes an overhaul at SSR Bendigo.
  • GM36 (Seymour Rail Heritage Centre, CR maroon/silver livery), CFCLA S300 (in CFCLA livery), S302 (now in orange/grey El Zorro livery and on standard gauge bogies, but now owned by SSR), S303 (VR blue/yellow) and Rail Power S312 (black with white and yellow stripes) were used as standard gauge power for El Zorro grain trains between loading points in New South Wales and Victoria to various southern locations including Junee, Geelong, Tocumwal and Hopetoun. However, they have no work at the moment.
  • B64 (heavily stripped in V/Line orange and grey livery) was bought by the now defunct El Zorro from Steamrail Victoria in September 2008 and currently stands for assesment at Avteq workshop in North Sunshine (McIntyre).

    Belgium

    TSP sold its 5201 (not with round noses anymore) to the NOHAB-GM Foundation in Hungary. It was transported to Hungary in September 2016.

    Canada

    Canadian National has repainted E9A No. 102 in a variation of its classic green-and-black 1950s paint scheme with “Canadian National” spelled out on the sides and the classic Maple Leaf logo on the nose. The unit, which was repainted at CN’s Woodcrest Shop in Homewood, made its debut on a business train inspecting the Winnipeg–Chicago corridor April 16-18 2014. It is one of four operational former Chicago, Burlington & Quincy E units CN inherited when it acquired Illinois Central in 1999, Nos. 100-103. No. 103 is in the red, white, and black CN color scheme. Nos. 100-101 still wear their monochrome silver, black, and white scheme IC colors.
    E9/E9M 100 and E9A 101 were bought by Iowa Pacific Holding in 2014. Source: TRAINS.

    Sweden

    Inlandsbanan Di 3 623 got one cabine burned out after an accident in Fagelsjö on 5 April 2014. may be Di 3 621 will be repaired instead.

    USA

    F7A 787 and F7A 788 last used on the Minnesota Zephyr Dinner Train on 31 December 2008 were purchased by Iowa Pacific Holdings and were moved to the San Luis & Rio Grande Railroad facility in Alamosa, Colo.

    Cliffs-Erie Mining F9A 4210 and F9A 4214 were sold to the Vermillion Valley in Illinois in the end of 2014. They Will be overhauled and repainted in a NYC scheme.

    Roundnoses news in 2013

    Denmark

    Hector Rail doesn't serve Kolding any more and therefore the shunting with a roundnose is over there.

    Lokalbanen MX 16 was painted in a yellow livery early 2013.

    Since 1 January 2013 TX Logistik operates the Dyckerhoff Werk-Deuna cement trains from Germany to Taulov. Railcare provides the traction in Denmark instead of CFL Cargo before.

    CFL Cargo Danmark MY 1146 has been painted in the GM brown/yellow stripe livery in October 2013.

    Germany

    Strabag Rail MY 1147 was painted in a grey with white stripe livery of Strabag in March 2013.

    Altmark Rail MY 1149 gets its major overhaul in Haldensleben in March 2013.

    Cargo Logistic Rail MY 1151 was overhauled in haldensleben and was fully operational as from 1 march 2013.

    Hungary

    Since 5 November 2013 NOHAB-GM Foundation M61-010 (now numbered 92 55 0618 010-6, or 618 010 in short) runs for MTMG Logisztikal Zrt. oil trains from Nyergesújfalu to Gyõr. This is a feeder service for the Retrack project.

    Kosovo

    The 005 is used for the trains to Peja, the 007 runs the loco hauled trains to and from Hani i Elezit and the 008 is used for freight trains.

    Sweden

    Railcare Tåg AB TMY 1157 got the red/white/blue livery of ThreeT AB in the beginning of 2013.

    Railcare Tåg AB TMY 1105 got the white livery in the summer of 2013.

    Hovedstadens Lokalbaner MX 16 (ex-DSB MX 1045) got a yellow livery early 2013.

    3.629 (ex-Ofotbanen Drift) is now owned by Skandinaviska Jernbanor (Sweden).

    Inlandsbanan sold its four operational TMX locomotives to Svensk Tågkraft in November 2013.

    USA and Canada

    Former Canadian National FP9 No. 6304 that has operated on the Washington & Idaho Railway since 2008 is leaving the property. The leased unit was owned by Phillip Sheridan, but has been sold to Saskatchewan farmer Gary Southgate, who hopes to assemble a railroad museum in the Canadian province. Southgate already owns nine ex-CN passenger cars, and plans to paint them and the F-unit in CN’s 1954 green and black paint scheme. He also owns Canadian Pacific 4-8-4 No. 3101. The unit, built in 1954 as CN No. 6509 and later operated by VIA Rail Canada, is painted in a version of Southern Pacific’s “Black Widow” colors. The unit is presently stored in Marshall, but will move to Canada after some clerical issues are cleared up. The unit is fully operational, but will be placed on static display in Saskatchewan. Source: TRAINS.

    Roundnoses news in 2012

    Belgium

    5211, 5216, 5301 und 5306 have been scrapped in July 2012. The 5215 and 5217 (for spares) went to the TSP society mid 2012.

    Canada

    In the end of 2012, Orford Express dinner train, which is based in Sherbrooke, Quebec, expanded its roster with ex-New Haven FL9 2009 (now numbered 484) from Ohio's Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad.

    The Ontario Northland Railway (ONR) operates both freight and passenger ('Polar Bear Express') services on its 186 miles main line from Cochrane to Moosonee. Nowadays GP38-2s form the traction. The ONR 'Northlander' passenger train from Toronto to Cochrane, for which three roundnoses were used in the past, was discontinued in 2012. The Ontario Northland Railway owns three 1951 - 1953 GM built Class FP7A locomotives (out of Co'Co', 16-567B engine equiped) which were rebuilt with 2,075 hp Caterpillar 3516 engines and renumbered 2000 - 2002 (original numbers are 1502, 1509 resp. 1521). Since week 16, 2004 Ontario Northland Railway (ONR) has taken it's FP7A 2001 and 2002 out of service. The third FP7A, numbered 2000, was still in service in March 2012, but is probably not used anymore. The remaining other, original ONR FP7A locomotives, have been taken out of service as well and stand in North Bay (ONR 1501, 1508, 1518 and 1520). ONR also owns four rebuilt F7A and F7B/F9B cabless locomotives (numbered 202 - 205), three bought from the Milwaukee Road and one from GO Transit (an ex-Northern Pacific F7B).

    Ontario Southland Railway has recently acquired three EMD FP9s for freight service. The southern Ontario short line operates 73 miles of former Canadian Pacific track with an eclectic mix of Montreal Locomotive Works and EMD power. The first FP9 to arrive on Ontario Southland was former Waterloo & St. Jacobs Railway WSJR No. 6508. The unit is presently at the Ontario Southland shop in Salford undergoing repair and will be the first to be placed in service. The other two FP9s, Nos. 1400 and 1401 with RLK reporting marks and Railink lettering, are former RailAmerica locomotives assigned to the Goderich & Exeter Railway in southern Ontario. The two locomotives are currently stored in Goderich and will receive minor repairs to their draft gear which will enable them to be moved. Once repaired, the two will move to the Guelph Junction Railway shop in Campbellville for storage. The Guelph Junction Railway is operated by Ontario Southland under contract for the City of Guelph who owns the railway. All three FP9s are former Canadian National locomotives, transferred to VIA Rail Canada in 1978, who rebuilt and upgraded them to Dash 2 specs in 1984. Ontario Southland will be the only short line in Canada to have F units in freight service when No. 6508 is placed in service. Source: TRAINS.

    VIA Rail Canada donated its last F unit to the British Columbia Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society in the end of 2011. Now the group is repainting the operational unit to a generic cream and royal blue at a warehouse in New Westminster, B.C., where it is stored along with several vintage passenger cars, The Province newspaper reports. VIA 6300 was retained by the railroad as the shop switcher for its Vancouver Maintenance Center until it was donated to the NRHS group. Locomotive 6300 is an FP9 built for Canadian National in April 1957 as 6524. It was transferred to VIA in March 1978. In 1983 Canadian National remanufactured it at its Pointe St. Charles shop in Montreal and it was renumbered VIA 6300. The unit was the only locomotive rebuilt following a head-on collision between VIA’s Super Continental/Skeena and a Canadian National freight train on Feb. 8, 1986 near Hinton, Alberta, which killed 23 people. The smashed front end of 6300 was replaced using the nose and cab from Kansas City Southern F7A 4062.Source: TRAINS.

    Denmark

    In December 2010 CFL Cargo Danmark MX 1029 was painted in a GM brown/yellow stripe livery, like the MX 1023.

    Germany

    Braunschweiger Bahn Service (BSBS) MY 1142 (ex-DSB MY 1142; NoHAB 2383/1958) has been painted in a red/black roof livery (somewhat like the V200 locomotives) since June 2012.

    Kosovo

    Only roundnose Di3 007 is operational. 005 has broken bogie springs, 006 is still awaiting its overhauled turbocharger from Serbia (!) and 008 was damaged in a derailment in May 2012.

    Mexico

    I wasn't aware of it before, but the Museo Nacional de los Ferrocarriles Mexicanos in Puebla has two EMD roundnoses: ex-Sonora Baja California (SBC) F7 2203 in an orange livery and ex-National Railroad of Mexico FP9-A 7020 (one of 25 FP9-A units for the National Railroad of Mexico in 1956). The latter poses with an F7 booster unit from 1951. MNFM takes also good care of former Santa Fe/D&H Alco PA-1 DH-17 and DH-19. They regularly run DH-19 on a short stretch of museum trackage. Source: TRAINS.

    Norway

    Railcare Tåg AB had its license revoked in Norway on 3 July 2012. Since then, Tågab uses its MY locomotive to haul used paper trains from Alnabru (Oslo) via the Gjøvikbane, Roa, Jevnaker, Hønefoss to Hen.

    Sweden

    Di3.615 was scrapped in Östersund in June 2012.

    In January 2012 Danish company Contec Rail sold MX 1009, MX 1038 and MX 1041 to Swedish company Svensk Tågkraft. All three locomotives were previously bought by Contec Rail from Nordjyske Jernbaner in the second half of 2008.

    Since 17 May 2012 Tågab runs a paper train once a week between Kristinehamn via Kongsvingen (NO) to Ranheim (NO).

    USA

    In December 2012, Norfolk Southern bought two F7As and one F7B from NREC. The F7As are former C&NW F7A 407 (relettered as SOU 407) and former CN F7A 9177 (relettered as SOU 9177). The F7B is the former CP Rail F7B 1019 (relettered as SOU 1019).

    In August 2012 the Santa Cruz and Monterey Bay Railway Company (SCMB), a noncarrier owned by Iowa Pacific Holdings, LLC and Permian Basin Railways, has filed a verified notice of exemption at the STB to acquire by assignment from Sierra Northern Railway its lease and operating rights over a 31.0-mile rail line owned by Union Pacific Railroad Company (UP). The line, known as the Santa Cruz Branch, extends from milepost 0.433 at the east boundary of Salinas Road, near Watsonville Junction, Cal., to milepost 31.39 at the end of the line near Davenport, Cal., and includes an interconnection with Santa Cruz, Big Trees Pacific Railway Company at milepost 20.4 in Santa Cruz, Cal., and an additional 3.6 miles of siding and spur track. Santa Cruz & Monterey Bay RR has received F's 82 and 84 (ex-B&), ex-MARC) from Yakima, Washington.

    Two "DL&W" E's 807 and 808 that were stored at the NYS fairgrounds in Syracuse, NY, are now in Saratoga,NY for service on the Saratoga & North Creek RR.

    The New York, Susquehanna & Western (NYS&W) two E9As (one is numbered 2402) are now in Hyannis, Ma. for service for Iowa Pacific Holdings.

    A former Canadian National EMD F9B, No. 6622, last owned by the Carolina Southern Railroad, was sold to the San Louis & Rio Grande Railroad in Alamosa, Colorado, in August 2012.

    The owner of the defunct Minnesota Zephyr Dinner Train says he intends to scrap the two F7A locomotives that powered the train when it shut down in 2008. The two locomotives are landlocked in Stillwater, the train’s former operating base. The line they ran on is being salvaged for a state trail. Source: TRAINS.

    The Galveston Railroad Museum owns freshly overhauled former Southern Pacific F7A 6443 and Texas & New Orleans F7A 365 (two ex-SP/WAG/PAT/ConnDOT F7A's 6690 and 6691) which it acquired for $190,000 from the Railroad Museum of New England in November 2010. In spring 2012 they underwent a complete rebuild at Motive Power & Equipment Solutions in Greenville, South Carolina, and were painted into Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe’s red and silver passenger scheme for use at the museum before delivery in June 2012. The two locomotives have been numbered ATSF 315 and 316, which were two members of Santa Fe’s 300 class F7As to see regular service pulling the Texas Chief between Chicago and Galveston on trains 15 and 16. The two F7As are the showcase of the museum’s end 2012 grand reopening following extensive repairs at the museum from damage caused by Hurricane Ike in 2008. The two units replace the Texas Limited 100 and 200 (Southern Pacific #6379 and Southern Pacific #6309) since they were cut up after hurricane damage.

    Iowa Pacific Holding’s Arizona Eastern E8 No. 6070 is on its way to Wisconsin & Southern’s paint shop in Horicon, where it will be repainted in a version of Illinois Central’s chocolate and orange passenger colors. The ex-Chicago & North Western unit will also be renumbered 515, the number it wore in its final years of C&NW and Metraservice. The unit was built in June 1953 as C&NW 5029B and was renumbered 515 in May 1974. The E unit had been painted in a version of Southern Pacific’s “black widow” black and silver paint scheme, appropriate for the ex-SP Arizona Eastern lines it operated over. Last year Iowa Pacific sold Arizona Eastern to Genesee & Wyoming, Inc. and moved No. 6070 to its Saratoga & North Creek Railway in upstate New York. Earlier this year the locomotive was moved to the Chicago area and pulled trips out of the Windy City to Indianapolis and Sturtevant, Wis.
    Another Iowa Pacific ex-C&NW E8, No. 518 (ex-C&NW 5030A) has already been repainted in IC colors. Source: TRAINS, 22 March 2012.

    Iowa Pacific Holdings is continuing its program of acquiring E8 and E9s diesels and rebuilding them for future passenger and excursion work. This week the company sent former Burlington Northern E8 9906, now San Luis & Rio Grande 520, to Mid-America Car in Kansas City, Mo., for rebuilding. When completed the unit will be repainted in chocolate brown and orange Illinois Central passenger colors. EMD built No. 520 in 1953 for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy as E8A No. 9972. It became Burlington Northern No. 9972 in 1970. Used in Chicago commuter service, it was rebuilt into an E9AM by Morrison-Knudsen in 1978 and renumbered BN 9906. After BN’s E-unit fleet was retired in 1992, it was sold to Maryland Transit Administration’s MARC commuter service, becoming MARC 66. The unit then went to the Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, which sold it to Iowa Pacific Holdings. Another former CB&Q/BN/MARC E8A at the museum has been restored to its original Burlington Route number, 9939A, and repainted in CB&Q colors. Iowa Pacific has also purchased a former E9B from the Alaska Railroad. The unit was constructed in 1957 as Illinois Central 4108 and saw service into the Amtrak era. In 1981 it was sold to the Alaska Railroad, where it was converted to a head-end power unit and numbered P-30. Although it currently rides on four-wheel trucks, Iowa Pacific plans to convert it back to a powered B-unit and restore its six-wheel trucks. Source: TRAINS, 18 May 2012.

    Rock Island E6A 630 and E8A 652 are under evaluation at Mid America Car Co., in Kansas City, Missouri, which has performed mechanical work on Iowa Northern locomotives. Iowa Northern President Dan Sabin told Trains NewsWire in March 2012 the two units, acquired in 2010 from private ownership, could see cosmetic, operational, or total rehabilitation. The results of the evaluation should be available by early April 2012. During private ownership, the two units operated on the Midland Railway Historical Association’s trackage between Midland and Ottawa, Kan. No. 652 arrived at Midland in 1985 and No. 630 in 2000. Neither has run in several years.

    Iowa Pacific Holdings has acquired ex-Canadian National F7Au 9163, built in 1952, and former CN and VIA F9B 6622, built in 1957, from short line Carolina Southern, based in Conway, S.C. The equipment is being acquired for existing and planned passenger and tourist operations. All will require extensive rehabilitation before being put into service.

    Larry's Truck Electric bought the two ex-CN/VIA FP9s, 6302 and 6308 from the Georgia Southwestern Railroad in 2011. Both wear a variation of the old Central of Georgia Railroad colors. They are stored in the Ohio Commerce Center, an industrial park in Lordstown, Ohio. In between a passenger car is placed as customers meeting center of Larry's Truck Electric. The company has several hundred locomotives on lease and also owns the E9A 9925 which is on the property of Larry's Truck Electric's workshop in McDonald, Ohio. 2 Susq. E's are now in Hyannis Ma. for service in Massachusetts for Iowa Pacific Holdings.

    Roundnoses news in 2011

    Australia

    Germany

    MY 1155 was bought by Altmark-Rail in June 2011.
    In the end of 2011, Altmark-Rail also bought MY 1143 and MY 1155. The MY 1155 got an overhaul and the oberhaul of MY 1143 will probably be completed in the end of 2012.

    EBS MY 1131 is together with the V 180 of EBS used for a tank car train service between Wiederitzsch and Gera from Monday to Saturday.

    MY 1142 is now parked in the VBV Lokpark in the Borsigstraße (former Braunschweig workshop). It is owned by the new Braunschweiger Bahn Service (BSBS) company and can be rented.

    MY 1147 is used to transport infrastructure equipment at the moment.

    Sweden

    Since 11 December 2011 Tågåkeriet i Bergslagen AB runs three StoraEnso wood log trains per week on behalf of Hector Rail from Torsby via Kil to Skoghall. Traction form two TMY locomotives.

    Svensk Tågkraft uses operational TMX 1012 (ex-DSB MX 1012, ex-BSM TMX 1012) in a new red/white stripe livery.

    Railcare Tåg TMY 1150 was pained in white.

    Inlandsbanan Di3 621 was painted in green/white livery.

    Railcare Tåg AB TMX 1015 and TMY 1110 were painted in a red/white/blue livery of ThreeT AB in the end of 2011.

    USA

    Alaska Railroad F7 1500 (ex B&LE 720) was sold to the Grafton & Upton RR, a shortline in Eastern Massachusetts. They also recently bought Alaska Railroad F7 1508 from a private owner. The 1502 (ex-GM&O, MBTA & MN FL9 2007) will be used as a parts source for the 2 F's & a GP9.

    The 2 ex-SP/WAG/PAT F's 6690 and 6691 have been sold for $190,000 by the Railroad Museum of New England in Thomaston, Connecticut to the Galveston Railroad Museum in Texas. They are now in South Carolina for refurbishing for service in Texas. After the engines are brought up to standards, including air brakes, couplers and assorted other modifications, the Southern Pacific colors will be stripped and the diesels will be repainted in red, yellow and silver, the colors of the historic Santa Fe Chiefs. They then will be towed DIT (Dead-in Tow), probably in August 2011, from South Carolina to Houston. The two units will replace the Texas Limited 100 and 200 (Southern Pacific #6379 and Southern Pacific #6309) since they are being cut up after hurricane damage.

    Stone Mountain Park in Atlanta has released the first of its two former Southern Railway FP7A units after a complete rebuilding. No. 6143 was released in mid-April, while No. 6147 should be out of the shop by July 4. Dixie Engine & Equipment Co. of Pell City, Ala., was tasked with rebuilding the units. Each rebuilt unit is receiving an EMD 16-645E engine, replacing the original 567BC, as well as a rebuilt D12 main generator, new cooling fans and radiators, Dash 2 electrical components, and D87 traction motors. The original 24RL brake system has been replaced with a 26L, and a new Perkins 400-series diesel will provide head-end power. The 6143 and 6147 were built in 1950 for Southern Railway’s CNO&TP Division. Southern eventually sold the pair to the New Georgia Railway. The engines were delivered to the New Georgia in the Southern’s “Tuxedo” green, gold, and white paint scheme, but later repainted by the New Georgia into Central of Georgia colors. New Georgia purchased the units from Norfolk Southern in the late 1980s and used them on public trips, dinner trains, and charters out of Atlanta, running over both NS and CSX trackage. When the New Georgia ceased operations in 1995, Stone Mountain Park acquired the engines for its scenic railroad.

    Central States Railroad Associates' Columbia Star Dinner Train will start operating with two F-units for dinner train operations in Missouri between Colombia and Centralia as from 15 July 2011.

    Roundnoses news in 2010

    Denmark

    Lokalbanen's MX 16 was painted yellow in October 2010.

    Early 2010 CFL Cargo Danmark sold its MX 1008 (operational) and MY 1154 (not operational) to Contec Rail. MX 1008 was equipped with ATC and painted in Contec Rail blue/white stripe livery in March 2010. It currently stands in Randers.

    Railcare's MY 1122 and MY 1134 have had an overhaul and currently reside in Padborg, Denmark.

    Germany

    Eichholz Eivel has put all but two roundnoses out of use on 29 October 2010. V170 1147 and 1155 will be further used for infrastructure trains of sister company Strabag Rail, 1125 (bought by rail freight company Karpat Vasut, now numbered 459 021) and 1151 stand defect in Haldensleben depot and the latter is sold together with 1149 to Altmark-Rail (owned by Michael Frick) for hiring purposes. The 1149 got a new red/brown livery with yellow stripes in January 2011. 1127 is sold to Michael Frick for museum purposes, will be painted DSB brown and is envisaged to be parked in Bahnpark Augsburg, 1131 was sold to Erfurter Bahnservice and was painted in the classic DSB black/red cabines livery in December 2010, 1138 is now property of Cargo Logistik Rail (now numbered 92 80 1 227 004-9 D-CLR) and 1142 is now a museum loco in Braunschweig. 1143 was used as a spare parts donor.

    MY 1148 currenlty stands in Celle in DSB brown livery.

    Hungary

    NOHAB-GM Foundation M61.010 is in full operating condition since 19 January 2010. It is planned to haul rail enthusiast and general public railtours and it may be used for freight train haulage.

    Kosovo

    Michael Frick painted the 005 in the same paint scheme as the demonstrator G12 of Sweden (red above, brownred below with a yellow stripe in between). 006 has got its generator repaired in Serbia, but it has still to be installed. 005, 007 and 008 are all operational, but 007 has some defects now and then.

    Sweden

    Projsoft AB (Tågkraft) MX 1033 is rented out to TX Logistik who shunts their DHL trailer train with it 6 days per week from and to the harbour of Malmö. Hector Rail runs the DHL train to Duisburg from Malmö freight yard. MX 1033 has to do two shunts to form a full train. The first half loaded train departs Malmö harbour at the end of the afternoon and the second part around 22:00 hours.

    Early 2010 some roundnoses changed hands: Bantåg Nordic AB/Railcare bought TMY 1111 out of the STT bankruptcy and TMY 1110, 1122, 1124 and 1134 from Motala Verskstad who bought them earlier on out of the Skånetåg Bulk AB bankruptcy. Tågab sold its TMY 102 (ex-DSB MY 1128) to Strukton Rail in March 2010 which painted it in its yellow company color and renumbered it into 9505.

    USA

    For sale are B&LE 725 (was used until the end of 2009 by Coe Railroad for toerist train haulage) and Gettysburg Railroad 6302 and 6308 (ex-CP and ex-VIA).

    Stone Mountain Scenic Railroad is rebuilding its two ex-Southern Railway FP7’s. 6143 and 6147 were originally owned by the Southern Railway, leased by the New Georgia Railroad (run as 3498 and 3499), and now owned and operated by the Stone Mountain Memorial Park near Atlanta, Georgia. The rebuilds will include upgrades to full 26L brake systems, HEP for power to the train cars, rewiring of all electrical systems, upgrade to Dash-2 electronics, console type control stands, recessed ditch lights, and upgraded from the original EMD 567 16 cylinder prime movers to EMD 645-E 16 cylinder prime movers and rebuilt main generators and air compressors. 6143 will also receive new trucks with D-77 traction motors. Both units will be repainted. The rebuilds should be completed by the end of 2010. Source: Stone Mountain Railroad Mechanical Dept.

    Pan Am Railways acquired the ex-Conway Scenic 6505 and 6516 in July 2010 and renumbered them PAR1 and PAR2 for use on the railroad's business train and occasionally freight trains.

    Pioneer Railcorp has released PREX 1761, an FP9B, into service on the Peoria & Western. The unit gives P&W an A-B-A set of Fs. The units are ex-Algoma Central, nee Canadian National. Source: TRAINS, June 2010.

    Metro=North Railroad has scrapped its FL9 locomotives 2018, 2029 and 2031 in July 2010.

    Roundnoses news in 2009

    Australia

  • B80 has been outshopped in CFCLA livery after refurbishment.

    VR blue/yellow painted Seymour Rail Heritage Centre B74 and S303 head the special 70th anniversary of Spirit of Progress passenger train near Broadford (Victoria, Australia) on 25 November 2007 (picture courtesy and copyright of Stewart Anderson).

    For time tables see the Autralian theme section.

    GM10, GM22 and GM27 were sold by CFCLA to SSR in November 2009.

    Belgium

    SNCB/NMBS/TUC-Rail took all Class 52, 53 and 54 locomotives out of service on 20 April 2009. They will be kept as a reserve loco pool for two years. In June 2009 one was still used as a shunter at the Stockem yard.

    Denmark

    Contec Rail MY 1158 got a blue with white and yellow stripes livery.

    BLDX 1019 was painted in an own dark green/white/light green with orange stripes livery.

    CFL Cargo Danmark MX 1023 was painted in a GM brown/yellow stripe livery.

    Former EuroRail Laising MY 1148 locomotive carried a NVAG red livery with white NVAG stripes, but was painted in classical brown DSB livery in June 2009.
    MY 1148 is currently in Haldensleben (D) to be completed for its new owner Scandic Rail Partners and will only be equipped with ATC to work in Denmark.

    Kosovo

    In May 2009 Di3.643 (008) was painted in a red with white stripe livery. See the website of Nohab-GM.de. Except for the 006, all roundnoses in Kosovo are operational.

    Norway and Sweden

    In February 2008 the Di.3 locomotives of Ofotbanen A/S (OBAS) were sold to shareholder Rail management AB. Since the end of 2008 these roundnoses were used for timber trains on the railway line Hamar - Elverum - Støren, which were ordered by Swedish railway company Peterson Rail AB. At first they ran under the license of Peterson Rail, but since 13 January 2009 the trains are operated by Ofotbanen Drift A/S itself, being the successor company of the in July 2008 discontinued Ofotbanen A/S. Source: RailBusiness, 2 February 2009. However, in June 2009 four of the five roundnoses (Di.3 603, 621, 623 and 632 were sold to Swedish railway company Inlandsbanan. Di.3 629 remains with Ofotbanen Drift. Source: Today's Railways Europe, July 2009. Inlandsbanen also bought spare parts donor Di3 615 from the Norwegian Railroad Museum and currently resides in Östersund.

    Sweden

    Railcare scrapped TMX 1040 (ex Norwegian GM-group spare parts loco) in Skelleftehamn in June 2009.

    USA

    Metro-North Railroad have marked FL9 2008 (1960 Built Former NH 2033) and F10s 410 (1947 Built Former MBTA 1109, GM&O F3 804a) and 411 (1947 Former MBTA 1113, GM&O F3 809a) for Frontier Industrial Corporation (FICX) scrapping company. The current list of units that are sitting in Croton Harmon, NY not marked at this time is FL9 2012, F10 413, GP8 543 and GP9 750. Railroad Museums and Excursion Railroads should contact Frontier Industrial Corporation (FICX) right away as these locomotives were recently put in storage in running condition prior to being sold to FICX. Source: F-Units at yahoogroups.com.

    Roundnoses news in 2008

    Belgium

    5308 was scrapped early 2008. 5305 and 5312 were put out of service in September 2008, 5209, 5303, 5307 and 5309 followed on 14 December 2008. The plan is to reactivate 5303 and 5309 as replacement for the inoperative 5313 (collision damage) and 5320 (traction motors damaged by fire). Source: Op de Baan/TSP, January 2009.

    Denmark

    Since 3 January 2008 CFL Cargo runs steel trains between Fredericksvaerk and Ringsted twice a week. These trains were previously operated by HFHJ and were stopped a year ago.

    In the second half of 2008 Contec Rail (a track maintenance contractor) bought MX 1030 (for spare parts) and MY 1158 from CFL Cargo Danmark, M9 (ex-MX 1041), M10 (ex-MX 1038) and M11 (ex-MX 1009) from Nordjyske Jernbaner (NJ) and MY 1153 from LJ. CFL Cargo Danmark bought M17 (ex-MY 1146) from NJ.

    CFL Cargo Danmark lost its weekly goods train service from Arhus to Skagen to Railion Scandinavia on 1 August 2008. The company bought MX 1006 and MX 1023 from Hovedstadens Lokalbaner and MX 1008 from Vestsjællands Lokalbaner.

    LJ sold M32 (ex MY 1153) to Contec Rail Holding ApS for use on construction trains and withdrew M 38 from service.

    Hovedstadens Lokalbaner sold its MX 17, 18 and 19 to leasing/investment company BLDX A/S.

    Germany

    The privately owned MY 1148 gets a fresh NSB red livery at Haldensleben (D).

    Hungary

    MAV M61.006 is used to pull work trains in Hungary.

    Kosovo

    In May 2008 Di3.641 (007) was painted in a red with white stripe livery. See the website of Nohab-GM.de.
    In August 2008 Di3.633 (006) was painted in a red with yellow stripe livery. See the website of Nohab-GM.de.
    In 2009 Di3.643 (008) was painted in a red with yellow front stripes livery.
    Di3.619 (005) still carries its blue/red cabins livery, but will be painted in a different livery in the end of May 2010.
    005, 007 and 008 are operational.

    The NoHABs are used for passenger trains between Kosovo Polje to the Kosovo/Macedonia border station of Hani i Elezit in the south and for passenger trains between Kosovo Polje and Pristina in the east. The passenger trains between Kosovo Polje and Lesak (border station Kosovo/Serbia) do not run any more since the beginning of March 2008 due to the turmoil in Northern Kosovo.

    Sometimes the NoHABs provide traction for the international freight trains between freight yard Miradi (Kosovo) and Macedonia in the south. These trains run facultative several times a day. Inland freight traffic is also sometimes carried out by the roundnoses. Once a week a coal train runs from the coal mine in Obiliq to the brewery in Peja (west of Kosovo Polje). Several times a week grain trains run between freight yard Miradi to Rakovina on the line to Prizren. Also several times a week the nickel factory "Ferronikel" in Drenas receives ore per train either from the harbour of Thessaloniki (Greece) or a mine in the neighbourhood of Kosovo airport. Normally traction for freight trains in Kosovo is provided by the "Kennedyloks" Class 661 or the Vossloh G1700, but when freight levels necessitate it, roundnoses are used as well for this task.

    Norway

    On 4 October 2008 the operating license of Ofotbanen was revoked and the company subsequently went into a bankruptcy procedure as Autolink did not want to invest more money into Ofotbanen. AutoLink now runs its trains under an own license.

    Sweden

    In 2008 Tagab sold its TMX 104 together with TMX 1028 (the latter as spare parts supplier) to Inlandsbanan AB in Sweden. Tagab scrapped TMY 1118 and TMY 1141.

    USA

    Cliffs Erie's set of former Erie Mining Company F9s are scheduled to make their final run today from Taconite Harbor to Hoyt Lakes, Minn. The A-B-B-B-A set of F units are bringing 24 cars of limestone that was dumped at Taconite Harbor several years ago back to the former Erie plant site in Hoyt Lakes. The limestone will be used in environmental remediation projects. The Fs are also returning 23 empty side dump cars and three tank cars to Hoyt Lakes over the 72-mile private railroad.
    Barring unforeseen circumstances, this will mark the end of operations for the F units, which were delivered to Erie Mining Company by EMD in 1956 to pull taconite ore trains and have never left the property. The Hoyt Lakes taconite plant shut down in 2001, but there have been periodic movements over the railroad in 2004, 2006, and this summer and fall. This year taconite ore "fines" that had been trapped in the dock at Taconite Harbor were brought back to Hoyt Lakes for further shipment. Cliffs Erie has donated F9A No. 4211 and an F9B to the Lake Superior Railroad Museum in Duluth for preservation. Source: TRAINS (28 October 2008).

    Reading FP7s 902 and 903 will be displayed for at least the next year at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg, according to a story in the Intelligencer-Journal. Nos. 902 and 903 are owned by the Reading Co. Historical and Technical Society and the Philadelphia Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society, respectively. The pair most recently hauled special trips on East Penn Railways' Perkiomen Branch in October. They've been extensively overhauled, and are painted in Reading's black, green, and yellow paint scheme.

    Roundnoses news in 2007

    Belgium

    TSP repaired its 202.020 again in the end of 2007. This loco has to be operated smoothly in order to avoid further damages.

    Canada

    After sitting in Toronto since the demise of the WSJ tourist train in 1999, FP9's 6505 & 6520 + 3 cars from the trainset are now in Squamish, British Colombia. They belong to the West Coast Railway Association who hopes to get them in service in the near future.

    Source: F-units (Yahoogroups.com).

    Walled Lake Scenic RR in Michigan is now out-of-business and it seems everything is up for sale including former AMT/STCUM FP7A’s 1304 and 1306, the latter painted in the AMT’s short-lived “Riverain” paint scheme, and had been stored at Expo Rail, in Delson, QC when AMT retired their roundnoses.

    Source: Canadian Railway Observations by William Baird, June 2007.

    On April freshly painted Canadian pacific FP9Au's 4106 and 4107 (ex-Ohio Central and before that ex-VIA Rail) were released from NRE (Capreal, Ontario) and have been forwarded to Alyth Yard in Calgary. Chris Wilson made a shot of the locomotives being forwarded on CP 105-04. The roundnose pair will be used on CPR business trains and Royal Canadian Pacific luxury tours. Unlike the prior FP9 1400-F9B 1900-FP9 1401 trio, 4106 and 4107 have been re-equipped with dynamic brakes and are also head-end-power equipped. FP9A 1400 will be restored by Canadian Pacific's steam excursion crew to operate with steam locomotive 4-6-4 2816. F9B 1900 and FP9A 1401 are stored as they need overhauls.

    Source: William Baird, Canadian Railway Observations, June 2007.

    Canada and USA

    Regular service cab units can still be found in Canada and USA in the 21st Century. While EMDs last FL9 left its factory in 1960 and the last E9 in 1963, a handful of streamlined cab units can still be found in regular service across the United States. Of course, dozens still operate at museums and tourist railroads, and streamlined diesels can be found on regional and Class I railroads such as Canadian Pacific, Kansas City Southern, New York, Susquehanna & Western, Union Pacific, Wisconsin & Southern, and most recently, Norfolk Southern. But these railroads normally only operate F and E units for business and special train use. In regular, everyday service freight and passenger service, only a handful of streamlined cab units remain in North America:

    * In the Northeast, the Connecticut Department of Transportation retains six New Haven-painted FL9Ms, while Metro North Railroad has one FL9 and three F10s. The units are used on an irregular basis mainly on the Bridgeport to Waterbury shuttle and Danbury lines in Connecticut and occasionally on Metro North's Hudson line along the famous river north of New York City to Poughkeepsie, N.Y. They also are used occasionally on work trains.
    Metro North Railroad has retired the last FL9 on its books, No. 2008, on April 27, 2007. EMD built 60 FL9s for the New Haven Railroad (New Haven Class EDER-5) between 1956 and 1960. They were inherited by Penn Central when it acquired the New Haven in 1969, then went to Conrail in 1976, and to Metro North and the Connecticut Department of Transportation when they took over commuter services from Conrail. However, CDOT still operates a few rebuilt FL9s in New Haven colors, and Metro-North still handles the heavy maintenance of those units (source: TRAINS). This was at least still the case in January 2008.

    Besides the Fs in passenger service, nearly all the other operating F units in freight service today survive thanks to Canadian passenger operator VIA Rail. The Crown Corporation continued to use Fs on its passenger trains into the early 1990s, and several were rebuilt. Many of these can be found pulling freight today:

    * In South Carolina, Carolina Southern has ex-Canadian National F7Au 9163 and F7Bu 6622 in occasional service, although the A unit rarely leads. Carolina Southern operates from Mullins, S.C., to Whiteville, N.C., 37 miles, and a branch from Chadbourn, N.C., to Conway, S.C. Carolina Southern also operates the former Waccamaw Coast Line from Conway to Myrtle Beach, S.C.
    * Further south, the Georgia Southwestern has two ex-CN/VIA FP9s, 6302 and 6308. They have been relegated to backup power now. Both wear a variation of the old Central of Georgia Railroad colors. The Georgia Southwestern is comprised of several different rail lines in southwestern Georgia and a small portion of Alabama acquired from CSX and Norfolk Southern: Glenns - Greenville, Columbus - Cusseta, Ochilee - Americus, White Oak (Alabama) - Cuthbert - Bainbridge, Cuthbert - Dawson - Smithville, and Dawson - Sasser.
    * The Southern Railroad of New Jersey has two ex-Bessemer & Lake Erie F7As it uses in occasional freight service. The railroad operates 71 miles of track between Winslow Jct. and Pleasantville/Vineland and between Swedesboro and Salem, N.J. One F is painted in the old colors of the New York, Ontario & Western, while the other wears a paint scheme based on the old diesel colors of the Rock Island.
    * In Canada, RailAmerica has a pair of Canadian National/VIA FP9s, 1400 and 1401 in service on the Goderich & Exeter Railway's Goderich Subdivision. The 70 miles of track between Stratford and Goderich, Ontario was acquired from CN in 1992. In 1998 the railway took over operation of CN's Guelph Subdivision, which runs over 99 miles between Silver Junction in Brampton and London, Ontario.
    * The newest railroad to join the streamlined cab unit team is The Keokuk Junction Railway and also has a pair of ex-CN/VIA and ex-Algoma Central FP9s (1750 and 1752, former CN 6502 and CN 6511). The railroad also acquired an A-B-A set (now numbered 1751, 1761 and 1754 respectively) of ex-Algoma Central F's. The five units came from the Gettysburg & Northern Railroad which, like the Keokuk Junction/Peoria & Western, is owned by Pioneer Railcorp. In December 2010, only 1750, 1752 and booster 1761 were operational. 1751 was under repair and 1754 is still out of service due to vandalism. In July 2011 a F9B (1762) appeared operational as well. The Gettysburg & Northern railroad still keeps one ex-Algoma Central FP9A. The Keokuk Junction Railway, which operates the west end of the old Toledo, Peoria & Western under the name Peoria & Western Railway, has two FP9s and a booster in regular freight service between Kolbe station in Mapletin, Ill., (start of the shift at 08:00 hours with shunting in Kolbe) and Keokuk, Iowa. Another crew takes a train with other type of locomotives from Keokuk to Good Hope, where the crew from Kolbe takes this train forward to Kolbe.

    Source: TRAINS.

    Denmark

    On 20 August 2007 MY 1148 was transported by three other roundnoses (Strabag V170 1149, V170 1147 and V170 1155) from Tønder (DK) to Haldensleben (D) for a possible refurbishment. In the vehicle train there were spare bogies and a 'new' GM engine from an old dannish Navy vessel.

    Hovedstadens Lokalbaner has sold former HFHJ MX 17, 18 and 19 to Swedish trader and maintainer NetRail. The locomotives are likely to become TMX 1017 - 1019 (referring to their old DSB numbers).

    The last CFL Cargo paper train between Odense and Næstved ran on Saturday 14 July 2007. On a more positive note, CFL Cargo purchased from Vestsjællands Lokalbaner MX 101, ØSJS MX 41 (ex-DSB MX 1023; in ØSJS yellow/orange livery as "Kong Hother") and ØSJS MX 43 (ex-DSB MX 1006; since 2000 in DSB classical brown livery). HFHJ MX 16 and ØSJS MX 42 are retained by HL for snow clearing duties. MX 1030 is now determined a spare parts donor (sitting at Bombardier in Randers).

    Since 1 january 2007 Dansk Jernbane ApS is renamed in CFL Cargo Danmark. It ceased the aluminum trains between Tønder and Grenå.

    Germany

    Strabag MY V 170 1125 was painted in the Santa Fe Warbonnet paint scheme in the end of November 2007 (for a picture click here ).

    Strabag MY V 170 1155 was painted NSB brown in August 2007.

    Ghana

    The three last operational GM 1,400 hp equipped DE Henschel Co'Co' roundnoses 1405, 1408 and 1409 out of series 1401 - 1418 (1959 built) were voluntary retired due to their high oil and fuel consumption. The last one (1409) ran in 2006. Herewith another roundnose era comes to an end.

    Source: World-Diesel-Loco (Yahoogroups.com).

    Italy (Sicily)

    The following roundnoses from contractors were spotted recently:
  • Ex NSB Di 3.630 at Comiso on 7 February 2008, in a bad state with one side of one cab smashed in.
  • Ex NSB Di 3.622 and Di 3.626 at Canicatti on 9 February 2008.
  • Ex NSB Di 3.631 at Roccapalumbra on 9 February 2008.

    Norway

    ex-DSB MY 1104 which was owned by GM Gruppen Norge and which stood for years in Eidsvoll (N) has arrived back in Denmark on 24 October 2007. It is now residing in Struer Museum. The locomotive has been bought by a danish railfan who hopes to run specials with it in the future. At the moment, this roundnose is in an inoperable condition and it is still in its classic brown livery from 2003. Source: European Rail Gen (yahoogroups).

    Early 2007 Autolink bought 40% of the shares of Ofotbanen and signed a contract with Ofotbanen to transport 600 trains per year for USD 10 million. Source: International Railway Journal, April 2007.

    Sweden

    In 2007 Inlandsgods AB went bankrupt for the second time. TMY 1105, TMY 1150 and TMY 1157 were sold to Bantåg Nordic AB (Railcare Danmark AS). TMY 1132 (now renumbered TMY 110) and TMY 1156 were sold to Tågåb, also in September 2007.

    Inlandsbanan has rented the Tagab TMX 104 to use in the triple-headed Sveg - Uppsala turf trains. Green Cargo is the haulier from Mora. Source: Postvogna.

    A local Kristinehamn newspaper mentiones that electrification from Kristinehamn to Nykroppa could take place in 2009. That could mean less Tagab roundnose action as from 2010.

    In December 2006 Bantåg Nordic AB painted its roundnose 1015 yellow.

    On 7 November 2006 Inlandsgods bought BK-Tåg Sverige AB. After a short period of no Vodka train services, early 2007 the Vodka trains started running again. On saturday Inlandsgods rides a weekly container train from Göteborg harbour via Kristianstad to Åhus (Skåne) topped by an old Ma electric locomotive and tailed by a Nohab. These containertrains haul vodka. The Absolut Vodka is manufactured in Åhus and then transported to Göteborg for shipping worldwide.

    USA

    On 29 October 2007 the Spirit of Washington Dinner Train suspended operating dinner trains from Tacoma to Eatonville with GM roundnoses 82 and 84 which started on 3 August 2007. The reason is the higher-than=anticipated costs, coupled with lower-than-projected ticket sales. The train itself will move to Battle Ground, Washington, where the owners have rented trackage from Clark County. But it's unlikely that the train will begin running there. The trains'owners have been in negotiations with BNSF and King County over the possibility of operating the dinner train from Snohomish, Washington, on BNSF for two years already with no immediate hope for starting operating there. The 84 was put up for sale in September 2011.

    Source: TRAINS.

    Kansas City Southern has begun repainting its executive F-units in an exact recreation of the classic Kansas City Southern passenger diesel scheme of red, yellow, and Brunswick green. KCS passenger diesels wore the colors from the 1940s into the late 1960s, when an all-white scheme was adopted for both passenger and freight locomotives, although only a few passenger units received the white scheme prior to the end of passenger service in 1969. KCS painted the F40s used on its Panama Canal Railway in the historic colors, and last year painted an F unit it donated to Union Station in Kansas City in the scheme.
    The first unit repainted was FP9 KCS-1, ex-VIA/CN No. 6504, built in London, Ont., at GMD in 1954. The black scheme formerly worn by the KCS F units was a new creation and not the original diesel scheme.

    Source: TRAINS.

    Ozark Mountain Railcar LLC is offering former Rock Island E6 No. 630 and E8 652 for sale, according to their Web site. No. 630 is one of the few remaining "slant-nose" EMD cab units still in existence. The unit, after decades in long distance passenger service, gained fame pulling commuter trains out of Chicago in the 1970s. Built in 1941, the unit is not currently in operating condition. The asking price is $66,000. E8 652 was built in 1952 and was initially used on the Twin Star Rocket between Minneapolis and Houston. It also saw service on the Golden State between Chicago and Los Angeles. In 1976 it was painted into a Bicentennial scheme by Chicago's 20th Century Railroad Club and named Independence. The current owners bought the 652 for preservation and performed various repairs, restoring its original Rock Island paint scheme. The unit is not currently in operating condition. One engine will need a major overhaul and the second engine is closer to operating condition. The asking price is $88,000. Both units operated most recently on the 20-mile Midland Railway, a heritage railroad operating between Baldwin City and Ottawa Junction, Kan. To contact Ozark Mountain Railcar go to the Ozarkmountainrailcar website, or call 1-417-336-2401.
    On 29 June 2007 it was made known that a newly formed non-profit corporation, the Manly Jct. Railroad Museum (Cedar Rapids, Iowa), signed a purchase agreement to acquire former Rock Island E6A No. 630 and E8A No 652. The locomotives are being purchased at an undisclosed price with closing expected before the end of 2007 subject to fund raising, which will begin immediately. Upon closing, the units are to be moved to Iowa Northern's Waterloo Shops or a contract shop for mechanical assessment and preparation for rehabilitation. The Museum hopes to eventually restore the two passenger locomotives to operating condition, with a station-like museum and glass enclosed train shed and secure railroad equipment to recreate passenger trains that once operated through Manly. The town was once a railroad hub, particularly for the Rock Island, where it was a division point with a yard, roundhouse and crew quarters.

    Source: TRAINS.

    Norfolk Southern completed the rebuilding and repainting of all its four new business-train F units (F7A 4270, F7A 4271, F7B 4275 and F7B 4276) at its Juniata shops in Altoona, Pennsylvania by August 2007. The second A-unit was expected to emerge in April 2007. The units'heritage is: 4270, built as F7A 937 for Baltimore & Ohio (now classed as an F9); 4271, built as F7A 947 for B&O; 4275, built as F7B 113D for Chicago Great Western; 4276, built as F7B 114B for CGW. The F units are painted in a scheme that resembles that of the former Southern Railway's classic "tuxedo"scheme of black and white with gold striping and lettering. In the fall of 2006 they were acquired from Kansas City Southern, and had previously served as power for the Rail Cruise America train.

    The Medina Railway Museum (New York) acquired two ex-New York Central E8s (4068 and 4080) from Michael Fox for use on excursion passenger trains over the Genessee Vally Transportation short line railroad between Medina (museum location) and Lockport (locomotive depot). They are painted in the classic "lightning stripe" New York Central livery.

    Source: TRAINS.

    The New York & Greenwood Lake Railway has purchased former Erie E8 833 (painted as Conrail 4022, but now in its original Erie Railroad passenger colors: two-tone green) from Bennett and Eric Levin's Juniata Terminal. It is the only surviving Erie E-unit. Conrail used the locomotive in business train service until the Conrail break up in 1999, when it was sold to Juniata Terminal, which also bought CR's two other E8s and restored them to their original Pennsylvania Railroad appearance. No. 833 still has its original steam generator and original louvers. The New York & Greenwood Lake Railway operates a 1.8-mile spur between Garfield and Passaic, N.J. to serve Atlantic Coast Fibers. Some excursions with the locomotive will be planned in 2007.

    Source: F-units (Yahoogroups.com) and TRAINS.

    The United Railroad Historical Society raised the money to repaint E8A 835 (ex-NJ Transit 4248) for it to be used on an on-going basis to pull excursions in support of the future Railroad and Transportation Museum. It will be restored again in 2006-2007 as DL&W 821, reminiscent of the Phoebe Snow passenger train that ran between Hoboken and Buffalo.

    Source: URHS.

    Roundnoses news in 2006

    Australia

    The NSW Rail Transportation Museum's 4306 was re-liveried in silver and was used for filming purposes (Japanese TV car commercial) during 4 days in August 2006. The locomotive could easily be restored to its pristine NSWGR Indian Red livery as the paint was water-based acrylic paint.

    In September 2006 V/Line S302 was sold to rail contractor El Zorro of Melbourne who hauls works trains and grain trains. The bulldog nose retained the V/Line livery, although the logos have been painted over.

    CFCLA B61 left Bendigo workshop on broad gauge bogies in SSR yellow/black livery in January 2006, but it soon got standard gauge bogies for NSW workings. The locomotive was refurbished, because of material fatigue in the frames (of which all the B and S class suffered from). CFCLA B76 and S300 have also been outshopped mid 2006 on standard gauge bogies, although in CFCLA's own blue and silver livery. S300 is leased to SSR. CFCLA B80 and CFCLA S311 will follow soon. S311 will also be leased to SSR.

    Two developments in the Australian railway sector could see bulldog locomotive fleets to be split or change ownership.
    QR National has acquired the Australian Railroad Group's (ARG) above rail assets and customer contracts. However, ARG will retain much of the former South Australia freight operations and thus a percentage of the locomotive fleet will stay with the Genesee & Wyoming subsidiary, thereafter called Genesee Wyoming Australia (GWA).
    With the take-over of a part of the original ARG business, QR National got hold of the bulldog noses CFL1 - CLF4, CLF7, CLP9 - CLP13 and GM30. They are used as traction for Melbourne - Brisbane v.v. and Melbourne - Sydney freight trains, for example for the 5MB7 through Yass on Fridays at 10:05 hours and through Junee on Saturdays at 09:00 hours or for the 1SM9 through Goulburn on Sundays at 15:45 hours. All other ARG bulldog noses are retained by G&W. Besides its own roundnoses, the new ARG also hires GM40, GM43 and GM46 from GWA.
    The other shake-up is caused by Toll who took over the Patrick shares of their joint-venture Pacific National (PN). The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) finally has approved the takeover, but only under amongst others the condition that PN will reject part of its locomotive fleet to competitors (of which QR National is the strongest). It is not sure yet which locomotives are involved to change ownership.

    At the beginning of March 2006, ARG twice loaded grain trains at Dimboola for Melbourne Appleton Dock using CLF4/GM42/CLF2. The first loaded train passed Gheringhap (just west of Geelong) at 15:55 hours on Wednesday 1 March 2006 and returned west in the early hours of Thursday 2 March 2006.The second movement then returned to Melbourne that afternoon and the train headed to Adelaide on Friday morning 3 March 2006.

    Belgium

    In December 2005 the Belgium TSP organization has bought the operational ex-CFL 1603 (and ex-Vennbahn) locomotive to replace the defect 202.020 (wear and tear crankshaft and bogies). Attempts to sell the 1603 to a Swiss and later on to an Italian company were unsuccesful. The 1603 will soon get the bogies of the 5204 in Salzinnes where the locomotive is located at the moment. In the end of 2007, the 202.020 was repaired again.

    Denmark

    Due to high costs to overhaul its Class MX roundnoses, HFHJ (part of Hovedstadens Lokalbaner) ceased operating the steel trains from Frederiksværk - Høje Taastrup in the end of 2006. All its four roundnoses are without employment now.

    Since 1 January 2006 NEG/DJ took over the regular freight train service between Næstved and Fruens Bøge, but this traffic ceased in 2007. NEG/DJ is now called CFL Cargo Danmark.
    DJ MY 1158 takes paper wagons through the streets of Næstved (DK) with the help of rented VL M 105 on
 14 March 2006 (photo courtesy and copyright of Allan Støvring Nielsen).

    NEG/DJ MY 1154 shunts the wagons at the plant at Fruens Boge (DK) on 6 January 2006 (photo
courtesy and copyright of Allan Støvring Nielsen).

    CFL Cargo has rented all four roundnoses (1 MY and 3 MX) and train staff from NJ for three years. Due to the upsurge in traffic DJ also bought MX 104 (now renumbered in DJ MX 1029, it's old DSB number) from VL in October 2005 and on top of that rented VL MX 105 from VL (short term). Also MX 1030 was bought from a private person, probably to use it as spare parts donor (it is at Bombardier in Randers for this purpose).
    The reason for this large extention of the DJ fleet is the fact that Railion Danmark has given up its freight service to many destinations in Denmark as from 1 April 2006. This concerns the freight services to Esbjerg, Kalundborg, Randers, Nyborg, Vejen and Aalborg (and Århus and Padborg for wagon load traffic).
    DJ MY 1158 drives through Nyborg (DK) to reach the customer on 4 April 2006 (photo courtesy and copyright of Allan 
Støvring Nielsen).

    The freight trains of NJ (containers with fish flour from Skagen to Århus and the glue tank wagons from Frederikshavn to Aalborg) will be operated by CFL Cargo during these three years. Whether containers and fish from Hirtshals are still on the transport programme is unclear as a sufficient stop in the new timetable (see the Denmark picture gallery) is not sufficient to shunt wagons in and out of the trains between Aalborg and Frederikshavn and return.
    Since the beginning of April 2006 wagons are transported again via the train ferry Frederikshavn (DK) - Göteborg (S). It concerns glue in tank wagons from Århus to Hultsfred (S):

    DJ rented NJ M 17 arrives in Århus with a wagonload train on 11 April 2006 (photo courtesy and copyright of Allan 
Støvring Nielsen).

    In Sweden Inlandsgods transports the wagons with TMX 1024.
    Also from the beginning of April 2006 CFL Cargo started transporting wagons with ammonium between Brunsbüttel (BRD) and Aalborg Grønlandshavn (DK).
    Just like last year DJ transports concrete and chalc stone to Skive (DK):

    DJ MX 1029 shunts wagons in the harbour of Skive (DK) on 11 April 2006 (photo courtesy and copyright of Allan 
Støvring Nielsen).

    Lollandsbanen has sold off roundnoses M34 (in LJ orange livery), M35 (in LJ orange livery) and M37 (in DSB red/black livery) to the company Projsoft AB in Stockholm (S). The locomotives were transferred on Friday 17 February 2006:

    Railion Danmark EG 3101 leaves Ringsted (DK) for Sweden with LJ M 34 + 37 + 35 in tow on 17 February 2006 
(photo courtesy and copyright of Allan Støvring Nielsen).

    It is believed the locomotives will be rented out in Sweden. May be LJ will get an ATC equipped locomotive back from Sweden.

    As VL (Vestsjællands Lokalbaner) recently bought two Y-tog DMU train sets from Nordjyske Jernbaner it is now a fact that the use of Nohabs for the school trains between Holbæk and Nykøbing, Sj ended on 3 January 2006. The last passenger duties for roundnoses are left in Serbia (Kosovo) and Australia (Victoria).

    On 12/13/14 November 2005 MY 1156 was transported from Padborg (DK) to Kristinehamn (S). Together with MY 1150 and MY 1157 this locomotive was bought by TGOJ from the bankrupt TraXion in the end of 2002. All three were sold on to Motala Verkstad in 2004. MY 1156 is expected to be returned in working order for the Swedish railway company Inlandsgods.

    Germany

    The Austrian construction company Strabag bought the German Eichholz company in August 2006 after insolvency of Eichholz and therewith the 10 V170 (ex-DSB) roundnoses.
    The V170 1147 currently stands in Haldensleben for overhaul and has been painted in a new blue GM Norway style livery.

    Italy

    Former NSB Di3.630 will be scrapped after it suffered major damage due to a runaway on the isle of Sicilia on 10 March 2006. The owner of this locomotive and the 3.622, 3.626 and 3.631 is Salvatore Esposito.

    Norway

    Ofotbane AS has trimmed down its operations considerably. 2/3 of the train staff is said to be laid off and the company focuses on passenger trains on the iron ore line as well as freight trains between Narvik (N) and Finland. The other freight train working such as wood log trains in the southern part of Norway are probably history.

    GM Gruppen Norway has sold their MX 1040 to Bantåg Nordic AB (Sweden) as spares. The sale is due to the financial situation in the GM group.

    Serbia (Kosovo)

    The new Unmik Railways timetable is available on the Unmik Railways site.
    Compared with the 2005 timetable the Djeneral Jankovic/Kosovo Polje/Leshak NoHAB round trip appears largely unchanged. Two pairs of IC trains between Pristina via Kosovo Polje to Skopje are also Nohab hauled between Pristina and Djeneral Jankovic. See for the NoHAB worked trains the time schedule in the Norway photo gallery.

    On 20 December 2005 a train service was reintroduced from Pristina to Skopje after an absence of many years. The timetable is as follows:

    Train 891:
    Pristina (departure) 06:28 hours
    Kosovo Polje 06:37 hours
    Ferzaj/Urosevac 07:08 hours
    Hani i Elezit/Deneral Jankovic 08:10 hours
    Volkovo 08:39 hours
    Dorce Petrov 08:46 hours
    Skopje Sever 08:53 hours
    Skopje 09:01 hours

    Train 890:
    Skopje 09:38 hours
    Skopje Sever 09:46 hours
    Dorce Petrov 09:54 hours
    Volkovo 10:15 hours
    Hani I Elezit/Deneral Jankovic 10:50 hours
    Ferzaj/Urosevac 11:31 hours
    Kosovo Polje 12:02 hours
    Pristina 12:12 hours

    Train 893:
    Pristina (departure) 13:08 hours
    Kosovo Polje 13:17 hours
    Ferzaj/Urosevac 13:48 hours
    Hani i Elezit/Deneral Jankovic 14:45 hours
    Volkovo 15:15 hours
    Dorce Petrov 15:22 hours
    Skopje Sever 15:30 hours
    Skopje 15:38 hours

    Train 892:
    Skopje 16:13 hours
    Skopje Sever 16:21 hours
    Dorce Petrov 16:29 hours
    Volkovo 16:50 hours
    Hani I Elezit/Deneral Jankovic 17:25 hours
    Ferzaj/Urosevac 18:06 hours
    Kosovo Polje 18:36 hours
    Pristina 18:46 hours

    These trains are run with either Di3 UNMIK 006 or 007 as traction between Pristina and Deneral Jankovic.

    Currently the Di3 633 (006) and Di3 641 (007) are the only roundnoses in Kosovo which are operational. However, the Di3 643 (which still has to be renumbered '008') is in restricted use as it has poor wheelsets. The Di3 633 was repaired in Macedonia and reappeared in a blue livery with the white Unmik Railways logo on the noses along with the number '006'.

    Locomotive Di3 619 is in Nis (Macedonia) for assesment and will be renumbered '005'.

    Despite the overhauls of the NoHABs Unmik Railways put out a tender for 7 till 9 second hand DMUs in September 2005 which could have serious repercusions for the NoHAB workings on short notice.

    Sweden

    On 7 November 2006 Swedish Inlandsgods bought BK-Tåg Sverige AB and its four roundnoses.

    The company Projsoft AB in Stockholm (S) bought roundnoses M34 (in LJ orange livery), M35 (in LJ orange livery) and M37 (in DSB red/black livery) from the Danish Lollandsbanen. The locomotives were transferred on Friday 17 February 2006. It could well be that Lollandsbane will get an ATC equipped MY in return which currently resides with an other owner in Sweden.

    Since the beginning of April 2006 wagons are transported again via the train ferry Frederikshavn (DK) - Göteborg (S). It concerns glue in tank wagons from Århus to Hultsfred (S). In Sweden BK-Tåg transports the wagons with TMX 1024 (in Denmark DJ is the operator, also with roundnoses as traction).

    USA

    The last Cliffs-Erie F-unit run was made on 6 June 2006 when an A-B set and a leased ex-Erie R811 made a roundtrip from the Hoyt Lakes taconite plant of the LTV Steel Mining Company to Taconite Harbor (on Lake Superior's Nort Shore) to pick up eight mill shells being sold to a company in India. The F9B 4222 was like the F9A 4211 also donated to the LSRM museum.

    An Oklahoma group bought the Grand Traverse Dinner Train that operated out of Traverse City, Michigan, from Great Lakes Central. As from 2007 this train will be used for excursion trips in Oklahoma.

    Rail Cruise America ceased to operate its four F7's (2 A's and 2 B's). In Ferbuary 2006 it sold its famous "Green Train" including the four roundnoses to the Kansas City Southern Railroad. The train was moved from the St. Louis location to Kasas City on 11 February 2006. In October 2006 Norfolk Southern bought these four roundnoses from KCS for business train use. The four units are in operating condition, but they will be given a complete mechanical review and receive any needed repairs at NS Juniata Shops in Altoona, Pa. The units are slated to be painted in a version of Southern Railway's classic "tuxedo" scheme of black and white with gold striping and lettering. It is said the units would likely make their debut in spring 2007, depending on the type of mechanical work needed.
    The four units, two F9As and two F7Bs, have varied histories:
    Rail Cruise America (RPCX) F9PH 1010 was built for the Baltimore & Ohio as B&O F7A 937 and was later renumbered to B&O 4580. It was sold to Morrison-Knudsen in 1975 and was one of six B&O F7 units rebuilt by M-K into F9PHs in 1980 for the Maryland Department of Transportation. It was numbered 7181 for MDOT, which used it in commuter train service on former B&O lines out of Washington, D.C. to Baltimore and Martinsburg, W.Va. When the Maryland Rail Commuter Service (MARC) was created the unit was renumbered to MARC 81. When MARC retired its cab units the locomotive was acquired by Rail Cruise America and numbered 101. RCPX F9PH 1020 followed a similar route; it was built as B&O F7A 947, later 4590, 4557, MDOT 7185, MARC 85 and RPCX 102.
    The two F7B units were originally built for the Chicago Great Western. RPCX 2010 was built as CGW 113D in October 1950. CGW merged into Chicago & North Western in 1968, and it carried the same number on the C&NW until September 1971 when it was renumbered Chicago & North Western 317. In 1985 it became part of Chicago & North Western's business train fleet and was numbered C&NW 410. When Union Pacific acquired C&NW in 1995, it subsequently sold off the North Western's F units and the locomotive went to Rail Cruise America in 1998 becoming RPCX 201. F7B 2020 was built in December 1950 as CGW 114B, was renumbered in August 1971 to C&NW 318, became C&NW 411 in 1985, and RPCX 202 in 1998. (Source: TRAINS).
    NS is also rumored to have bought the 2 NYSW E9's.

    Roundnoses news in 2005

    Australia

    As from 26 November 2005 ARG quitted its grain haulage to Manildra and Gunnedah's mills in New South Wales with the Manildra Group as it became unprofitable. The flour and container train services for the Manildra Group continued to run with ARG until 22 November 2008 when PN took over operations. The remaining ARG bulldog nose workings are listed in the Australia photo gallery.

    S302 was used until recently by V/Line Passenger to haul the 12:40 hours departure Melbourne Southern Cross (formerly Spencer Street) - Warrnambool passenger train. S302 is now supposedly only to be used in an emergency and was due for withdrawal on 31 December 2005. (source: World-Diesel-Loco@yahoogroups.com)

    With regard to the A-Class bulldog noses the following diagrams apply since the end of 2005: (source: World-Diesel-Loco@yahoogroups.com)

    [Diag. 1 - M-F only]
    05:45 hours (departure) Melbourne Southern Cross - South Geelong
    07:21 hours (departure) South Geelong - Melbourne Southern Cross
    16:40 hours (departure) Melbourne Southern Cross - Marshall
    ECS Marshall - Southern Cross
    this diagram then stables in Melbourne Southern Cross overnight and works the 05:45 hours departure the following morning.

    [Diag. 2 - M-F only]
    06:23 hours (departure) Seymour - Melbourne Southern Cross
    16:32 hours (departure) Melbourne Southern Cross - Seymour.

    [Diag. 3 - daily]
    Frankston - Stony Point by M>Train (operated by Veolia Transport, formerly Connex) services. This loco is still swapped on Tuesdays and Fridays with the old loco working 10:15 hours (departure) Stony Point - Frankston and the new loco then working 12:26 hours (departure) Frankston - Stony Point. This bulldog nose working can soon be over as tests took place on 24 April 2005 with ex-WCR T Class locomotives and coaches in push-pull mode...

    [Diag. 4 - M-F only]
    17:47 hours (departure) Melbourne Southern Cross - Warrnambool
    05:45 hours (departure) Warrnambool - Melbourne Southern Cross.

    At the moment there is a temporary 5th diagram for an A-Class. This should only last until early December 2005:
    [Diag. 5 - M-F only]
    07:42 hours (departure) South Geelong - Melbourne Flinders Street
    ECS Melbourne Flinders Street - Dandenong (stable) and return
    17:25 hours (departure) Melbourne Flinders Street - Geelong.

    Diagrams 2 and 5 were being covered by Freight Australia A-Class A71, A73, 79 and A85 and V/LIne A62 with V/Line A60, A66 and A70 covering the other workings.

    Once in a while an A-Class is seen on a Melbourne Southern Cross to Bacchus Marsh vice versa roundtrip.

    SSR GM10 is running 4117 BALCo duties in tandem with Patrick unit 1872 in the neighbourhood of Adelaide.

    Seymour Railway Heritage Centre GM36 (in CR Maroon livery) is hired to QR National for the Brisbane - Melbourne container trains. The trains from Brisbane (departure on at least on Thursdays and Saturdays) arrive early in Melbourne and the trains to Brisbane depart late afternoon from Melbourne (departure at least on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays) passing Seymour around 15:30 hours on Saturday).

    Darwin line freight operator FreightLink commenced a Melbourne - Darwin rail service from Monday 4 July 2005. In an arrangement with Australian Railroad Group (ARG) FreightLink will provide a six days a week container service from Melbourne to Adelaide connecting with the five days a week service to Darwin (source Railway Digest). Possibly some ARG bulldog noses will be used as traction for this feeder service.

    On 24 June 2005 P&O Ports started a new six days a week ARG hook and pull container service between Kerry Logistics at Gillman Yard near Port Adelaide and the West Swanston Dock Intermodal terminal in Melbourne. The -AM6/-MA6 (9753/9754 in Victoria) services are timetabled to arrive at West Swanston Dock terminal between 11:50 and 13:05 hours (depending on the day of the week) and depart for Adelaide around 17:00 hours on Mondays to Saturdays. The departure at Gillman Yard is around 20:30 hours. As traction two or three ARG bulldog noses are used. Already seen in use were CLF1, CLF2, CLF4, CLP12, CLP13, CLP14, GM32, GM38, GM42 and GM43.

    ARG GM30 was a spare parts donor in Dry Creek (Adelaide) until May 2005 when it was brought to EDI Rail's Forrestfield (Perth) for refurbishment into a 3 000 hp unit. The completion is envisaged by late 2005/early 2006 and could be an example for other ARG bulldog noses.

    Belgium

    Early 2005 the 202.004 (ex-NMBS 5204) with its original round nose cabines was sold by the Toeristisch Spoorweg Patrimonium (TSP/PFT) to the ASBL "Chemin de fer de la Molignée" for display in the "Usines de Haut-le-Wastia" near Anhée. This locomotive in its classical NMBS green livery, but is stored without its engine at Salzinnes until delivery not before 2008.

    NMBS museum locomotive 204.004 (5404) is taken in for refurbishment at NMBS Antwerpen Noord workshop. It will be overhauled and repainted. It will probably get the original head lights back.

    Denmark

    On weekdays from 17 Oktober 2005 until 30 December 2005 LJ operated facultative sugar trains from the sugar factory in Sakskøbing to Ringsted and return according to the following timetable:

    Train FG 8924 facultative:
    Nykøbing F Vest (departure) 08:55 hours
    Nykøbing F 09:00/25 hours
    Orehoved 09:52/10:02 hours
    Næstved 10:42 hours
    Ringsted (arrival) 11:08 hours

    Train FG 8925 facultative:
    Ringsted (departure) 11:47 hours
    Næstved 12:07 hours
    Orehoved 12:33/43 hours
    Nykøbing F 13:01/40 hours
    Nykøbing F Vest (arrival) 13:44 hours

    LJ roundnose M 38 (always leading) and M 34 were used as traction for these workings:

    LJ M 38 + empty sugar train FG 8925 from Ringsted (DK) to Sakskøbing (DK) at Næstved (DK) on 28 December 2005 (photo
courtesy and copyright of Allan Støvring Nielsen).

    LJ M 38 + M 34 + empty sugar train FG 8925 from Ringsted (DK) to Sakskøbing (DK) at Vrangstrup (DK) on 4 November 2005 (photo
courtesy and copyright of Allan Støvring Nielsen).

    MV 1102, MY 1139 and MV 1144 were finally scrapped at the scrapyard in Århus on 13 october 2005:

    From left to right: ex-DSB MY 1139 + MY 1102 + MV 1144 at Hensat Henriksen breaking yard at Århus (DK) on 25 May 2004.

    The MY 1120 (in red/black DSB livery) was scrapped in Tønder in July 2005. It was used as spare parts donor for MX 1030.

    With a lot of snow fallen in Denmark quite a few roundnoses plowed the Danish rails early 2005:

  • MY 1101 of the Danish railway museum is working on the Svendborg line.
  • MY 1135 of DSB Materiel Laboratorium is standby with ploughs in Fredericia.
  • VL might do one or two of their night runs to keep the HTJ line free.
  • DJ MY 1158 was left in Århus (the Aluminium train Tønder-Grenå is now being run by MY 1154.
  • Lollandsbanen M38 of the Lollandsbanen has been on the tracks as far as up to Næstved.

    In the end of December 2005/early January 2006 DJ MY 1158 stood guard with a snow plow at Odense:

    NEG/DJ MY 1158 + snow plow at Odense on 31 December 2005 (photo
courtesy and copyright of Allan Støvring Nielsen).

    Early September 2004 the new 100% NEG - Niebüll (Germany) danish daughter company Dansk Jernbane ApS (DJ) bought MY 1154 and MY 1158 from "Vestbanen". Since 2 February 2005 DJ uses them in Danish freight operations, to start with the aluminum train from Grenå (loaded from vessels from Norway) to Tønder (Norsk-Hydro Aluminium factory) and sometimes for the once weekly freight service Niebüll (BRD) - Grindsted (DK) vice versa. See for the current timetable of these freight services the Denmark gallery.

    Two temporary traffic relations for the DJ roundnoses are put into effect since May 2005:
  • The transport of wood from several Danish (Northern Jutland) loading points for the Austrian market on behalf of the Salzburger Eisenbahn Transport-Logistik GmbH (SETG). The traction in Germany is provided by Eisenbahnbau-und Betriebsgesellschaft Pressnitztalbahn mbH (PRESS) and in Austria by Salzburger Lokalbahn (SLB). One set of Laas/Snps-XL wagons is used for these transports. DJ runs the once-weekly trains from/to Padborg (DK);
  • The transport of building materials from Germany (Mecklenburg) to Skive (DK) on behalf of the Parchim company. DJ also runs these once-weekly trains from/to Padborg (DK).
    DJ obviously needs more locomotives to cope with the transport increase. These could be amongst others some more MX/MY locomotives. Currently NJ M 11 is temporary used by DJ. As this loco lacks the Danish ATC train safety system, it is only used as trailing loco.
    DJ bought MX 104 and rented MX 105 for probably a week from VL.

    Both the MY 1154 and MY 1158 are painted white with red cabins with the initials of both NEG and DJ.

    Germany

    Since 1 March 2005 Eichholz Verkehr & Logistik GmbH runs regular 1,700 tonnes ballast trains from Niederpöllnitz Anst Lederhose (on property of the TABEG Tanklagerbetriebsgesellschaft mbH) to Neumarkt (Opf.) Agl. Bögl for the next two years. As traction Class 66 PB 19 is rented from the Belgium Dillen & LeJeune Cargo, but as second engine an Eichholz V170 Nohab is used. On the Frankenwaldrampe (incline) the train gets a rear helper in the form of ancient "crocodile" 194 580 of the Muldental-Eisenbahnverkehrsgesellschaft mbH (MTEG). The operating days are Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

    Hungary

    M61.002 (all the 51.8 tons that remain of it) has been sold to the NOHAB-GM Foundation who plan to 'eventually' rebuild the loco.

    Luxembourg

    ex-Vennbahn 1603 was sold to a Sicilian construction company in June 2005. Apparently the sale to the Swiss Transeurop Eisenbahn AG was not effectuated. The locomotive is still present in the Raeren (B) shed.

    Sweden

    Swedish Train Technology (STT) owns TMX 1012, 1024, 1042 and TMY 1111 that were earlier owned by BSX-Tåg, BSM Järnväg and BK-Täg, all of which have now all been declared bankrupt. STT has re-engined TMY 1111, thus replacing the original General Motors engine with a Cummins power unit. (source: Railways Illustrated, december 2005)

    Motala Verkstad, which is located in Mortala (S), owns TMY 1110, 1122, 1124, 1132 and 1134. The Produktion department of Vågverket, the Swedish state road company, uses TMY 1122 and TMY 1134 which came to Motala Verkstad out of the Skånetåg Bulk AB bankruptcy. They are still in TBL white/red cabins livery. They are used for transporting road salt from the harbours in Åhus (S) and Göteborg (S) to various depots in southern Sweden.

    IBAB TMX 1013 and 1016 have been repainted blue with a large red/yellow 'Grand Nordic' logo on the sides and noses. The locomotives are used for charter traffic throughout Sweden with likewise painted coaches.

    Following the huge damage caused by storms in southern Sweden, Tågab ran a daily train from 31 January 2005 until 11 June 2005 to remove treed felled by the wind. A Nohab was used part of the route between Hallsberg (S) and Vislada. The train left Hallberg in the morning and returned loaded north in the evening.

    USA

    The use of six Connecticut DOT and two Metro-North roundnoses in regular passenger trains ended in the end of October 2005 as six hired Amtrak locomotives took over. The eight locomotives will still be used as traction for work trains.

    Some last workings on the Danbury and Waterbury branches were:

    Thursday 27 October 2005:
  • Danbury branch: 413 as train 1882;
  • Waterbury branch: 2011 + 2014 as train 1948 and 1991

    Friday 28 October 2005:
  • Danbury branch: 413 as train 1841 and 1844; 201 as train 1893; 840 as train 1882;
  • Waterbury branch: 230 as train 1916 and 1963; 6698 as train 1926 and 1975

    Saturday 29 October 2005:
  • Danbury branch: 413 as train 6813;
  • Waterbury branch: 230 as train 6910.