What Happened To The Dash-8?

foreign [Music] where are they gone and where are they now before we answer those questions let's go over exactly what a dash 8 is the dash 8 is a locomotive made by General Electric production started in the late 80s and ended in the mid 90s when GE released the dash 9. Dash 8 came in lots of varieties the earlier ones had standard cabs and could have either four or six axles later models saw the introduction of the wide cab which is still used on GE locomotives today and just like later models the wide cap versions also had the option of four or six axles and then there's what I like to call the Canadian style Dash 8. it's got a unique cow type car body but on the inside is a normal Dash 8. as far as I'm concerned these only came with six axles foreign [Music] is let's go over what happened to them and why they really ain't seen anymore pretty much all Dash eights were retired from Mainline service by the 2010s typically when a locomotive is pulled from Mainline service it's putting Rail Yards to do switching chunting and serve as local power it's like getting a new lease on life but this isn't what happened to the dash 8s when it came time for them to be retired railroads already had plenty of switcher units in their yards and on top of that lots of Dash eights were approaching the end of their service life for some locomotives they would need hundreds of thousands of dollars in repairs and for the railroad it just wasn't worth it to spend that much money on an already outdated engine since Dash eights weren't needed in the yard and weren't needed on the main line they began to pile up by the hundreds on storage tracks Across the Nation now this wasn't true for all Dash eights because a few did slip through the cracks and were put on yard Duty heck just a few months ago I caught BNSF 551 leading a power move around Galesburg but this is an extremely rare sight for most Dash eights they were stowed away until the railroad decided what to do with them when railroads no longer have a need for old locomotives they're typically sold off or scrapped and this is exactly what happened to the dash Eights lots of these engines were sold to smaller railroads who still use them even to this day just look at the Arkansas Oklahoma railroad they bought 2-8s from BNSF and use them all the time or the late Pan Am Railway they had a sizable Fleet of Dash eights before they got bought by CSX but the majority of Dash H didn't get so lucky and they never left the storage track let's look at bnsf's locomotive storage yard in Galveston Texas you can find dang near every single Dash 8 model here just rotten away every now and then Parts might be taken off them to repair other locomotives but there's not a lot of functional Parts left to remove anymore nowadays these engines are just shells waiting to be scrapped today you can still find a few Dash eights in service with class 1 railroads there's BNSF 551 like I mentioned earlier or CSX 7823 speaking of CSX they've actually revived the dash 8 a bit after they bought Pan Am Railways they took their Dash 8 Fleet and put them in service I don't know how long CSX will keep them around but it's nice to know they're out there Amtrak also still uses Dash eights but they're a rare sight because p40s and 42s are their preferred Road locomotive there's even a union pacific-8 in preservation at the Illinois Railway Museum I'm pretty sure it's fully functional too and then you have the Short Line railroads these are what's really keeping the dash 8 alive the class 1 railroads could care less if they had to get rid of their remaining Dash eights but for Class 2 and 3 railroads they usually can't afford to lose any locomotives so it's going to be these small companies that are going to keep the dash eights rolling hopefully for many more years [Music] Dash eights are still around you just have to know where to look while it's true that their numbers have been cut down significantly there's still plenty in operation sometimes you can get lucky and see one in transit between yards or maybe catch one on a local Freight but if you're really hunting for a dash 8 your best bet would be to visit Shortline railroads storage tracks or large Rail Yards like Galesburg Bailey or Inman and for anyone in the Western Illinois area I know a place where you can go and see a dash 8 right now in Galesburg Illinois there's a storage track with a line of engines and at the southwestern end is BNSF 524 get your picks in while you can because this locomotive is going to be scrapped it's engine rain without cooling for heaven knows how long and it's totally unusable I don't know when this line of engines will be moved but time's definitely ticking and they won't be here forever thanks for watching if you all enjoyed this video consider checking out some other ones of mine till next time

Channel: Southern Plains Railfan

Views: 27,250

Keywords: train videos, train crash, recommended videos, youtube home feed, trains, BNSF, suggested videos, Southern Plains Railfan, browse features, model trains, train wreck, train crash compilation, HISTORY IN THE DARK, Santa Fe, Dash-8 locomoitve, what happened to, freight trains, thomas the train, train songs, Galesburg Illinois

Id: dZs3wnDw8AM

Length: 5min 49sec (349 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 18 2022