Rivet Counter N Scale GE DASH 9-44CW, Southern Pacific/As Delivered/Gray Cab Window Grabs

Heading into the 1990s, the Southern Pacific Railroad was doing its best to shake off the torture they endured in the 1980s. The nationwide economic downturn in the early 1980s, combined with downturns in core traffic, had left the railroad in rough shape, both financially and physically. The financial struggles were reflected in the locomotive fleet, with deferred maintenance taking a toll. In 1983, a brighter future appeared in the form of a planned merger with crosstown rival Santa Fe. It held promise of a brand-new giant of western railroads, with the combined company to be called the SPSF, complete with a new paint scheme applied a bit prematurely by both roads to various models in their respective fleets, and a new holding company acquiring the individual railroads while the regulatory process of consummating the merger rolled along. 

But the surprise denial of the merger by the ICC in 1986, and the order for the holding company established as part of the merger plan to divest one of the component railroads, with the weaker component, SP, being spun off, minus its non-railroad assets (pipelines, telecom, etc.), left them in an even more precarious financial situation. A white knight for SP appeared in the form of Denver billionaire Phillip Anschutz and his Rio Grande Industries, the holding company of the famed Denver & Rio Grande Western railroad, which purchased the Southern Pacific in 1988.

The newly combined Southern Pacific and Rio Grande railroads would operate independently at first, but heading into the 1990s, their operations would slowly combine, along with a decision to create a new corporate identity for the two railroads. With Southern Pacific being the larger and more well-known railroad, the SP image would be the face of the new company. Infusions of cash into the SP would tackle overhauling or rebuilding the deadlines of dead or dying locomotives and rolling stock in an effort to improve abysmal service, along with modernizing and streamlining operations. In 1991, the new “Speed Lettering” scheme was introduced, both to signify a unified image for DRGW and SP, as well as to improve the image of SP, which was notorious for having many members of its fleet being in terrible condition, appearance-wise, with years of hard service and infrequent washes or repaints having taken its toll. 

New locomotives were also on the agenda, with the last new locomotives bought by SP before Rio Grande Industries came long being orders of EMD GP60s and GE B39-8E and B40-8 locomotives purchased in the 1987-88 timeframe. While the new power was welcome and useful for pulling the growing amounts of intermodal traffic, in particular double-stack trains across the relatively flat deserts of the southwest, it was a liability on the many grades found on the western part of the system, with crews cursing constant wheelslip as the 4-axle units tried to dig in. Despite the technology advances of the computerized GE DASH-8 and EMD 60-series promised by the respective builders, and their advanced wheelslip controls to improve adhesion and overall performance, physics wins in the end, and all the computers in the world can only do so much to help a 4-axle locomotive lift tonnage up a heavy grade. These high-horsepower, 4-axle units were great at accelerating and keeping relatively light intermodal trains moving on level territory, but were at a disadvantage on heavier trains on grades. 

For the long uphill grinds SP dealt with in locales like Beaumont Hill, the Siskiyou’s, and the Sierra Nevada range, six-axle locomotives were much better suited. However, there were only so many to go around within the fleet, with the newest units being the 8230-8299 series of SD40T-2s built in 1980, and “new” rebuilt units in the form of SD45T-2Rs, with a total of 126 rebuilt in-house at SP’s Sacramento Locomotive Works in 1987-1989. Those, along with SD40R and SD45R rebuilds, the remaining unrebuilt SD45T-2 fleet, and older orders of SD40T-2s, were the backbone of the 6-axle mainline fleet. Rio Grande also brought groups of SD45s, SD40T-2s, and a small batch of SD50s to the table. However, more were needed to move heavy tonnage more efficiently than the 4-axle speedsters, especially coal and grain trains. 

Thankfully, the purse strings would loosen, with orders placed for new and rebuilt locomotives, including new six-axle power. Surprisingly, SP placed a sizable order for the latest GE model at the time, the DASH 9-44CW. They would be their first new GE 6-axle power since the U33C, with the last examples delivered to SP in 1975. Not popular with crews or shop personnel, they had apparently left a bad taste in SP's mouth, with some examples not even making it to their 10th birthday before being retired. However, improvements seen in the successor Dash-7 line (SP had a fleet of B23-7, B30-7, and B36-7 locomotives), the success of the new Dash-8s on the roster, along with advances touted in the DASH 9 series, led to SP taking the plunge with the C44-9W.  

The C44-9Ws began arriving in 1994, with GE promising a quick delivery schedule, which also played a role in the decision to go with the GE product. They were delivered in the flashy Speed Lettering scheme and were also distinctive in being among the first safety-cab equipped locomotives on the roster, alongside a small group of EMD SD70Ms delivered in the same timeframe. The new GEs were immediately put to work on heavy grain and coal trains, and proved to be a hit with crews and bean-counters alike. Operating crews appreciated the performance and creature comforts of the new units, and management appreciated the cost savings thanks to unit reduction and increased fuel efficiency. Outputting 4,400hp, spread out over six axles, they were the most powerful and advanced units on the roster, delivering the performance GE promised. 

SP would acquire a total of 101 C44-9Ws, numbered 8100-8200. The original order was for 100 units, with GE including a warranty-protection “freebie”. Based upon the success of the C44-9Ws, SP would next acquire the AC-traction version, the AC4400, which provided even greater performance over the C44-9W.

The C44-9Ws would proudly serve the Southern Pacific until their end as an independent railroad in 1996, with their acquisition by Union Pacific. The former SP C44-9Ws would continue to serve its new owner, alongside former C&NW C44-9Ws, and C4-9Ws UP acquired on its own. As the units were intermixed freely within the UP fleet, parts swaps would inevitably occur, creating mismatches of components like HVAC units, hood doors, and even engine cabs. In the 2000s, it wasn’t uncommon to see former SP units sporting HVAC units in CNW paint, nose or long hood doors and panels from UP-painted units, and so on. Add in the “patch” renumberings UP did to integrate the former C&NW and SP DASH 9s into the fleet, which resulted in some colorful patchwork units.

The DASH 9s have proven to be reliable, well-liked power, and bucking the trend of retiring and scrapping “old” GEs, the 2000s would see UP putting the DASH 9 fleet, including the SP units, into heavy rebuilding programs after nearly two decades of service, rebuilding them like new into essentially AC4400s, helping ensure many more years of service for their new owner.