Railpictures.ca - Stephen C. Host Photo: What decade is this? Action red meets MLW on the CP mainline at Guelph Junction as the London Pickup with 3018 passes by OSR Job two with RS-18 182. The Guelph Junction Railway job is putting away their train in the interchange after arriving from Guelph. This scene could have been 2002, but it was in the waning months of the OSR serving the GJR in Summer 2020. If I recall correctly 3018 was the last Action Red GP38 and has since been sold in 2022 to S&S who have since resold to SBZX 3018 reportedly down in Mexico now. 3018 was also a GP38AC. | Railpictures.ca – Canadian Railway Photography

What decade is this? Action red meets MLW on the CP mainline at Guelph Junction as the London Pickup with 3018 passes by OSR Job two with RS-18 182. The Guelph Junction Railway job is putting away their train in the interchange after arriving from Guelph. This scene could have been 2002, but it was in the waning months of the OSR serving the GJR in Summer 2020. If I recall correctly 3018 was the last Action Red GP38 and has since been sold in 2022 to S&S who have since resold to SBZX 3018 reportedly down in Mexico now. 3018 was also a GP38AC.

Caption: What decade is this? Action red meets MLW on the CP mainline at Guelph Junction as the London Pickup with 3018 passes by OSR Job two with RS-18 182. The Guelph Junction Railway job is putting away their train in the interchange after arriving from Guelph. This scene could have been 2002, but it was in the waning months of the OSR serving the GJR in Summer 2020. If I recall correctly 3018 was the last Action Red GP38 and has since been sold in 2022 to S&S who have since resold to SBZX 3018 reportedly down in Mexico now. 3018 was also a GP38AC. Can anyone explain why so few AC geeps and why they have fallen out of favour, while AC seems all the rage in road locomotives?

Photographer:	Stephen C. Host [1572] (more) (contact)
Date:	6/24/2020 (search)
Railway:	Canadian Pacific (search)
Reporting Marks:	CP 3018, OSRX 182 (search)
Train Symbol:	London Pickup, OSR Job two (search)
Subdivision/SNS:	Guelph Junction (search)
City/Town:	Campbellville (search)
Province:	Ontario (search)
Share Link:	http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=56443

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5 Comments

sdfourty

April 5, 2025 at 1:12 pm

AC likely more cost effective / better use of HP.
L. Parks

April 5, 2025 at 5:41 pm

I’ll take a stab at it, please feel free to add or correct the following. In my limited understanding, locomotives, just like cars went from using DC generators to using AC alternators. In your car, there is a little bank of solid state devices converting/rectifying that AC to DC so that the battery will stay charged. Again, “I believe”, the GP38ac was the initial start of the -2 line of locos. By using an alternator, this simplified the DC system that was being used with all the larger relays and transition etc etc. So, it could be said that modular electronics came into reality with the -2 line of locos (for GM). The troubled DC system was replaced with plug in electronics. Just like in a car, the AC power still has to be converted/rectified to DC on dash 2′s, those are still DC traction motors in the trucks. Today’s locos use AC traction motors, but that AC from the alternator still has to be converted into 3 phase before it can be fed to the traction motors. Or something like that, I won’t pretend to understand what is going on under the hood of a modern AC unit.
Steve, those AC traction motors are all the rage in road units because they can dig down much deeper than a DC traction motor. No stalling of brushes on the commutator.
Let the sacrifice begin.
Stephen C. Host

April 5, 2025 at 7:35 pm

LLPX 2210 is a GP38AC! This unit was on GEXR for a long time..
NiagaraMike11

April 7, 2025 at 11:06 am

Nicely done!
Stephen C. Host

April 11, 2025 at 11:16 pm

Thanks gang

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