summer of lease units, The

Chesapeake and Ohio Historical Magazine, Oct 2000 by Doyle, Jerry, Young, Everett

In previous times, the C&O, and later Chessie System, routinely leased power to other railroads during periods of slow traffic. Seeing a C&O GP35 on a CP Rail train or even a GP9 running on the Rock Island was not unusual. With the coming of the CSX merger, the larger combined fleet was barely sufficient for traffic levels. In fact, CSX became a lessor instead of lessee, and a large fleet of ex-ATSF C30-7s began to supplement the CSX roster.

With the influx of hundreds of GE Dash-8 and AC units beginning in 1988 and continuing throughout the 1990s, the need for lease power greatly diminished. Small, short-term leases still were utilized during peak periods, but the sight of foreign lease power was a rarity. With the purchase of 42 percent of Conrail on June 1, 1999, CSX began to experience unparalleled increases in traffic. Although hundreds of ex-Conrail units came with the purchase, and hundreds of new AC units have arrived since the Conrail breakup, the shortage of locomotives became chronic. CSX left no stone unturned in its effort to find power to break the sudden log jam in the summer of 1999.

The revolution in locomotive efficiency coupled with more attractive financing created a pool of modern power that was no longer needed by many large US and Canadian railroads. Today's lease power includes the most popular models of the second generation, such as the SD40-2 and C30-7. It even includes third-generation units, such as the GP60 and SD60.

With the demand high for motive power nationwide, several new firms got into the locomotive leasing business. Names such as First Union Rail (FURX), Helm Leasing (HLCX for EMD and some GE units; HLGX for others), Helm Atlantic (HATX), Rail Car Limited (RMGX),UniCapital Rail Group (URGX), Locomotive Leasing Partners (LLPX), Livingston Rebuild Center (LRCX), and CIT Finance Corporation (CEFX) became well known as they bought groups of diesel units cast off from Class 1 lines and then leased them to the highest bidder.

At its peak, the lease-unit fleet on CSX numbered over 500 units in mid-2000. Currently there are still just under 300 units supplementing the CSX locomotive fleet. In the pages that follow are a selection of units that are just a small sample of the variety seen on CSX. Although some photos were taken while the units were on earlier leases, all of these units operated on CSX between the summer of 1999 and today.