GMTX Engine parked in North Ave. Yard

[TribuneFreightFanatic]

Hello all,

A few days ago, I was driving past the North Ave. yard on the e-way. I glanced over and saw what looked like a blue engine behind a row of boxcars.  I had to find out what was going on. So, I got off and stopped by the yard. Sure enough, a shiny, new GMTX "Rail Locomotive Group" EMD GP 38-2  engine was sitting there, with its motor idling. Any thoughts as to why such a foreign engine was parked there? Attached is a photo of the engine; it was coupled to the usual UPY GP-15.

-Trib.Fr8.Fan.

[cnwnorthline]

UP leases power from time to time so I'd imagine that it's just the power UP is using at this time.  Hope it doesn't get too much graffiti!

 -Matt

[Brianbobcat]

I noticed that too around two weeks ago.  Some history about GMTX I looked up is that they're based in Chicago and are over 110 years old.  They also came up in this unrelated Craine's story about tank cars: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20131026/ISSUE01/310269977/oil-boom-is-creating-years-long-backlog-for-tank-cars

"As demand increases, the good fortune trickles down to car lessors such as Chicago-based GATX Corp., whose prices have increased more than 20 percent in five years.
“We've seen dramatic increases in tank car rates over the last 18 months due to the unprecedented demand for the cars,” GATX President and CEO Brian Kenney told investors in a July conference call. The company's stock closed Oct. 25 at $51.21, up 22 percent from a year ago.
Chicago's historic status as a transportation hub makes it ground zero for the boom. Six of the nine major tank car players are based in the region: Union Tank Car and lessors GATX, GE Capital Railcar Services, CIT Group Inc., Flagship Rail Services LLC and First Union Rail Corp."