Total SF
A ‘gently used’ Caltrain locomotive is for sale — but there’s a 135-ton catch
By
Peter Hartlaub,Culture Critic Aug 13, 2024
A worker climbs into an engine of a train as it sits at the Caltrain Station in San Francisco on December 21, 2017.
Michael Short/Special to The Chronicle
A surprising item showed up on the
new Caltrain online store this week alongside the tote bags, T-shirts and transit-themed ugly holiday sweaters:
A listing for “gently used, lovingly maintained” 135-ton diesel locomotives; perfect for anyone with a love of trains, a lot of extra space and the ability to move something that weighs a little more
than an adult blue whale.
The historic 1985 F40 diesel locomotives “come with 40 years of service, and more than 1,000,000 miles traveled,”
the item listing reads. “Perfect for your model train set, train-themed diners … unconventional bed and breakfast, or just to show up your overly gnomed neighbor’s lawn.”
That description makes the listing sound like parody, but Caltrain spokesman Dan Lieberman insists the sale is very real.
“These locomotives have been helping to get our riders to get where they need to go for nearly a quarter century,” he said. “Sadly, decommissioned locomotives often get scrapped for parts, and we’d much rather these engines find a home with collectors, artists or anyone else looking to own a piece of railroad history.”
Caltrain is selling 20 of its diesel locomotives, all built between 1985 and 1987, to make way for its new electrified fleet of trains.Courtesy Caltrain
Bay Area transit agencies have a robust recent history of recycling train and subway cars. A local couple
recently sold a 1970s Muni streetcar, which will be recycled in the North Bay as
a glamping destination. BART has
unloaded scores of its 1970s cars for the price of transportation, destined to be used as a video game arcade, Airbnbs and a clubhouse for
Oakland’s Scraper Bike Team.
Those cars could be mounted on large flatbed trailers, and carted away to pretty much anywhere in the state. BART estimated the costs to clean its cars and transport them at about $10,000.
Lieberman couldn’t name an exact price, but purchasing one of the 20 available Caltrain locomotives will not be inexpensive, or free from logistical headaches. (As the old saying goes: If you have to ask how much it costs to buy a used diesel locomotive, you probably can’t afford one.)
The only practical way to move an F40 locomotive is by rail. Sacramento-based Siemens Mobility, for example, manufactures its locomotives at a factory
adjacent to a rail line. Any other method would require disassembling the car and moving it on multiple trailers. But the exact logistics will likely come later.
Two locomotives sit next to each other at the Caltrain station in San Francisco on December 21, 2017.
Michael Short/Special to The Chronicle
The fully operational locomotives, all built between 1985 and 1987, are being retired to make way for the debut of
Caltrain’s electric locomotive fleet, which debuted in San Francisco on Saturday with a host of politicians including Gov. Gavin Newsom and former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
But if you’re thinking of building your own rail line, better read the fine print.
Part of Caltrain’s state grant for its electrification requires its diesel locomotives to be decommissioned and disabled. In other words, you can use them as a play structure, but not to haul the grandchildren around your yard. (Or haul your herd of Herefords to an East Coast slaughterhouse.)
Still reading? The locomotives officially go on sale in October, when Caltrain may have more information about the pricing. In the meantime, Lieberman said the attention is a win for the transit agency.
“Trying to sell them to a wider range of people and organizations through the online store seemed like a good way of trying to preserve these historical engines,” he said. “Plus, it’s just plain fun and unexpected.”
Reach Peter Hartlaub: phartlaub@sfchronicle.com; Twitter: @PeterHartlaub
