New Skally Power!

First off, I want to thank Mark Lynn (MRL) for letting me post a couple of his pics. I am 1300 miles from Rush City right now, so I'm glad he was there. Subscribe to his Flickr channel to see a ton of great photos: Flickr mlynn72130

ILSX SD40M-2 #1326 was sent to the WSOR paint shop in Horicon, WI. It emerged as SCXY #1326. I got to see it right after some wheel work at NTW in Minneapolis, but I couldn't get a decent shot. Luckily it was interchanged quickly to the Skally Line and is now in service with the SCXY GP8 and GP9. The SCXY reporting marks will be coming off and it will be getting some NP style "Radio Equipped" stickers.

This beautiful SD45 body unit should make pulling the heavy sand trains a breeze. I was always a fan of the NP SD45s, even though I never got to see one in person. I will point out the framing behind the engine is the new Rush City Engine house. That will be good for getting these engines started on the cold MN mornings. 

The best part of the story is that there will be a second SD45 bodied engine coming to match this one. The Skally just keeps getting better and better. I've already got one SD45 on the bench to strip down and get repainted. I can't wait to get back and get some photos of the new engine! Thanks again to Mark for letting me post some of his awesome shots!