Owning a GEVO

:cool: To the answer of "How do I own one?"

You first need about $2,400,000 US-Dollars...that's twenty-four hundred-thousand dollars for a GEVO-AC unit...a little less for a DC-traction model...

GE-Transportation will not paint a client(UP) paint styling on the unit, as per contractual agreement with Union Pacific Railroad.

...however, an outside shop...or individual...may be contracted to paint the thing into whatever you wish...you would simply not be able to operate as a business with the Southern Pacific or any other copy-written styling...

The the first most popular question to be asked by most anyone that cared would be "Why not EMD?"

You could for example catch a used SD40, the "Most Popular Locomotive In The World" for about $300,000...NS has two high-nosed fallen flag units right now in Juniata, one NW the other former Southern Railway System...they could be had for possibly a little more that scrap value...that is $steel-scrap price...to the right buyer, a museum or otherwise...and they have more every day!

I know you have no "backyard" that can handle locating the "asset." Participation in a railroad historical society such as the California Railroad Museum can open you to worlds of trains that have yet to be realized as well as a "captive" roster they already have!
 
backyard said:
You could for example catch a used SD40, the "Most Popular Locomotive In The World" for about $300,000...NS has two high-nosed fallen flag units right now in Juniata, one NW the other former Southern Railway System...they could be had for possibly a little more that scrap value...that is $steel-scrap price...to the right buyer, a museum or otherwise...and they have more every day!
Click to expand...

For that matter, if you want a beater little workhorse, I've seen SW1200's for under $100K......
 
If you are really interested in buying a loco or piece of rollingstock (as unrealistic as it may or may not be), check out ozarkmountainrailcar.com. They have lots of equipment ranging from ready to use or in need of lots of repair. But seriously, buying a brand new GEVO and having it painted into SP is a very, very expensive idea, although if you have the money and the will to do it, go for it.
 
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If you did have the money, there is nothing stopping you from walking up to GE's offices, throwing down a wad of cash, and ordering a locomotive and latter receiving said locomotive. But then what do you do with it?

Well you could find a short line that might want to lease it out from you. They pay you to use your locomotive on their tracks. But a GEVO might be a bit much for some short lines. And youd have to compete with other leasers that are trying to get the sort lines money. And for the leasing price of your one GEVO, they might be able to lease 2 or 3 other locomotives from some one else.

As for the paint, you couldn't paint it any thing SP, ESPEE, or any thing that any owns. But you could paint it hot pink for all any one cares.

And then there is the fact that you couldn't drive it, even if you found some railroad to run it on. You'd have to pay more money to get training and licensed to operate a locomotive. And its more then just a few nights of drivers ed at the local church.

You'd be better off buying a rail car, then sending that out to railroads. A few years ago I was talking with some people who where going to buy 5 box cars. They where going to paint them in their own railroad livery, then lease them out to the railroads and make a profit off of them.
 
Honestly if i were to buy a loco right now, I'd buy a SD40-2 or two someone purged from their Class 1 roster, take their decals off it, slap my reporting mark on it and lease the suckers out to make me some money from my investment. THAT is what private individuals and firms for the majority do when buying locomotives.....unless of course you have all the money in the world, then by all means toss a GEVO in your backyard. I'd rather go for an ACe...less likely to blow turbo parts thru my window.
 
I have it wonder if a major locomotive maker would even accept a single order, at least not without raising the cost of the loco tremendously. There is a lot of setup and tooling involved in creating pretty much any machine or device, let alone something as complex as a modern locomotive.
 
Why not by a Gevo Like this:
CN2236-DSC_0594.jpg
Its only $400.00 and you do not need a Drivers Liscence.
 
If I bought a diesel it'd be pulling two passenger cars converted to apartment cars, a flatcar, and a caboose. That's called an apartment train.
 
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