THE HISTORY OF DIESEL-ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVES
The Beginnings
Why Diesel-Electric?
From the beginnings of railroad history, steam locomotives hauled passengers and freight up and down the East Coast and later coast to coast. When the first diesel locomotives came out, people remained confident that steam will rule the railroads forever. They had a valid argument. The first diesel locomotives were not powerful nor reliable as the steam locomotives. They were underpowered heavy machines that labor in the yards. Several years later when the first diesel passenger locomotive came out, people’s minds changed very little.They figured that steam locomotive will remain the main mover of freight on America’s railroads. People were shocked when the EMD FT came out and performed better than any steam freight locomotive produced. Fifteen years after the introduction of the FT, the steam locomotives have become obsolete and diesel traction took their place as the primary mover of rail traffic in North America.
Why diesel-electric locomotives? Diesel locomotives have a smaller overall cost than steam and electric locomotives. Electric railroads have a higher cost, for example the cost to run and maintain electric plants to produce electricity for the railroad. Steam locomotives use a lot of expensive coal for fuel. Diesel fuel is cheaper and more efficient than coal. Steam locomotives also use water for steam in the boiler. Diesel locomotives do not use any water at all. This was particularly helpful for the western railroads, where water is hard to find or not suitable for use in steam locomotives. Diesel locomotives are more reliable than steam locomotives. They did not need as much service than the steam locomotives. A diesel locomotive is always available to run a route at all times. This is true because diesel locomotives only need service once in a while and a scheduled overhaul in its career. The steam locomotives always needed constant cleaning of the firebox, tender and exhaust pipes. Steam locomotives because of their service record, are only available to serve the railroad only 40 percent of their of lives. The only disadvantage with the early diesel locomotives is that steam locomotives were more powerful. A new diesel locomotive in the late 1930’s had a 1350 horsepower rating, while a new steam locomotive had a 4500 horsepower rating. To make diesels more competitive, diesel locomotive manufacturers developed multiple unit lash ups to make their rather weak diesel locomotives more powerful but putting 2 or more units together. A diesel locomotive lash-up creates a unit that could outpower any steam locomotive.
Between the years 1939 to 1960, diesel locomotive displaced and destroyed around 80,000 steam locomotives. The last all-steam railroad was the Norfolk and Western. They began to convert over to diesel in 1957. The last main line steam locomotive ran on the Norfolk and Western on July 4, 1961.
The Producers
American Locomotive Company (ALCO)
ALCO began to build steam locomotives in 1848 in Schenectady, New York. The company was known as The Schenectady Locomotive Works. In 1901, Schenectady Locomotive Works merged with seven other locomotive manufacturers across the eastern half of the United States. This conglomerate became known as American Locomotive Company or ALCO for short. In 1905, ALCO acquired The Rogers Locomotive Works and Montreal Locomotive Works in Canada. ALCO used the Montreal Locomotive Works or MLW to build ALCO locomotives for the Canadian market. In the 1920’s, ALCO and General Electric began a long term partnership into the production of electric and diesel-electric locomotives in the United States. In 1924, ALCO built it first diesel locomotive, a 300 hp. switcher they weighed 60 ton. This switcher was extremely heavy for its size and if this design ever became a road-switcher, the locomotive would be massive.In 1929, they built their first passenger diesel locomotive, New York Central #1550. This was 6 years before the inaugural run of the Zephyr. Also in 1929, ALCO purchased McIntosh and Seymour, an Auburn, New York diesel engine builder. ALCO wanted to explore the further development into lightweight diesel engines for locomotives. During World War II, ALCO produced only steam locomotives and small switchers because of the government restricted ALCO from building diesel locomotives over 1000 hp. After the war, 75 percent of all locomotives produced by ALCO were diesel. ALCO produced its last steam locomotive in 1948, and began to focus more on their diesel production. ALCO conquered 40% of the diesel locomotive market in the late 1940’s. ALCO had much success until General Electric’s decision to break up their long partnership and go into the diesel locomotive market itself in 1953. ALCO now had another competitor in a sea of locomotive builders trying to sell their products to railroads. After the General Electric divorce, ALCO failed to come up with a successful locomotive to keep the company in business. ALCO made its last American diesel locomotive in 1969 but continued to manufacture engines and parts for their locomotives. But Montreal Locomotive Works continued to produce ALCO locomotive and new locomotives based on ALCO designs until 1985.
ALCO RS1
Legend has it that the ALCO RS1, was originally sketched on the back on an envelope. The ALCO RS1 was the first mass-produced road-switcher type locomotive to be made in the United States. The first RS1 came to the Rock Island railroad in March of 1941, and the last RS1 was built in 1960. A total of 567 RS1’s were built over a time period of 19 years, which became the longest production period for a diesel locomotive. Over those 19 years, the RS1 changed very little except for a few locomotives that received a shorter hood. The RS1 weighs between 115 to 126 tons and is 55 feet long and 14 feet tall. These locomotives were the first to fitted with “AAR Type B” trucks. This type of truck gave the RS1 a smooth and comfortable ride. This type of truck was put on many other ALCO locomotives up to the Century series. The RS1 was powered by an ALCO 539, 6cyl, 1000 HP engine. This engine was standard on this model throughout the 19 years of production. Along with all other ALCO locomotives, the RS1 sported General Electric traction motors and electrical equipment. Out of the 567 RS1’s built, 144 were owned by the Army. The largest North American fleet of RS1’s was owned by the National of Mexico with 64 locomotives. The largest domestic fleet of 35 RS1’s was owned by the Minneapolis and St. Louis Railroad. This locomotive also was exported to Iran, Portugal and other countries. By the mid-1960’s many RS1’s began their second life on secondary and shortline railroads. A few RS1’s still pull fright and do yard work just like when they were brand new. Many RS1’s are found on shortlines and small railroads especially across the eastern half of the United States and the Canadian Maritime. At 1000 HP, this locomotive can do everything around a railroad, that’s why the RS1 it a useful commodity.
ALCO DL-600 (RS-11)
The DL-600 was introduced in 1954. This locomotive was more powerful than any EMD and Fairbanks-Morse locomotives on the market. Rated “conservatively” at 2250 hp, the DL-600 had better continuous and short-time traction than any other locomotive active at that time. This locomotive was designed for all types of service from high speed passenger trains to slow, heavy “dog” locals. The DL-600 is powered by an ALCO 244, 16 cylinder, turbocharged, 2250 horsepower engine, which delivers 65,200 to 79,500 lb. of continuous tractive effort. The tractive effort on this locomotive varies depending on the type of gearing. The DL-600 could be geared either for 65 MPH, 75 MPH, or 80 MPH service which makes this locomotive very versatile. The DL-600 puts out 97,500 lb. of starting tractive effort and 107,400 lb. of short-time tractive effort for 4 minutes with 25% adhesion. Adhesion is the measure of gripping action between the rails and the wheels. The DL-600 has 6 General Electric traction motors which produce 3400 dynamic brake horsepower while going down a hill at 20 MPH. Dynamic braking is used when a locomotive is going down a hill, the engine is disconnected from the generator on the locomotive. The traction motors use the locomotive’s momentum to turn into generators to power the train and slow the train down a hill without using the brakes. This process saves wear on the brakes and prevent runaway trains.
The DL-600 has a 1350 gallon fuel tank when the locomotive is equipped with a steam boiler for passenger service and 2400 gallon fuel tank without a boiler. The steam generator on a DL-600 has a capacity of 2000 gallons of water and uses the oil from the engine to fire the boiler. The DL-600 weighs a minimum of 325,000 lb. to a maximum of 390,000 lb.
Fairbanks-Morse
Fairbanks-Morse went into the locomotive business in 1939, with an opposed piston engine inside a switcher locomotive. Fairbanks-Morse built a variety of different products before going into the locomotive business. This company is known for scales and other weighing devices. In the 1920’s, Fairbanks-Morse began to experiment with electric motors and gasoline engines. In the early 1930’s, they produced the opposed-piston diesel engine for submarines. In the late 1930’s, they took their oppose-piston type of diesel engine and put it into a locomotive, this began Fairbanks-Morse’s career of building locomotives. Further development in this field was put on hold until World War II was finished. Like other diesel locomotive manufacturers, Fairbanks-Morse could not produce diesel locomotives above 1000hp during the war. After the war, they began production of road-switcher diesel locomotives in 1944. Fairbanks-Morse locomotives were built at General Electric’s Erie, Pennsylvania plant from 1944 to 1949. After 1949, Fairbanks-Morse began to produce locomotives at their own plant in Beloit, Wisconsin. Their only highlight in a relativity short locomotive building career, was the Train Master, a high performance locomotive that had a higher rated horsepower than any ALCO and EMD locomotive. It became a successful design that could not sell locomotives. Only 105 Train Master locomotives were sold between 1953 to 1956. After this disappointment, Fairbanks-Morse produced two unsuccessful light-weight passenger locomotives and stopped building locomotives in the domestic market in 1958. Fairbanks-Morse continued to produced locomotives for Mexico until 1963. The short-comings of the oppose-piston engine and late entry into the diesel locomotive market forced them out. Fairbanks-Morse still make their unique oppose-piston diesel engine for industry.
Baldwin Locomotive Works
Baldwin Locomotive Works founder, Matthias W. Baldwin, was a jeweler but worked as a machinist when business was slow. He formed a partnership with a local machinist, David Mason and began to make tools for book binding. In 1830, they built their first stationary steam engine. Shortly after the construction of this engine, David Mason withdrew from the partnership, but Baldwin kept on making steam engines. In 1832, Matthias Baldwin built his first steam locomotive, “Old Ironsides” for the Philadelphia, Germantown, and Norristown Railroad. This was the first of many steam locomotives that Baldwin Locomotive Works will produce in Philadelphia, and later at Eddystone until the late 1940’s when dieselization took effect.
Baldwin was the first to experiment with diesel electric locomotives in 1925 with a switching engine. This engine had a 12-cylinder, 1000 HP engine and weighed 275,000 lb. This design was extremely heavy for a small locomotive. A new EMD SD80MAC weighs 415,000 lb. and it has a 5,000 HP engine. This locomotive had Westinghouse electric generators and other electric components. The Baldwin and Westinghouse partnership goes back to the first Baldwin electric locomotive built in 1913. The partnership lasted until 1954, when Westinghouse discontinued their heavy traction equipment. Baldwin began to build their first conventional diesel-electric switcher in 1934 and their first main-line diesel locomotive in 1943. Among with ALCO, Baldwin was allowed to produce steam locomotive and diesel switchers during World War II. The same government ruling kept Baldwin from producing any diesel locomotive above 1000 hp. In the late 1940’s, Baldwin built its only and most successful model, a diesel switcher, in which some still exist in yards and shortline railroads today. Shortly before 1950, Baldwin made their last straight electric locomotives for the Pennsylvania Railroad. In 1950, Baldwin was out of the steam locomotive business and started to concentrate on their fledgling line diesel locomotives. The last steam locomotives were built for railroads in India. In 1954, Baldwin merged with Lima-Hamilton, a former rival in the steam locomotive business and maker of switcher diesel locomotives. Baldwin figured the merger with Lima-Hamilton will make their company very successful, but the opposite happen. The new company, Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton, built many unsuccessful locomotives and disappeared from the ranks of locomotive building. In 1956, B-L-H made the last locomotive at the Works at Eddystone, thus ending a 120 year reign of building steam, electric and diesel locomotives.
The Ever Famous Baldwin Switchers
The Baldwin Locomotive Works built their first yard switching engine in 1937. Baldwin locomotive number 62,000 was the first example of making a diesel locomotive that was competitive with a steam locomotive manufacturing cost. Number 62,000 was the first diesel with a single cab design rather than the double which are used on Baldwin electric locomotives. This locomotive also featured a hood design that housed the engine, fuel tanks and radiators. Number 62,000 had a DeLaVergne in-line 6 cylinder, 600 HP engine. Unit number 62,000 was sold to Santa Fe in 1937 but was traded back to Baldwin during World War II for a road diesel. Number 62,000 was assigned to the Baldwin Locomotive Works Yard at Eddystone where it will remain until 1956.
The last and most successful switcher model was built in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s. This switcher unit was the most dependable and more powerful than all other models featured by any other builder. Baldwin had a reputation of making locomotives that can withstand abuse and normal wear and tear. This model of switcher was available with different size engines ranging from 800 to 1200 HP.
The RF16 “Sharknoses”
The “Sharknose” design was created in 1934 after a grade crossing accident with a truck. That accident put Pennsylvania Railroad’s Baldwin-Westinghouse electric P5A locomotives in to the shed. This disastrous accident showed that the cab on the P5A locomotive was unsafe. The original 28 P5A locomotives were modified with a GGI type body with a slanted nose that looked like the nose of a shark. The popular sharknose design was duplicated in 1942 on a Baldwin 4-4-4-4 duplex stream-lined steam locomotive. In the late 1940’s, the sharknose design went onto a group of Baldwin built stream-lined diesels for the Pennsylvania Railroad. The Pennsylvania Railroad RF16 were rated at 1500 hp, but were rated at 6,400 hp when 4 units were lashed together. The 4 unit lash up develop a starting tractive force of 295,200 lb. A tractive force is the locomotive’s ability to pull a load. The RF16’s had an 8-cylinder engine at 1500 hp. Baldwin built a total of 109 RF16 “A” units and 51 “B” units. The Pennsylvania Railroad owned 72 “A” units and 30 “B” units. The New York Central Railroad bought the 1600 hp. version of the RF16 locomotives. New York Central owned 18 “A” units and 8 “B” units. The New York Central RF16’s began their lives as main-line freight locomotives, but towards the end of their lives they were found doing transferring work in Cincinnati. By September 1967, New York Central traded in the RF16’s for new locomotives. New York Central RF16’s went to the Monongahela Railroad and then Delaware and Hudson Railroad.
General Motors’ Electro-Motive Division
EMD’s history begins in 1922 with Electro-Motive Corporation, a small company from Cleveland, Ohio that built small rail-cars with engines from Winton Engine Company and car bodies from Pullman. In 1930, the two companies, EMC and Winton Engine Company, were purchased by General Motors. They continue to make railcars until 1934. In 1934, EMD produced their first streamlined diesel locomotives, the Pioneer Zephyr. The Zephyr featured a 600 hp engine and two traction motors in the front axles. The Zephyr was used on the Burlington Route’s Chicago to Denver run and the results after the trip were spectacular. It reached a top speed of 110 MPH and did 1015 miles in just over 13 hours. The Zephyr looked great next to the dirty steam locomotives and people wanted to ride it. Also railroads began to look at the efficiency of this fine locomotive. The Zephyr’s operating cost was about one half of a steam locomotive’s. The Zephyr proved to the railroads that diesel traction is the future of North American railroads. After the initial success of the Zephyr, EMD had back to back to back to back sellers with the E, F, GP, and SD series. This success with the later models was the result of a government ruling that made EMD was the only producer of main-line diesel locomotive during World War II. After the war, EMD also found success in the GP, and SD series. The GP series was EMD’s first road-switcher type locomotive. The GP and SD series were, to some people, the ugliest locomotive ever produced. No paint job looked very good on either the GP or SD series locomotive. The designer of these two series tried to make this type of locomotive very useful. It was not intended to be a show piece or an advertisement for the railroad. He also made the construction of these series to be simple for easy repairs and overhauls. The first GP series locomotive had a 1500 hp. engine and “B” type trucks. The GP series became EMD most successful locomotive with over 9000 copies built over several model numbers. The SD series had the same body design as the GP series, but it has more power and six axles. The SD series sported the same 1500 hp. engine, and “C” type trucks.
The F-Series
The F-series was railroads' first look at a mass-produced standard locomotive. This wonderful locomotive was created in 18 months, and began to revolutionize the railroad industry. The F-series became steam’s death kneel by the close of the 1940’s. There will be no more steam locomotives left on the main rail lines of North America after the last F-series locomotives were produced in 1960. The first F-series locomotive, FT 103, was produced in 1939. The FT 103 served as the demonstrator for the revolution in motive power. The FT 103 showed railroads that diesel is the future of railroading. The FT 103 pulled freight trains with half the weight of steam locomotives and in less time. The FT 103 never had a major service problem during its grand tour. Because of the impeccable performance of the FT 103, 23 railroads bought 555 “A” and 541 “B” units over a span of 5 years. The Santa Fe had the largest domestic fleet of 320 FT units.
The FT has 1350 hp. engine and if the main part of the locomotive (“A”) was joined with a booster unit (“B”) of 1350 hp, it was rated at 2700 hp. Santa Fe ordered the first FT’s. This series of locomotives featured dynamic braking which was a first in both steam and diesel traction. Some of the faults of this near perfect locomotive is that the FT had manual transition. The engineer had to match the engine’s throttle settings with the ampere readings. Another problem was with the manually controlled cooling system on the locomotive. By the end of World War II, an interim model, F2, was created, fixing all of the faults in the original FT units. One-hundred and four F2 were built in 1946.
Also in 1946, EMD built the first F3 locomotive, which had many improvements over the FT and the F2. Some of the improvements are the redesigned dynamic braking system, a new cooling system, and more overall space inside the locomotive for steam generators for passenger use. EMD produced 1111 “A” and 696 “B” units between the years 1946 to 1949. The F3 had a 16-cylinder, two stroke, 1500 hp engine. The F3 could reach a top speed of 100 mph and weighed 230,000 lb.
In 1949, EMD continue the F-series with the F7 locomotive. This model replaced the F3. The F7 has still many improvements over the F3. One of the major improvements were made to the automatic transition which is now standard on all F7 locomotives. By 1954, there was 2366 “A” and 1483 “B” F7 unit built. The most units produced in any of the F-series. EMD rolled out another new F-series model, F9, in 1954. Only 254 F9’s were built between 1954 to 1960. The low production number was due to the popularity of the hooded GP7. The F9’s were not the last F-series to be built. That recognition belongs to the FL9 locomotive. The FL9 was the only dual powered locomotive built. The FL9 could be power by either a diesel engine or straight electric current. Only 60 of this type were built for use in New York City on the New York, New Haven, Hartford Railroad. These locomotives were designed to receive electric current from either third rail or from overhead wires. The first 30 FL9 have a 16-cylinder, two-stroke, 1750 hp. The second 30 have a 16-cylinder, two-stroke, 1800 hp. Both set of 30 have the capability to receive 660 V of electricity to power the electric portion of the locomotive. The FL9’s could reach a maximum speed of 90 mph and weigh 105.2 tons.
There is only two known FT’s that still exist, and one is operational.The last FT that ran on American railroads was a Burlington Northern locomotive in 1970. There is no more F2 in existence, and two F3s are still in existence. A F3 unit has been rebuilt and was being used as a commuter locomotive into the early 1990’s. There are a few F7 and F9 units that are being used on short lines and commuter trains. The FL9’s have the busiest second life than any other F-series. Metro North has over 30 FL9’s running over their commuter lines daily. Some of the Metro-North FL9’s are painted in the original New Haven livery colors. Amtrak owns 6 FL9’s for the Albany to New York section. The Amtrak FL9’s are due to retire when new GE locomotives arrive.All but two FL9's are retired, FL9's are still found on Metro-North, along with F10 (F3M).
SD70MAC
The SD70 MAC led a radical change in the way locomotives are built. From the beginning of diesel traction all locomotives that were built always had DC traction motors and generators. In 1989, Burlington Northern railroad received 5 SD60MAC locomotives for testing. Burlington Northern was happy by the results that the SD60MAC’s have given them. The SD60MAC’s have a starting tractive effort of 175,000 lb., that was about 70,000 more than any of the Burlington Northern’s newest diesels. It also blew away the competition with a continous tractive force of 117,000 lb. The SD60MAC had a better fuel efficiency than its sister locomotive, the SD60. They also found an advantage with the AC Locomotives. Three AC locomotives are equivalent to 5 DC locomotives. Burlington Northern wanted more of the AC locomotives, especially for their mountain divisions. They placed an order for 350 of the new SD70MAC from EMD. After a few months of operations with the new AC locomotives, they increased their order to 434 locomotives, the largest single order of locomotives in history. The SD70MAC has a 16-cylinder 4000 hp engine. The starting tractive effort is 175,000 lb. and the continuous tractive effort is 137,000 lb. with 33% adhesion. Many other railroads followed Burlington Northern’s conversion from DC to AC. The SD70MAC is still being produced for BNSF (Burlington Northern’s new identity) and other railroads.
GE Diesel Division
General Electric’s history in producing locomotives goes back to Thomas Edison and his experimental electric locomotive at his facility at Menlo Park, New Jersey. In 1887, General Electric built little 40 horsepower mining electric locomotives. In the 1890’s General Electric started to sell electric switching locomotives to many east coast cities that banned steam in their city limits. From 1900 to 1950, General Electric improved their line of electric locomotives and electrical system for diesel locomotives. General Electric traction motors and generators were found on early EMD, ALCO, and Fairbanks Morse diesel locomotives. General Electric invested a lot of money to the future of electric locomotives. They thought that steam will eventually be replaced by electric locomotives. While electric locomotives and railroads systems were popular in Europe, the United States never caught on the idea of electrified rail systems. In our vast country it became more logical to go with diesel locomotives than any other form of power. With the increasing popularity of the diesel-electric locomotive, General Electric formed a partnership with ALCO. General Electric will produce all of the electrical systems in all of ALCO locomotives. While with ALCO, General Electric started to develop electric and gas-turbine locomotives for the domestic market. These were not big seller, but this was the beginning of General Electric role into building their own locomotives. General Electric terminated their partnership with ALCO in 1953. This allows General Electric to produce their own brand of diesel locomotives. General Electric produced two 1200 hp and two 1800 hp locomotives for testing on the Erie Railroad. General Electric’s first diesel locomotive in North America was the Universal line or commonly referred to as the U-Boats. The U-Boats became EMD’s first serious competitor in the diesel locomotive market. General lectric tried an ingenious marketing plan by offering a locomotive with a higher horsepower than the competition. This was better known as the horsepower race. When General Electric produced a locomotive with a higher horsepower than EMD, it normally takes one or two years for EMD to produce a higher horsepower locomotive to equal General Electric’s locomotives. By then, General Electric produced a more powerful model and the cycle continues. By the late 1980’s, Both manufacturers started to produce equal power locomotives. In the 1980’s, General Electric developed the first locomotive with a microprocessor that control the engine and traction motors. By the middle 1980’s, General Electric forced EMD out of the top spot. General Electric is now the leading seller of diesel locomotives in North America. A position that EMD held ever since 1939.
U28B & U28C
The U25B was General Electric’s first mass-produced locomotive. General Electric built 478 U25B units in the first few years. This success continued with the U28B and U28C models. Both locomotives have the same body design, but one has “B” type trucks and the another has “C” type trucks. This Universal model has a 16-cylinder, four-stroke, 2800 hp Cooper-Bessemer FDL-16 Engine. General Electric built 148 U28B units for nine railroads and 71 U28C units in 1966. General Electric also built 10 U28CG locomotives with a steam generator for passenger trains. In 1967, General Electric produced the U30B and U30C that replaced the U28. A few U28s are still working fright trains. Transkentucky Transportation Inc. has the largest second hand fleet of 18 U28 units and they have no plans of retiring the U28’s any time soon.
Modern Locomotives
Diesel locomotives are more efficient than they were 40 years ago. Rightnow the maximum horsepower that a diesel locomotive could produce is 6000 hp. The maximum horsepower is right up there with the modern steam locomotives of the 1930’s and 1940’s before diesels replaced steam locomotives. Diesel locomotives came a long way from small, weak switching engines to the large powerful freight mover that they are now. The newest technology on the diesel locomotive is the AC current locomotives which EMD pioneer with help from its partnership with Siemens. EMD does not produce any more DC locomotives but, concentrates on producing AC locomotives. One of the newest EMD AC locomotives in the market is the SD80MAC. The SD80MAC has a 20-cylinder, 5000 hp 710 engine. The SD80MAC features a new on board computer system. The tractive effort on a SD80MAC is 185,000 lb. starting and 147,000 lb. continuous with 35 percent adhesion. It also has a 96,000 lb. dynamic braking effort. The SD80MAC is 80 feet 2 inches long and 15 feet 8 inches high and weighs 415,000 pounds.
General Electric came out with their AC locomotive right after the introduction of the SD70MAC. General Electric’s AC4400CW was even a bigger seller than SD70MAC. More railroad bought the AC4400CW because of the increased tractive force and dynamic braking effort. The AC4400CW has a 16-cylinder, four stroke, 4400 hp 7FDL engine. The AC4400CW as a starting tractive effort of 180,000 lb. and continuous effort of 145,000 lb. with 35 percent adhesion. The AC4400CW has 98,000 lb. of dynamic braking effort, and reaches a maximum speed of 75 MPH. General Electric is the only domestic producer of DC powered diesel locomotive. The latest General Electric DC powered locomotive is the Dash 9. The Dash 9 has a 7FDL 16-cylinder 4400 hp engine. The Dash 9 has 140,000 lb. of starting and 109,000 lb. of continuous tractive effort.
Right now, there is a shortage of diesel locomotives. This crisis began in 1993 and continues today. The two producers GE and EMD are at full capacity producing new locomotives for railroads. In turn, railroads are ordering in record numbers. The causes of this crisis are many natural disasters that happened in this decade and a healthy economy. From the late 1960’s to the early 1990’s United States went through a tough economic cycle. This cycle began with stagflation from the late 1960’s to the early 1970’s and inflation from the late 1970’s to the early 1990’s. During this tough economic time many railroads merged, failed and reduced spending. Now rough economic times are taking a toll on North American rail traffic. All sorts of diesels are appearing all over the country in strange place. Conrail has locomotives in the West, the Union Pacific has locomotives in the East, and commuter railroads are loan their extras to railroads in need. All of the locomotive leasing firms have over 90% of their fleet out working on the main lines of various railroads.
Bibliography
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