Diesel ID's

[Favrefan04]

[:I] I feel like such a idiot for some of the questions that I ask, but I have to ask them. I am currently planning two different layouts (before everybody tells me to start small and slowly I already know) one will be Midwest, Iowa more specifically, and the other will be North Eastern Australia. This question is more for the Iowa layout. I am wanting to model modern era RR's. What are the different ID's for the Loco's? What do they mean? Do the numbers mean the load ratings? Who are the different manufacturers of the Loco's. I am wanting to know about the Prototypical RR's not the model info so much. I would like to know which Loco's are the modern Loco's used. Are they they SD70's, how many axels do they have, and are their any older built Loco's used with the newer ones as well. Basically I am looking for any info I can get in the Loco department.

-Some times I feel like I am all Loco and no Motive.

[lupo]

Gary,
I had the same problem when I got interested in US railroading, some years ago, all those odd combinations and all those diesels looked alike,
I bought the kalmbach / trains Field Guide to modern Diesel locomotives by
Greg McDonnel, great little book, and there is a lot of info available on the net, just type in the od letter and number combinations you find overhere like DASH 8 - 44CW and others:
The answer pops up at an instant, pictures and all.

Have fun discovering
stay safe,

Lupo

[Big_Boy_4005]

Gee guys, I guess I haven't been keeping too up to date on this subject. I 'm still using The Second Diesel Spotter's Guide, and The Contemporary Diesel Spotter's Guide. A quick peek inside the cover of the latter revealed that I'm 15 years behind the times.

No wonder some of the locomotives I'm seeing on the tracks look so strange.[%-)][swg]

If you ask this question over on the Trains Magazine forum you will get more answers than you know what to do with.

These days the two major manufacturers are General Motors and General Electric. Together the "Generals" probably make more than 90% of all new North American locomotives on the rails today.

[nfmisso]

Here is another resource:
http://www.northeast.railfan.net/diesel.html

BNSF, CP and UP have mainlines through Iowa, and there a number of regionals there too. Unless you have 30" min radius curves, choose a branch operation.

And take a looke here: http://storm.simpson.edu/~tinder/index.html