locomotives with single letters in their types

[trainboyH16-44]

QUOTE: Originally posted by BentnoseWillie

QUOTE: Originally posted by wctransfer

Max, thats not the real name of the engine. They are GP40-2L's, no W what so ever. Thats the incorrect railfan name.

It must be a railroad thing too, since CN referred to those engines as GF-430s and as GP40-2LWs.

Canadian railroads (At least) had their own standardized designation for every engine, but CN's was more complicated than CP's. It was easier than using the builder's designations, but the easiest was CP's. I'm pretty sure that they weren't used as much as the builder's designations, tho. CN's went like this:
First letter: E = GE, G = GMD/EMD, M = ALCo/MLW
Second letter. This is the type of unit. F = road freight, H = hump unit, P = Passenger, R = Road switcher, S = switcher, and Y = yard. Don't ask me exactly what those mean...
Third letter (not always there) A = A unit rather than B, G = Equipped with steam generator, L = Leading unit of a hump set, and T = trailing unit of a hump set.
CP's was easier, and is as follows:
Letters: DS = Diesel switcher (ie SW1200), DRS = Diesel road switcher (ie GP38-2, maybe SD40s, can't remember) and DRF = Diesel road freight (ie AC4400 and SD90). The next numbers are the hp/100.
Of course, don't let yourself get confused by these...

[Anonymous]

I am new hear. Looking for info on truck foward. New York Central had them in the 1950s. I was lucky to have spend the day in the cab. Did alot oftaking the trains around the loop.the smell was of burnt oil and i was about 9 at the time. Think they were the p1
and p2s. Can they still be around . Live in NJ

[Lord Atmo]

might wanna just make a new topic about that.

what does Isolated mean? the I is for ISolated as previously mentioned

[chad thomas]

Isolated means the cab sits on big bushings and is "isolated" from the rest of the body. They are also called whisper cabs. They are suppose to isolate noise from the rest of the unit from the cab.

[coborn35]

Hmm Alec...Where did you hear that from?

[trainboyH16-44]

You mean the whole GP40-2L vs. GP40-2W thing? Trust me, he's right. I have no idea why they did an SD40-2W and a GP40-2L, but they did..

[coborn35]

No such thing as an SD40-2W....

[trainboyH16-44]

Hiding under a rock, Max? CN currently has (Well, in early 2005) 119 on their roster...

[coborn35]

Yes I know. It was a misunderstanding.

[trainboyH16-44]

Now I'm misunderstanding you..

[coborn35]

Hmmmm?
I thought he was talking about something else. Dont ask me why.

[Lord Atmo]

i noticed something else puzzling. i was looking at my UP roster and found a C44AC and C44ACCTE. now i'm sure one is an AC4400CW and the other is an A4400CW with Controlled Traction Efort, but what is Controlled Traction Effort and can you see it on the exterior of the locomotive?

[BentnoseWillie]

As I said in my long post above, there are multiple systems of nomenclature for General Electric locomotives, and GE themselves use at least two.

C44AC = AC4400

[Lord Atmo]

yes i know that, but what is Controlled Traction Effort? i know what C44AC is, but not a C44ACCTE

[wctransfer]

Its the same exact thing max. All it has different is the CTE! No external differences. Funny how you never listen to me when i tell you this on AOL, but on here you get the same answers.......

Alec