When it comes to General Electric, what is everyone's favorite locomotive?
For me, it is the U25B.
The Lehigh Valley Railroad, the Route of the Black Diamond Express, John Wilkes and Maple Leaf.
-Jake, modeling the Barclay, Towanda & Susquehanna.
I've always loved the center cabs, but the U-boats are sweet. I like them the best in BN livery.
"Mess with the best, die like the rest" -U.S. Marine Corp
MINRail (Minessota Rail Transportaion Corp.) - "If they got rid of the weeds what would hold the rails down?"
And yes I am 17.
ES44AC. Best running GE locomotive ever made. GEVO unit are by far the best products out of Erie. The Dash 9 units are slow but easy to run. Dash 8, Dash 7 and U series are junk. If it was up to me all would be at the bottom of the ocean next to the Titanic.
Tim
NS Locomotive Engineer
Obviously, I'm not a railroader, so I judge only on personal appeal.
For me, I like Dash 8-40 spartan cab units and similar with the more angular cab. I also like the old switcher/critters.
Uboats and wide nose GEs hav eno particular appeal to me.
Fun to see and hear: MU-ed, back- to-back 70-tonners switching on SD & AE's El Cajon job.
Great to hear: Oro Dam Constructers U25C's up-grade to the dam site......two MUed replicated the world's hugest Shay workin' real hard.
Being a non- believer when we saw that 4 units were power for our ADV SF Merchandise, 1-921 in the indicaters without a helper from SLO with 3600 tons.....well 800 tons a unit pushed plausible success over Cuesta......well, we went some places on the grade at 14 mph where 11 mph would be super speed.
The 4 units were brand new U25B's from the first order and still smelled of paint recently applied.
And, near retirement, the quiet, comfort and confidence from the few AC6000's I ran "made my day."
After bringing up a screen that showed the engine's computer's workings, I saw 6300 hp, our GPS location, speed, time, lots of brake air pressures......verifies you didn't cheat.....a lot.
In terms of looks, early center-cabs and the U50Cs.
But while the former endured for decades, those beautiful 1969-71-built UP brutes were (sad to say) huge failures...fires and bent frames galore. Aluminum wire does not belong in a locomotive.
I'm going to go out on a limb and state that my favorite GE's would be the Joe's (all 3 owners) and the NYC/CSS R-2's. Second favorite would be EL-C/E33 and the E44.
ES44AC. Best running GE locomotive ever made.
GEVO unit are by far the best products out of Erie.
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Definately not true! The DC GEVO units are a step backward from the Dash-9's!!!
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It is true the dynamic brakes on the ES40DC units aren't as powerful as the Dash-9s but they seem to load faster (to me) when in power. More like an EMD engine. I also like the sound of the GEVO units as they have a sports car sound compared to Dash 8s and Dash 9s which sound like a GE washing machine.
But as for me friend I'd rather have an EMD engine. Give me an SD70ACe or SD70M-2 and I'm happy. I even like running SD60s, without the desktop controls of course! They may be loud but I was a railfan before I was an engineer and I've always had a fondness for them. When you move the throttle on an EMD engine you can feel it in your seat and the sound of the engine can be felt in your chest. Something I've always appreciated. When I run Dash-9s it is just a job, no excitement here.
I'll bet you can ask any diesel shop mechanic anywhere what G.E. stands for, and you'll be told, "Guaranteed Employment."
I'm not taking any sides here, but I am curious. If GE locomotives are, shall we say, "marginal", how'd they get to be the leading locomotive builder? I'm curious and would really like to know.
GE based a locomotive group rep' at Taylor in LA. He was P.O.'d that "unintended consequences" Medusa-like head hid in the darkness.
SP's U25 B's soldiered; the U28C's slogged a lot of iron ore to Fontana and the U30C's were stalwarts on Tehachapi and Cajon. So, when the U33C's blossomed as luggers that would overheat in tunnels less often than any EMD, a commercial/economical/political program brought to the U33C's home a bunch of young LA 1970's youth that needed a leg-up to middle-class.
Their maintenance, during and after training, crippled the U33C's dependability.
The GE rep and I spoke the same language. It spoke about them, Their education was not equivalent to what was expected to exist. Most of the U33C's failures, he said, had to do with lesser sophistication.
What?
Guess, that the L.A. Shops in the70's tried to make people and jobs come together.....we tried.
When I hired out with NS in 1999 I asked one of the old heads why I saw so many GE units compared to EMD units and was told that GE applied economic pressure to force NS to purchase GE's products in order to keep GE's shipping business. Have no idea if that's true. I always liked the "hump backed" appearance of the C39-8's.
The distinct sounds of the GE DASH 9s have always been appealing.
Andrew Falconer
Watch my videos on-line at https://www.youtube.com/user/AndrewNeilFalconer
Why are there so many GE's? It's all about the money.
baberuth73 When I hired out with NS in 1999 I asked one of the old heads why I saw so many GE units compared to EMD units and was told that GE applied economic pressure to force NS to purchase GE's products in order to keep GE's shipping business. Have no idea if that's true. I always liked the "hump backed" appearance of the C39-8's.
Interesting. The same rumor was going about in the late 50's, early 60's, except then it was about GM telling the railroads " Hey, you DON"T buy our locomotives, you WON'T haul our stuff!" Is it true? I doubt it. Who knows?
Firelock76 baberuth73: When I hired out with NS in 1999 I asked one of the old heads why I saw so many GE units compared to EMD units and was told that GE applied economic pressure to force NS to purchase GE's products in order to keep GE's shipping business. Have no idea if that's true. I always liked the "hump backed" appearance of the C39-8's. Interesting. The same rumor was going about in the late 50's, early 60's, except then it was about GM telling the railroads " Hey, you DON"T buy our locomotives, you WON'T haul our stuff!" Is it true? I doubt it. Who knows?
baberuth73: When I hired out with NS in 1999 I asked one of the old heads why I saw so many GE units compared to EMD units and was told that GE applied economic pressure to force NS to purchase GE's products in order to keep GE's shipping business. Have no idea if that's true. I always liked the "hump backed" appearance of the C39-8's.
I don't think so...I've been into many a GM plant with a big old Peterbilt tractor back when GM was still in the class 8 truck market...they didn't care. As far as locomotives go, it seems that the railroads want competition among the locomotive builders, and most will spread their orders around almost evenly among the builders. Look at CN's latest committment to purchase 35 GE's and 30 EMDs... they're trying to spread the work around because the last thing they want is ONE locomotive builder and ONE model to choose from.
When I was in management at NS I asked the same question and I was told two different reasons. First, GE offered better financing and second, with the introduction of the Dash 8 and Dash 9 GE products were more reliable with fewer line of road failures between 90 day inspections. It seems railroads had a bad taste for EMD locomotives starting with the SD50s and SD60s which according to mechanical experienced a lot of failures after their introduction. EMD however, started building a much better product with the SD70M-2 and the SD70ACe. That is why (I believe) you are seeing more orders for EMD equipment.
According to the Trains 2011 Locomotive issue the ES44AC develops more tractive effort than an SD70ACe however the SD70M-2 develops more tractive effort than an ES44DC. It will be interesting to see how the ES44C-4 compares to the SD70AC-P4.
Looks like this thread has turned into another GE vs EMD debate. What a waste of time.
Back to the original theme,
For me it's the U30C/U33C.
The BN ran many through my home town in Minnesota and the sound they produced was music to my ears.
Matt
C39-8, period
Being an EMD fan, it is a little hard for me, but my favorite would have to be the ES44AC. I like the oversised, dual angle radiators on the engine, which stick out over any other engine.
NS 5050: Southern Style on NS H76.
EMD#1 GEVO unit are by far the best products out of Erie. Definately not true! The DC GEVO units are a step backward from the Dash-9's!!!
Don't blame you. I prefer EMD engines, but I really just wanted to get an idea on what everyone's favorite GE was. The U25B would just be my favorite if I had to chose one.
Firelock76 I'm not taking any sides here, but I am curious. If GE locomotives are, shall we say, "marginal", how'd they get to be the leading locomotive builder? I'm curious and would really like to know.
Simple, GEs don't cost as much. It also took some stumbles from EMD with the SD45 (crankshaft problems) and SD50 ( just plain bad) to put GE in the lead.
Lehigh Valley 2089 Firelock76: I'm not taking any sides here, but I am curious. If GE locomotives are, shall we say, "marginal", how'd they get to be the leading locomotive builder? I'm curious and would really like to know. Simple, GEs don't cost as much. It also took some stumbles from EMD with the SD45 (crankshaft problems) and SD50 ( just plain bad) to put GE in the lead.
Firelock76: I'm not taking any sides here, but I am curious. If GE locomotives are, shall we say, "marginal", how'd they get to be the leading locomotive builder? I'm curious and would really like to know.
It's even simpler than that. It's just not the initial cost. When you factor in everything, initial cost, financing, parts cost, parts availability, willingness to work with the RRs to fix problems, fuel economy, etc. GE locomotives turn the RRs a bigger profit over the life of the locomotive. I've said this before, and I'll say it again: The best locomotive to a RR is always the one that makes the most profit. Plus, the GEVO design, especially the ACs, is really good. GE did their homework with the GEVO.
After having some of it burn up in my house, I would say aluminum wire doesn't belong anywhere. It was used to wire my A/C from the fusebox to the outside fuses, and on a 100 degree day, and after about 15 years, one of the 3 aluminum wires had oxidized and it set the insulation on fire. It didn't really burn much, but it really stunk and of course, no A/C that Sunday. At least the rest of the house had copper. On Monday, the aluminum wire was yanked and copper put in.
I liked the center cabs too.
I have to admit I Like them all, I work nearly all my shift's on Dash 9's here in Australia and am amazed how reliable these locos are. Remember seeing a couple of UP Dash7's going up Beaumont Hill in '98 and they sounded fantastic, doesn't get any better than that!
For a while, we in the railfan/railroader community would think of GE locomotives when we heard the word "toaster". Obviously that is no longer the case but what series of units earned them that nickname way back when?
I still think the c39-8 was the best looking GE standard cab product.
I think it started with the Dash-8 and the term was Techno-toaster.
It's a play on the fact that they're made by GE which also makes appliances including Toasters.
Before they sold NBC/Universal, 30Rock made jokes like that all the time.
My vote goes to the U33-CH as run on the Lackawanna. It had a nice chug chug when it loaded up leaving a station or driving upgrade going West at Convent Station. An honorary Alco in sound and smoke.
seppburgh2 My vote goes to the U33-CH as run on the Lackawanna. It had a nice chug chug when it loaded up leaving a station or driving upgrade going West at Convent Station. An honorary Alco in sound and smoke.
I've heard a similar sound from other U-Boats built in the same period and earlier. It's not too surprising when you consider that the FDL and 251 engines have the same bore and stroke.
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