by bill badurski closing a chapter in...

Closing a chapter in historyAn era ends as Electro-Motive Diesel’s domestic engine line faces Tier 4 environmental standards

>> RJ Corman units damaged in fire

18 Trains JANUARY 2015

LOCOMOTIVE BY BILL BADURSKI

The world of railroading is about to witness a historic and rather poignant event. On Jan. 1, 2015, the most famous and popular locomotive diesel engine ever produced will likely cease to be built for the production of new locomotives destined for rail customers within the United States.

I’m speaking of the Electro-Motive two-cycle 567-, 645-, and 710-series prime movers. Approximately 50,000 locomotives were produced new for the U.S. market with these engines, and many more export models were built for customers around the world, making it the most popular lo-comotive engine of all time.

The brilliant yet simple design of this engine, combined with its ruggedness and reliability, propelled it to this lofty position. From a design concept in the 1930s, the ar-chitecture changed little for generations of production in the LaGrange, Ill., plant, headquarters for Electro-Motive Corp. The company later became the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors, and after its sale to an investor group, is known today as Electro-Motive Diesel, a division of Prog-ress Rail and Caterpillar.

This speaks volumes for the original layout and design of the engine by General Motors research chief Charles F. Kettering and his design team. Originally developed in 1938 as a 567 (the number referring to cubic inches per cylinder), it underwent turbocharging in the 1950s, then grew to 645 status in 1965, and evolved into the 710 in 1984.

With each change, the engine grew in terms of horsepower and development. Its popularity with railroads, as well as in ma-rine propulsion and stationary generator applications, was spurred on by an unprec-edented ease of maintenance, durability, and reliability. As a matter of fact, most of these engines remain in service around the world today. As I write this, the company where I work still relies on a 75-year-old switcher in daily yard service.

Alas, ever-tightening exhaust emissions regulations have laid claim to the future of this exceptional engine. Although exhaus-tive development work allowed the engine to comply with Tiers 1 through 3, the strin-gent Tier 4, which goes into effect with new locomotive production on Jan. 1, 2015, has sounded the death knell for continued use of this engine for U.S. customers. Despite extensive investigation and testing, it ap-pears that the current 710 configuration cannot be made to comply with the regula-

tion. Although these engines were made notably cleaner with modifications to Tier 1 through 3 levels, Tier 4 apparently could not be achieved.

The engine will likely continue to be popular in other parts of the world, and in repower operations where the remanufac-tured, older locomotives will not be held to such demanding standards. The used loco-motive market will see fresh activity as in-terest in rebuilding units arises as an alter-native to unproven, more costly, and more maintenance-dependent new equipment.

Fortunately, and as a direct result of the engine’s popularity and longevity, the fa-miliar sound of a passing EMD will remain with us for a long time. Whether it be the shriek of a turbocharged SD40-2, or the whine of a GP9, there are enough of these veterans still out there to ensure that the greatest locomotive engine of all time will not fade quietly into the night.

BILL BADURSKI worked for EMD in the 1970s and 1980s as an instructor in its training center and served as a technical en-gineer in a 40-plus-year career in locomo-tives that is ongoing.

This was what remained of three units inside the R.J. Corman engine house at Guthrie, Ky., after a fire broke out on the evening of Oct. 5, 2014. Burned were GP16 No. 1605, left; GP38-3 No. 3814, center; and GP38 No. 7918, rear. All three units were set to be scrapped. The cause of the fire was still under investigation. Doyle Massey

An Electro-Motive Diesel employee latches the access doors on the 710 engine inside EMD’s Caterpillar yellow demonstrator SD70ACe No. 1201. Trains: Jim Wrinn

© 2015 Kalmbach Publishing Co. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher. www.TrainsMag.com

>> ACes on the former Milwaukee Road

14 Trains FEBRUARY 2015

BY CHRIS GUSS

The basic look of today’s modern loco-motive has been essentially unchanged for more than a quarter of a century, since the introduction of the comfort cab design in the late 1980s.

Predating this visual change by only a few years was the beginning of a massive evolution under the hood and in the cab to modernize the electrical systems that oper-ate and control a locomotive. Electro-Motive Division’s 60 series and General Electric’s Dash 8 series both debuted in the early 1980s, introducing microprocessor control to their product lines.

Electronics since then have become bet-ter, faster, smaller, and cheaper, which has allowed the builders to increase the usage of computers and integrated electronics in al-most every part of the locomotive. This also has allowed builders and railroads to elimi-nate extra equipment such as distributed power and end-of-train control units that typically were mounted on the top of control stands or elsewhere in the cab. Information from these devices has been placed into the main display screens on the locomotive’s control stand.

In the last two decades, a local area net-work, also known as LAN, has been em-ployed inside new locomotives, allowing systems to easily talk to one another directly

or via other systems connected to the net-work. A local area network is an intercon-nected network of cabling that connects var-ious devices in a specific area. Builders briefly used fiber optics to create networks on locomotives, but eventually reverted back to copper wire. The network allows the loco-

motive to monitor thousands of parameters, feeding the information back to the neces-sary systems within the unit.

EMD’s FIRE (Functionally Integrated Railroad Electronics) screens and GE’s Smart Displays located in front of the engi-neer are actually self-contained computers and coordinate locomotive systems, sup-port systems, and third-party equipment. A second display is added when additional equipment such as distributed power is in-stalled to allow more information to be dis-played simultaneously during operation. In the event of a failure of one of the displays, the information can be consolidated on one screen. Railroads have the option of placing display screens on the conductor’s desktop on the opposite side of the cab, which typically features a limited amount of control to certain features, with the re-maining information presented in read- only format.

The increase in the last decade of wire-less communication has enabled locomo-tives to keep in contact with the railroad or locomotive builder 24/7 if necessary. This connectivity allows a locomotive to report in real time alerts, failures, or other preset parameters.

Builder-installed systems such as EMD’s Intellitrain and GE’s RailConnect 360 Moni-toring & Diagnostics primarily monitor the various aspects of the engine, control sys-tem, and related components. Third-party systems from companies such as Wi-Tronix,

LOCOMOTIVE

Inside the wired locomotiveThe unseen electronics behind today’s motive power

Tacoma Rail got a 5-year lease on former EMD SD70ACe-P4 demonstrators Nos. 1211 and 1212 and repainted and renumbered them as Nos. 7001 and 7002. The units work the 3.5-percent grade on the Fredrickson job without doubling the train. Steve Carter

Today’s modern locomotive cabs are filled with electronics, from the smart displays in front of the engineer to the PTC display (top left) above the electronic brake equipment. Chris Guss


>> LOCOMOTIVE BRIEF

www.TrainsMag.com 15

IONX, Lat-Lon, MotivePower, and ZTR, can provide similar monitoring while also providing additional features that compli-ment EMD’s or GE’s offerings.

These builder and third-party systems can monitor such things as fuel level, brake pipe pressure, throttle position, train loca-tion, engine state, train overspeed, impend-ing dangerous weather in the direction of the train’s movement, potential track issues, and wireless event recorder downloading. Access and notification to the railroad or builder is typically available in the form of Web access, smartphone apps, email, or text alerts. Many of the third-party systems can also be installed on older locomotives with-out microprocessor-based systems.

A form of “cruise control” has also been introduced within the last decade that can operate the train automatically across a ter-ritory. Information such as a train’s loads, empties, length, and tonnage are entered into the computer and integrated with the track profile, speed limits, slow orders, etc., of the territory along with the destination to allow the train to operate itself in the most efficient manner possible as it moves across the line.

Intervention by the engineer is rarely needed when the train is operating on clear (green) signals. New York Air Brake’s LEADER and GE’s Trip Optimizer are two such systems in use today by railroads in North America.

With the upcoming implementation of positive train control, the equipment needed to operate PTC is adding another level of complexity to the existing electronics on a locomotive. As time goes on, new locomo-tives will certainly become more intelligent, allowing for greater productivity, utilization, and less downtime.

Kennett Square, Pa.-based East Penn Railroad is leasing two GP38-2s from GATX Locomotive Group. GMTX Nos. 2800 and 2801 are former WAMX (Watco) Nos. 3811 and 3812, and were repainted at Metro East Industries in East St. Louis, Ill. East Penn operates 114 miles in southeast Pennsylvania and Delaware. Mark Mautner

New leased power for East Penn

LOCOMOTIVE

18 Trains MARCH 2015

BY CHRIS GUSS

Locomotive engine heat, left uncon-trolled, can damage engine parts and short-en the life of the engine and its attached components. An effective radiator system keeps the engine and components at the op-timum operating temperature, regardless of whether the locomotive is operating in mountains or flatlands or hot or cold. A lo-comotive radiator system primarily cools air, water, and oil. The air is used in the combus-tion process; the water for cooling the en-gine and turbo (if equipped); and oil for lu-bricating the engine components.

The radiator system is intended to keep the engine operating at nearly the same temperature, regardless of the ambient air outside the locomotive. This allows maxi-mum horsepower to be available at all times and extends the life of the engine and its lubricants.

Electro-Motive Diesel and General Elec-tric differ in radiator system design. EMD uses a “wet” radiator system in which fluid is cycled through the radiator system con-stantly while the engine is operating. GE on the other hand employs a “dry” system where fluids are routed through the radiator system only as conditions warrant. Each builder uses a system of valves to route flu-ids to banks of radiators to achieve the level of cooling needed at any given time. While both builders use fans on the main radiator banks to assist in cooling, EMD’s system also uses a shutter system to control the flow of air across the radiators.

Modern EMD and GE locomotives use a split cooling system with separate paths to reduce the coolant temperature to the levels required.

In split cooling on a GE locomotive, a majority of the fluid cooled in the radiator is sent back to the locomotive at one tem-perature while a portion of the coolant is routed through additional radiator banks called sub-coolers (or aftercoolers) for fur-ther temperature reductions. Once passed through these additional cooling banks, the fluid travels to various devices such as the air to water intercooler to assist in cooling the engine intake air. The combustion air is first drawn in and compressed in the turbo-charger. Compression heats the air and must be cooled before being used for com-bustion. Cooler air is denser and is more oxygen-rich, making it a preferred manifold air temperature for increasing power, con-trolling emissions, and reducing fuel con-sumption. After passing though the inter-cooler, the intake air passes through a heat exchanger where additional cooling occurs if conditions warrant before going to the engine for combustion.

Another path from the sub-coolers is to the oil cooler, prior to the coolant returning it to the engine. Lubricating oil absorbs heat while inside the engine and needs to be cooled before returning. Subjecting lubricat-ing oil to high heat shortens the life of the oil and would force more frequent oil changes to maintain the engine in good

working order. Higher temperatures lower the viscosity (thickness) of oil, which in-creases the wear of internal components.

EMD utilizes a slightly different layout, with two separate loops from the engine, one for the radiator and oil cooler and an-other for the aftercooler. Various connec-tions between the two loops allow the on-board computer to utilize excess cooling capacity in the aftercooler loop if needed.

The vast majority of locomotives on the road today utilize simple tap water for cool-ant in their radiator systems. Water is much more efficient at transferring heat than a mix of water and antifreeze that’s typically found in your car’s radiator system. Benefits of using water allow the overall size of the radiator system to be smaller due to its high-er efficiency, the lower cost of water com-pared to antifreeze/water mixture, and wa-ter’s ubiquity. Any garden or water hose that can reach a locomotive can add fluid to the radiator system in a pinch. There are also environmental concerns with using anti-freeze since the water system needs to be drained occasionally for maintenance. To keep the radiator system in top shape, a cor-rosion inhibitor is added to the water. This additive protects the system from develop-ing rust, corrosion, and scaling.

With Tier 4 emissions regulations in ef-fect on Jan. 1, 2015, the radiator systems for both builders will change again. Further cooling will be necessary to achieve the new environmental standards. Trains will cover those changes after more Tier 4 locomotives are on the road.

Keeping it coolBig, high-horsepower locomotives generate a lot of power and a lot of heat. Radiators take care of it

1 Radiators (for engine cooling)2 Air to air heat exchangers

(for manifold air)3 Water to air intercooler

(for manifold air)4 Lubricating oil cooler5 Water storage tank 6 Lubrication oil pump 7 Water pump

(not pictured - behind oil pump)8 Radiator cooling fan9 Turbocharger10 Cooled intake air path

(to manifold)11 Air to air heat exchanger fans

(on roof)

3

2

11

1

8

5

9

10

6 74

A BNSF ES44C4’s radiator assembly in the plant at Fort Worth, Texas. Both GE and EMD radiator sections are prebuilt and set onto the frame during assembly. Chris Guss


Homewood (CN)

Centralia (CN)

North Little Rock (UP)

Waycross (CSX)

Huntington (CSX)

Altoona (NS)

Chattanooga (NS)

Shreveport (KCS)

Not to scale© 2015 Kalmbach Publishing Co., TRAINS: Rick Johnson

CN and CP have no active paint shops in CanadaWork at Shreveport performed on-site by contract company

Painting or repainting

a typical diesel locomotive

takes about 4 to 7 days. Big factors in how long it takes: • Body condition

• Number of colors• Complexity of

the scheme

18 Trains APRIL 2015

LOCOMOTIVE BY CHRIS GUSS

The paint on a locomotive is an im-portant visual feature of a railroad. From employees to the public, it’s observed ev-erywhere from trackside, on promotional material, and corporate websites. Paints’ application, durability, and ability to pro-tect the metal carbody from corrosion is important to railroads to ensure their loco-motives are well protected from the ele-ments while conveying the corporate im-age. Paint must also be able to withstand humidity, salt spray, and detergents used to clean a locomotive, as well as being stone and chip resistant.

Four paint manufacturers have the ma-jority of the locomotive finishing business in North America. They are Ax-alta (formerly DuPont), PPG Industries, Sherwin-Williams, and Strathmore. Axalta’s Im-ron line as well as PPG’s Spectracron HSL paints and Sherwin Williams and Strath-more’s lines of industrial coat-ings each have important roles in the market.

Locomotive builder Elec-tro-Motive Diesel uses PPG on locomotives built at sub-

sidiary Progress Rail’s Muncie, Ind., and Bombardier’s Sahagun, Mexico, plants while General Electric uses Axalta at its Erie, Pa., and Fort Worth, Texas, plants.

Railroads use qualification testing to en-sure a particular brand of paint meets its standards for locomotive coatings. Envi-ronmental impact and performance are two of the most important factors when se-lecting paint. During the environmental portion of the review, a railroad looks for low VOCs, which are volatile organic com-pounds that are released as the paint dries. A railroad needs paint to perform well dur-ing application to achieve high throughput of locomotives through a paint shop.

Tightening environmen-tal regulations at paint booths over the years and the cost to equip paint shops to comply have pushed sev-eral Class I railroads to close their own paint shops in fa-vor of using one or more third-party shops. Class I railroads that still paint loco-motives in-house tend to use a single paint manufacturer, while those that use third-

party shops can have more than one paint manufacturer used on their fleet, depend-ing on the shop that performed the work. Smaller shops have the ability to use what-ever paint is requested by a customer, but they prefer to use a single manufacturer if possible. Painting is a personal endeavor and every paint acts differently when ap-plied. A paint shop is most efficient when it uses the same material consistently, allow-ing employees to be their most productive.

Painting a locomotive is typically done in one of two ways. The majority of paint-ed/repainted locomotives receive what is called a “base clear” paint job. This includes three layers of product: a primer, color, and clear coat. Less frequently applied is a “sin-gle stage” paint job which only uses the primer and color coat. This is typically done when cost is a factor and can occa-sionally be seen on lease and industrial lo-comotives.

While labor to paint or repaint a loco-motive is the largest cost involved, quality paint, primer, and clear coat can be costly. High-quality materials can range from $40 to $200 dollars a gallon with a typical loco-motive requiring 15-20 gallons of primer, 10-12 gallons of color, and 8-10 gallons of clear coat.

Ultraviolet radiation from the sun is damaging to a paint job over time. Many manufacturers incorporate one or more components to the clear coat to either ab-sorb or reflect these rays. Additional UV protection is also incorporated into the col-or coat as well. Applied properly, a good paint job can last on a locomotive for a de-cade or more, ensuring the railroad’s cor-porate image looks its best.

Layers of locomotive coatingsThe fine art of wrapping 4,400-hp inside a metal jacket

Class I railroadpaint shops

A rebuilt SD40-2 awaits paint inside Norfolk Southern’s Juniata Shops in Altoona, Pa., in May 2014. Juniata is one of eight Class I railroad paint shops (see map, right). Dustin Faust


LOCOMOTIVE

16 Trains MAY 2015

BY CHRIS GUSS

Toiling away in the yards and on indus-trial spurs of Class I railroads are a small but important group of locomotives built several generations ago, the end-cab switcher. Once seen in almost every major yard and work-ing back alleys spotting freight cars at cus-tomer’s docks, their importance on a rail-road’s roster has diminished over the years.

Electro-Motive Division of General Mo-tors had by far the most successful line of end-cab switchers. The company built more than two dozen variants during a produc-tion period that spanned more than a half century. While all major builders construct-ed their own style of end-cab/offset-cab and center-cab switchers, hundreds of which still live on in shortline and industrial roles to-day, only EMD models survive in 2015 on the seven Class I railroads.

As the need for purpose-built switch engines waned in the 1960s and 1970s, railroads began to look for a more versatile loco-motive that could perform both road and yard chores.

Responding to that need, EMD constructed a variation to its successful 1,500-hp SW1500 switcher introduced in the 1960s called the SW1504. The SW1504 was essentially a SW1500

equipped with higher-speed Blomberg road-switcher trucks, but its design failed to at-tract the attention of U.S. railroads. Only one customer, Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México, bought it.

The final line of road-switchers EMD in-troduced in the early 1970s was the Multi-Purpose or MP line of switchers. This model used Blomberg trucks and had options for accessories such as a toilet to meet crew re-quirements for service outside of yards.

Sales of the MP line were modest in the 1970s and 1980s, with MP15DC, MP15AC, and MP15T production collectively failing to match the totals of other well-known EMD models such as the SW9, SW1200, and SW1500.

The main difference between the three MP models is the MP15DC uses a D.C. main generator while the MP15AC has an AR10 alternator. The MP15T uses an eight-cylinder, turbo-charged engine instead of a 12-cylinder engine used in the A.C. and D.C. models.

Deregulation of U.S. railroads under the Staggers Act in 1980, however, killed the switcher manufacturing business. Under Staggers, freight railroads were

permitted to radically overhaul their net-works, operating procedures, and business model since they were now free of Interstate Commerce Commission supervision.

One of the resulting changes was down-sizing of unprofitable operations with many branch lines and local operations either abandoned or sold off to lower-operating-cost short lines.

That created a surplus of low-horsepower locomotives, and GM’s EMD subsidiary as-sembled its last MP15ACs for freight rail-roads in October 1980 (four for the Katy and one for the Golden Triangle short line); several MP15ACs were delivered to U.S. government facilities and Canadian port op-erators in 1982 through August 1984 (when National Harbor Board No. 8406 was shipped from the London, Ontario, plant to the Montreal port operator). The final 34 MP15Ts were delivered to Seaboard System in late 1984 and 1985.

The last models produced by EMD con-tinue to survive in sizeable numbers on Class I railroads, with the SW1500, MP15DC, MP15AC, and MP15T models most prevalent. Other than the standard maintenance cycles, most fleets are still in their as-built configuration.

Recently, several railroads have attempt-ed to implement upgrades to their end-cab

An end to the end-cab switcher?Their numbers dwindle on Class I railroads, but some hang on

Class I end-cab

switcher totals

CN 42NS 94

BNSF 42UP 157KCS 77CSX 130

CP 1

A pair of Canadian Pacific MP15ACs work Muskego Yard in Milwaukee, Wis., when the railroad had more end-cab switchers. Today, CP is the only Class I with no end-cab switchers in revenue service, and their numbers on the big systems are dwindling. Chris Guss


www.TrainsMag.com 17

switchers in an effort to extend their service life. But one eliminated them entirely.

Canadian Pacific is the only railroad to completely purge its end-cab switcher fleet from revenue service. The last MP15ACs were eliminated from the roster in late 2014, leaving only SW900 No. 6711. This unit is captive at CP’s Ogden locomotive shops in Calgary, and used as a shop switcher and for positive-train-control testing.

Canadian National has embarked on a small overhaul program at its Homewood Shops, south of Chicago, on its remaining SW14 switchers. The SW14s were originally built for Illinois Central in the 1950s as EMD SW7s and SW9s. IC’s Paducah, Ky., shop remanufactured them in the 1980s and designated them as SW14s. Canadian National still owns four and is rebuilding them for service in the Chicago area.

Union Pacific is underway with a pro-gram to upgrade its fleet of MP15ACs and MP15DCs, installing ZTR’s Nexsys III-i control systems at its North Little Rock, Ark., shops. The control system is popular with UP, which is installing this in other locomotive models as well.

Norfolk Southern has been the most am-bitious in terms of rebuilding its end-cab switcher fleet. The road’s Altoona, Pa., and Roanoke, Va., shops began a rebuild pro-gram on the MP15DC fleet in 2011 that in-volves replacing the main generator with an AR10 alternator, adding alignment control couplers, and other upgrades.

NS also upgraded one MP15DC in 2011 with increased horsepower output. No. 2423 had its stock 1,500-hp 12-cylinder, 645E prime mover replaced with a turbocharged version of the same engine rated at 2,500-hp (later reduced to 2,100-hp). The radiator system was enlarged to support the in-creased cooling needed by the higher horse-power engine including an enlarged long hood with additional radiators and cooling fans. The unit, now designated a MP21E, also received the other upgrades found on other MP15E rebuilds described above.

With their ranks slowly diminishing, end-cab switchers will most likely always have a role on certain Class I rosters due to their smaller size and weight, but their days dominating yard and industrial service cer-tainly peaked long ago.

Norfolk Southern MP15DC No. 2423 was redesignated as a MP21E with a turbocharged engine. NS: Casey Thomason

LOCOMOTIVE

18 Trains JUNE 2015

BY CHRIS GUSS

Trends and the top dogsThe latest among the Super Seven Class I freight railroads’ rosters and their top locomotive buys

BNSF Railway is well into its aggressive, multi-year plan of buying new power, focused on the unique A1A-trucked ES44C4. With traffic softening, this may spell the end for older road locomotives as the company renews its fleet. Expect to see BNSF step up its rebuilding of older A.C.-traction units and upgrading D.C.-traction

locomotives to A.C. BNSF has also sent

SD45-2s for rebuilding into 3GS21C six-axle gensets or SD40-2Rs with 16-cylinder engines. The railroad also continues its multi-year program to upgrade its fleet of GP35s with Dash 3 electronics, converting them to GP39-3Rs. Top model: GE ES44C4

Canadian National continues to make steady purchases of new GEs as it expands usage of distributed power and A.C. traction in an effort to haul more tonnage on existing train schedules across the system. CN’s shops are modifying and releasing secondhand locomotives the company

purchased in recent years from various sources.

Its semi-captive fleet of older second-generation locomotives in ore service on former Bessemer & Lake Erie and Missabe properties has begun to change with the first Illinois Central SD70s assigned to the B&LE this year. Top model: GE ES44AC

Canadian Pacific put new locomotive purchases on hold after the 2012 arrival of CEO Hunter Harrison and shows no signs of change on the horizon.

Instead, CP seems satisfied to receive both four- and six-

axle ECO rebuilds from EMD, with more SD30C-ECOs due in 2015.Top model: EMD GP20C-ECO

CSX Transportation skipped new locomotive deliveries in 2014, but now has an expected 200 new GEs arriving before December. Rebuilding in-

house has shifted to four-axle locomotives, while

six-axle rebuilding has moved to third-party companies.Top model: GE ES44AC

Kansas City Southern/Kansas City Southern de Mexico continues to buy new power from both GE and EMD. In 2015, the company is purchasing both GEs and EMDs

that are restricted to Mexico because they are not Tier 4- certified. Older D.C. road

locomotives continue to hold down secondary assignments. Top model: GE ES44AC

Norfolk Southern has met its power needs between rebuilding and purchasing new through the end of 2014, but plans only to rebuild this year, with no new power on the books for

2015. Major overhaul programs involving

several locomotive models continue at back shops in Altoona, Pa., and Roanoke, Va. Top model: GE ES44AC

Union Pacific has long been a strong proponent of large orders of new power, and continues the trend in 2015 with 150 new GEs on order. Its 500-unit fleet of SD40-2s is cycling through the backshop in North Little Rock, Ark., as part of a multi-year program to renew these trustworthy locomotives. They are beginning to be seen in

almost every part of the Union Pacific system now. UP has relocated the control stands in a number of GP60s

and SD60s to a position more parallel to the cab wall, allowing for easier bi-directional operation when the units are in local service. UP calls the modified units GP62s and SD62s.Top model: GE ES44AC

A railroad’s locomotive fleet is an ever-changing selection of power. Management is constantly evaluating new locomotive pur-chases, rebuilding existing power, and retiring older, less reliable units. New locomotive orders haven’t slowed despite the introduc-tion of Tier 4 emissions technology and the temporary sidelining

of EMD’s domestic production while its Tier 4 freight locomotive is prepared for rollout in 2017. In EMD’s absence, General Electric is busy building at its two shops in Erie, Pa., and Fort Worth, Texas. Here are highlights of recent activity on each Class I roster along with the top trending model on each.

BNSF ES44C4 No. 7998 was built in March 2015. Sean Graham-White

UP ES44AC No. 8208 was built in 2014. Sean Graham-White

Two ES44ACs are part of 90 coming in 2015 for CN. Chris Guss


Coast Starlight: Still Amtrak’s best p. 48

MAP: How the Chicago & North Western grew p. 46

Picking up train orders at 60 mph p. 34

BIG BOY’S big move across the West p. 38

THE magazine of railroading

www.TrainsMag.com • July 2014

Modern streetcars

take back US cities p. 24

PLUS New Hampshire

tourist lines p. 64

Pros and

cons of auxiliary

power units p. 18

big move across the West

THE magazine of railroading magazine of railroading

Modern streetcarsModern streetcars

take back US cities take back US cities take back US cities take back US cities take back US cities

big move across the West

How 18 railroad places

got their names p. 44

BNSF untangles

its Northern corridor p. 22

Norfolk & Western 611’s return p. 36

PLUS

ST. PAUL UNION DEPOT REBORN p. 28


www.TrainsMag.com • August 2014

Cab unit festival frenzy p. 38

Kelso, Calif.,

named for a railroader

How 18 railroad places How 18 railroad places

got their namesgot their namesHow 18 railroad places

got their namesHow 18 railroad places How 18 railroad places

got their namesHow 18 railroad places p. 44

BNSF untangles

its Northern corridor p. 22

Norfolk & Western 611’s return p. 36

THE magazine of railroading magazine of railroading

festival frenzy p. 38

Kelso, Calif.,

named for a railroader

Locomotives of changeThe real power of heritage units p. 23

10 great railroadmansions you can visit p. 44

Saving a Pacifi c Northwest grain branch p. 38 New Haven commuter legacy p. 34Building character with a Canadian conductor p. 52

PLUS

FOLDOUT MAP: PRR and NS in western Pennsylvania p. 20


www.TrainsMag.com • September 2014Making high-tech trackgear p. 16

New life for old GEs p. 14

Norfolk Southern’sVirginian Railwayheritage unit

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by bill badurski closing a chapter in...

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