General Electric AC6000CW
The modern horsepower race between builders culminated in the 1990s with both General Electric and EMD producing six-axle locomotives with 6,000-hp prime movers. Unfortunately, the concept never caught on, with only two domestic railroads, Union Pacific and CSX, purchasing General Electric’s design.
In the race to get the locomotives on the road, convertible locomotives with smaller FDL16 engines were offered, with the plan to upgrade to the larger 7HDL16A producing 6,000 hp when available. While Union Pacific chose to order both convertibles and full 6,000-hp locomotives, CSX held out and only purchased AC6000CWs with the larger 7HDL16A engine.
Over time, the convertibles never received their 6,000-hp prime movers, and the AC6000CWs with the 7HDL16A engine were problematic for quite some time. UP ended up repowering their HDL-equipped AC6000CWs with FDL16s, creating an entire fleet of 4,400-hp AC6000CWs. CSX decided to keep the HDL engine and swap most of their fleet to a new GEVO-16 engine in the early 2000s. Only CSX’s three pre-production AC6000CWs were repowered with FDL16 engines and are still on the roster, but are stored and will likely never operate again.
Today, while CSX’s fleet is off the roster, Union Pacific still rosters the model and has recently sent the fleet to Wabtec in Ft. Worth as part of its modernization program. Only eight former CSX AC6000CWs made it into shortline revenue service on Western New York & Pennsylvania, but unfortunately, traffic changes have rendered these large locomotives no longer necessary and headed off the property in 2024.
Two have been preserved, but in very different ways. Wabtec donated General Electric AC6000CW No. 6002, which was originally Union Pacific No. 7511, to the Lake Shore Railway Museum after serving in the company’s test fleet for years. The other “preserved” AC6000CW is owned by Aberdeen Carolina & Western. The company heavily modified CSX No. 656 into a rolling entertainment center for guests of the railroad and renumbered it ACWR No. 87. Some of the changes include removal of the long hood above the prime mover for entertainment space and modifying the radiator section to entertain guests.
