Metra six-axle commuter locomotives Metra six-axle commuter locomotives: The arrival in October 2022 of Metra’s SD70MACH, MEXT No. 500, marks the return of six-axle commuter locomotives to Chicago after more than a decade. Rebuilt from former Kansas City Southern/Transportación Ferroviaria Mexicana SD70MACs sourced from Progress Rail’s locomotive fleet, the 15-unit order brings new technology to […]
The most expensive 2-8-4s were Louisville & Nashville’s “Big Emma” M-1s. Perhaps no latter-day steam locomotive wheel arrangement matched the 2-8-4 for dual service, a term for overall efficiency across multiple assignments. Introduced in 1924 by Lima Locomotive Works as the first exponent of what it called “Super Power” — a promotional phrase to highlight […]
The best-selling Baldwin diesel locomotives are low-horsepower end-cab switchers owing to wartime material restrictions. Baldwin Locomotive Works of Eddystone, Pa., was the country’s largest steam locomotive builder. But it was no stranger to electric and internal-combustion locomotives. It was, however, slow to offer a standard line of diesel road engines. Baldwin’s late entry to the […]
Central of Georgia locomotives bought a great deal of variety to the South. When the Central of Georgia Railway was organized in 1895, it had 214 steam locomotives of the 4-4-0, 4-6-0, and 2-6-0 types. The roster was expanded in the early 1900s with 2-8-0s, 2-8-2s, 2-10-2s, 4-6-2s, 4-8-2s, and, briefly, 2-6-6-2s. Many of these […]
The Bombardier HR616 locomotive sold just 20 copies to one railroad, qualifying it as a Diesel That Didn’t. In North America, when we think of builders of diesel road locomotives, we usually conjure visions of EMD, GE, Wabtec, Alco, Baldwin, and Fairbanks-Morse. But there were others, including Canada’s Bombardier. The Montreal-headquartered rail transportation arm of […]
EMD ECO locomotives mark 15 years EMD’s 710ECO line of eight- and 12-cylinder prime movers celebrates its 15th anniversary this year. Introduced in 2007, this repower package was the company’s answer to the expanding market for low- and medium- power gensets sold at the time. While the company sold far fewer ECOs than gensets, time […]
Norfolk Southern C39-8E diesel locomotive No. 8688 is one of only two of its kind known to remain in existence in the United States. The unit, made by General Electric, is a diesel-electric locomotive built between 1984 and 1987. An early part of GE’s Dash 8 series of locomotives, 161 C39-8s and C39-8Es were built […]
Top 6 locomotive upgrades from Mike Iden include: • Improved crashworthiness • Alerters and event recorders • Exhaust emissions • Improved working conditions in the cab • Improved dynamic brakes • Alignment control But before he explained those items, Iden wanted to include a dictionary definition of the word “enhancement”: Enhancement means “To increase or […]
Korean War SW8 diesel locomotives survive in Alabama: Deep in the heart of America’s south, we find two able-bodied veterans of foreign war operating on the Calera & Shelby Railroad at the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum in Calera, Alabama. Calera & Shelby 2019 and 2022 SW8 switcher locomotives have a story to tell more […]
If there’s one thing to be said about the Union Pacific Armour yellow paint scheme, it’s that it hasn’t changed much since it was first introduced in 1934. Or so one would think. The presence of Armour Yellow has been pretty much constant, but everything else has been in a state of subtle and not […]
Let’s celebrate the variety and color of Bangor & Aroostook locomotives! The Bangor & Aroostook didn’t purchase its first diesels (EMD F3s) until 1947, but dieselization then came quickly, with the last steam operations in 1949. The railroad kept its older diesels in good shape for a long time, supplanting them with GP38s in the […]
Kansas City Southern 2022 locomotive roster Kansas City Southern 2019 locomotive roster […]
