The Iowa Interstate Railroad has reactivated SD38-2s Nos. 152 and 153 after three of its General Electric ES44-AC locomotives suffered damage in grade crossing accidents.
The locomotives handed train PESI (Peoria-Silvis, Ill.) on Sunday, July 31, with ES44AC No. 508, pulling 90 grain empties and two steel loads.
The non-turbocharged, normally aspirated engines are fan favorites. The locomotives are kept in storage to be used during traffic surges or motive-power issues. This is the second time they have been used in six months.
Iowa Interstate’s original fleet of five SD38-2s were built for the Reserve Mining Company in late 1978. Two, Nos. 154 and 155, were sold to the Chicago South Shore & South Bend Railroad in 2017 and are now South Shore’s Nos. 804 and 805.
The units served in the LLPX lease fleet for several years prior to the IAIS purchasing them in 2004. Electro-Motive Division built 90 of the 2,000-hp SD38-2s, powered by the 16-cylinder 16-645E engine.
ES44AC No. 514 has been repaired by the Iowa Interstate in its South Amana, Iowa, shops, while sister 505 is being repaired by National Railway Equipment in Silvis, Ill.. The remaining damaged GE, No. 519, remains in South Amana pending repairs.
Yes Supercharged and EMD engines must be because they can’t breathe at all if naturally aspirated…they pull no vacuum. Of course there are EMD versions that are also turbocharged but must keep the superchargers which are disconnected at higher engine speeds where turbo pressure is strong enough to stuff the cylinders with air.
So, not Naturally Aspirated, but Super-Charged; as opposed to Turbo(super)-charged!!
The SD38-2 locomotives are equiped with EMD 645 engines which are equiped with two roots blowers and as such they are not normally aspirated. Alco 539 engines were normally aspirated.
Great pictures, especially the one with the boat in the foreground.