Oops I forgot to update this blog didn't I. Well, here's a little post about one of the newest members of the EMD family featuring the vastly successful 710 family of engines. Oh and by the way, if you don't know this already, traditionally EMD has named its engines by cylinder displacement (this doesn't apply to the metric H-engine), therefore 710 engines have 710 cubic inch displacement cylinders (yup, it's big enough for my head to fit into).
A repowered GP9 demonstrator with her 8 cyl. 710 engine drawn on the side
So far, Canadian Pacific is the only user of this little EMD (well, really Caterpillar now, but what the hell). The GP20C-Eco isn't built as an entirely new locomotive in the traditional sense. They are what's called re-manufactured locos. The buyer sends older generation GP locomotives to Caterpillar, depending on the specific model, certain parts are retained, and the rest are built from scratch. In CP's case, the GP20s used GP9 "cores", the trucks were rebuilt and reused, the rest completely new. With the 8 cylinder 2 150 horsepower 710 engine, this new GP20 also came with electronic brake valves, microprocessor control systems, and a new, larger, and more comfortable cab.
The finished product looks quite different from the demonstrator indeed
So, GP20C-Eco, quite a complicated name. To be honest, I still haven't quite figured out what the C stands for, but the rest is pretty obvious. GP for general purpose, i.e., 4 axle unit, 20 for 2 000 tractive horsepower, Eco for lower emissions, EPA Tier 0 in this case.
Get link
Facebook
X
Pinterest
Email
Other Apps
Comments
M-NL said…
Interesting concept. However in Europe rebuilding like this would not be possible for the majority of models, because a major rebuild is considered the same as a new build. Therefore the rebuild has to meet the same requirements a new loco has to. A lot of those requirements can either not be retrofitted at all or at a price point that makes a new build more justified.
After the post on the shiny rebuilt GE road power, it's only fair to have a look into what Progress Rail has to offer on their side of the table. I'm using the company's recently-changed, formal name of course. For those who are not up-to-date on the current state of North American railroading affairs, Progress Rail is the company (owned by Caterpillar) that purchased EMD a few years ago. The SD90MAC was arguably the biggest gong show in EMD's recent memory. It happened at a time when they were comfortably resting on their laurels, unaware the fateful changes that were about to occur in the locomotive market in the not-so-distant future (they got beaten badly by GE). What was supposed to be one of the most remarkable locomotives whose presence is to grace the mainlines in modern history, turned out to be an utter disaster (I'll redirect further readings to Wikipedia). As a result, today, the number of SD90s still in operation on a Class 1 Railroad is, if not id...
Last week, we've identified the Janney coupler and briefly looked at its elegant design. This week, let's, again, very briefly, look at the different types of Janney coupler that are widely used today. I will only talk about the head of the coupler, and ignore anything that the general public may need to trespass onto railroad property and get in a unsafe situation in order to have a good look at. As far as coupler heads are concerned, there are 3 types in used today. Type E, F, and H. Types E and F are used on freight, and H used on passenger equipment. Since the withdrawal of passenger service in North America by private railroads, the Type H standard is no longer maintained by the Association of American Railroads, a trade group formed of major freight railroads, but is under the control of the APTA, the American Public Transportation Association. Now let me introduce another term, slack. Slack is an allowed gap between two coupled up couplers. In other words, when most ...
The NPCU or Non-powered Control Units are control cars used by Amtrak that are modified from surplus EMD F40PH locomotives. A control car is a generic term for a non-powered railroad vehicle that can control operation of a train from the end opposite to the position of the locomotive. They can be used with diesel or electric motive power, allowing push-pull operation without the use of an additional locomotive. Control cars first appeared in the USA and France in 1960s. Trains operating with a locomotive at one end and a control car at the other do not require the locomotive to run around to the opposite end of the train when reversing direction. In the United States, most control cars are modified from retired locomotives by removing tractive equipment and adding side baggage doors and have been used on several passenger railroads. The control cars are connected through the consist of the train by standard AAR 27-wire multiple unit jumper cables. The NPCUs at Amtrak are a...
.jpg)
Comments