EMD MP15AC
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| Image:Emd mp15ac 115.jpg EMD MP15AC demonstrator #115 at La Grange, IL. |
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| Power type | Diesel-electric |
|---|---|
| Builder | General Motors Electro-Motive Division |
| Model | MP15AC |
| Build date | August 1975 – August 1984 |
| Total production | 255 |
| Gauge | 4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm) |
| Power output | 1,500 hp (1,120 kW) |
| Locale | North America |
The EMD MP15AC was a 1,500 hp (1,120 kW) diesel switcher/road-switcher locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division between August 1975 and August 1984. 255 examples were built, including 25 for export to Mexico, and four to Canada. The MP15AC was a development of the earlier MP15DC model, but replaced the earlier model's DC generator with an alternator producing AC power which was converted to DC for the traction motors with a silicon rectifier. The MP15AC was 1.5 ft (457 mm) longer than the MP15DC, the extra space being needed for the rectifier equipment. An alternator-rectifier combination is more reliable than a generator, and such a setup was becoming the standard for diesel-electric locomotives.
The MP15AC is easily distinguishable from its predecessor because instead of the front-mounted radiator intake and belt-driven fan used on all previous EMD switchers, it had intakes on the lower forward nose sides and electric fans. The side intakes allowed the unit to take in cooler air, and the electric fans removed a serious reliability issue in earlier models.
The Milwaukee Road bought them. Soo Line bought the Milwaukee Road and painted the MP15ACs into many paint schemes. The Canadian Pacific Railway (CP Rail) now has the MP15ACs and has them painted with the beaver on them. Other railroads to have them were Union Pacific Railroad, Southern Pacific, Missouri-Kansas-Texas (MKT), TFM, Conrail and Long Island Rail Road.
[edit] References
- Marre, Louis A., and Pinkepank, Jerry A. (1989). The Contemporary Diesel Spotter's Guide. Waukesha, WI: Kalmbach Books. ISBN 0-89026-088-4.
| Diesel-electric switcher locomotives built by GM-EMD |
|---|
| SC, NC, NC1, NC2, T, NW1, NW1A, NW4, SW, NW2, NW3, NW5, TR1, SW1, SW7, SW8, SW9, SW600, SW900, SW1000, SW1001, SW1200, SW1500, SW1504, MP15DC, MP15AC, MP15T, RS1325, GMD1 |
| (See also: List of GM-EMD locomotives) |
