EMD E4

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EMD E4
EMD E4
SAL #3003 and another at Richmond, Virginia in 1939
Power type Diesel-electric
Builder General Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD)
Total production 14 A units, 5 B units
AAR wheel arr. A1A-A1A
Gauge 4 ft 8½ in (1,435 mm)
Engine type EMD 567 (2)
Cylinders V12
Power output 2,000 hp
Career Seaboard Air Line
Disposition scrapped

The EMD E4 was a 2,000 hp, A1A-A1A passenger train-hauling diesel locomotive built by the General Motors Electro-Motive Division of La Grange, Illinois. All were built for the Seaboard Air Line Railway. The E4 was the fifth model in a long line of passenger diesels of similar design known as EMD E-units.

The 2,000 hp was achieved with two EMD model 567 V12 engines developing 1,000 hp, each engine driving its own electrical generator to power the traction motors.

The front noses of the E1, E3, E4, E5, and E6 cab units had a pronounced slant when viewed from the side. Therefore, these five models have been nicknamed "slant nose" units. Later E-unit models received the same blunted "bulldog nose" as the F-units.

Ironically, the E4 was produced before the E3. Both models were identical, save for the E4 having a pneumatically-operated nose door passageway in order to facilitate crew movement between units in a locomotive consist.

All E4s were retired and scrapped by the early 1960s.

[edit] Original Buyers


Owner Cab-equipped 'A' units Cabless booster 'B' units
Seaboard Air Line Railway 14 5

[edit] References

  • Pinkepank, Jerry A. (1973). The Second Diesel Spotter's Guide. Kalmbach Publishing Co., Milwaukee, WI, EMD-121– to EMD-123. ISBN 0-89024-026-4.