Electro-Motive Diesel

Electro-Motive Diesel, Inc.

Type	Subsidiary of Progress Rail Services Corporation
Industry	Railroad Power Generation
Predecessor	Electro-Motive Division of General Motors Corporation
Founded	Cleveland, Ohio, United States (August 31, 1922 (1922-08-31))
Founder(s)	Harold L. Hamilton Paul Turner
Headquarters	La Grange, Illinois
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	John S. Hamilton, CEO and President Michael P. O'Donnell CFO and Executive Vice President
Products	Locomotives Diesel engines OEM parts
Services	Locomotive maintenance Locomotive management Training
Owner(s)	Progress Rail Services Corporation (since 6/2010) formerly: Greenbriar Equity Group LLC & Berkshire Partners LLC
Employees	3260 (2008)
Website	emdiesels.com

Electro-Motive Diesel, Inc., also referred to as "EMD", is a privately held company that designs, manufactures and sells diesel-electric locomotives and diesel power engines worldwide under the Electro-Motive brand. EMD is the second-largest builder of diesel-electric locomotives after ceding sales superiority to General Electric in 1989.^[1]

Electro-Motive Diesel, Inc. traces its roots to the Electro-Motive Engineering Corporation, founded in 1922, and was formerly the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors Corporation.^[2] Greenbriar Equity Group LLC, Berkshire Partners LLC and certain related parties formed the current company, Electro-Motive Diesel, Inc., to facilitate the purchase of the Electro-Motive Division from General Motors in 2005.^[3] Electro-Motive Diesel, Inc. is incorporated in the state of Delaware as a general, domestic corporation.^[4]

On June 1, 2010, Caterpillar Inc. announced that it planned to acquire EMD for $820 million. EMD will be merged into Caterpillar's Progress Rail Services division.^[5]

EMD's headquarters, engineering facilities and parts manufacturing operations are located in La Grange, Illinois, United States. EMD's final assembly operations are located in London, Ontario, Canada.^[6] As of 2008, EMD employs approximately 3,260 people worldwide.^[7]

History

Early years

Electro-Motive Engineering Company was founded in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1922 by Harold L. Hamilton and Paul Turner. The next year, the company sold only two gasoline-powered rail motor cars, one to the Chicago Great Western and the other to the Northern Pacific. EMEC subcontracted the body construction to St. Louis Car Company and the prime mover to Winton Engine Company. The motorcars were delivered the following year and worked well, fortunate for the fledgling company, because the sales were conditional on satisfactory performance. The next year, 1925, the company changed its name to Electro-Motive Company (EMC) and entered full-scale production, selling 27 railcars.

While hardly ever is anyone the absolute inventor of any system, Harold L. Hamilton most probably comes close to being the "father of the diesel locomotive." In an evolutionary career that led him into that role, he was without doubt the diesel-electric’s guiding coordinator. Starting his railroading career as a fireman on the Southern Pacific Railroad, he became a locomotive engineer on both passenger and freights. He eventually became a manager with the Florida East Coast Railway. Upon leaving railroading for an automotive marketing position in Denver, Hamilton, aware of early electric propulsion experiments, the needs of railroads, and his most recent exposure to heavy vehicles, recognized and integrated the idea of more efficient (over steam) internal combustion power with railroading. Financing himself, he quit his truck sales position, set up shop in a hotel with his partner and a designer, and created a product in 1923 that eventually became the successful version of diesel-electric railway propulsion.

In 1930 General Motors, seeing the opportunity to develop the diesel engine, purchased the Winton Engine Company, and after checking the Winton Engine Company's books, decided to purchase its chief customer "Electro Motive Company," which was a rail-based company. Advancing from railcars, the company began building multi-car diesel streamliners, for the Union Pacific Railroad, among others. By 1935, GM felt confident enough to invest in a new factory on 55th Street in McCook, Illinois, west of Chicago, which remains the corporate headquarters. By the end of the 1930s, EMC had a diesel engine powerful and reliable enough for locomotive use.

The 567, named for its displacement-per-cylinder of 567 in³ (9.3 L), was a two-cycle (or two-stroke) supercharged engine with overhead camshafts and four exhaust valves per cylinder. It was built in V-6, V-8, V-12 and V-16 configurations. The technology was first used in glittering prow-nosed passenger locomotives, but EMC's eye was on freight service. The glamorous passenger services made little money for the railroads, but replacement of steam engines with reliable diesel units could help railroads save money in a money-losing service. It also gave EMD practical experience and future contacts for capturing the ultimate prize: freight service.

The company produced a multi-unit freight locomotive demonstrator, the EMD FT, and began a tour of the continent's railroads to demonstrate it. The tour was a success. Western railroads, in particular, saw that the Diesels could free them from dependence on scarce water supplies for steam locomotives. By 1940, EMC was producing a locomotive a day, with 600 in service.

General Motors merged EMC and part of Winton Engine to create the Electro-Motive Division (EMD) on January 1, 1941. All GM locomotives built prior to 1941 were built by the Electro-Motive Corporation (EMC). Winton's non-locomotive products (large submarine, marine, and stationary diesel engines) continued under the title of the Cleveland Diesel Engine Division for another twenty years.

From the Forties to the Sixties

World War II temporarily slowed EMD locomotive production—the diesel engines were instead required in Navy ships, but in 1943 locomotive production regained momentum. More locomotives were needed to haul wartime supplies. The war was, in the end, a godsend for EMD. It was allowed to continue to develop the diesel freight locomotive and to sell it to railroads. Its competitors — principally the American Locomotive Company (Alco) and the Baldwin Locomotive Works -- were allowed minimal developmental work with diesel road locomotives. They were ordered to produce mainly diesel switchers and steam locomotives to pre-existing designs as fast as possible. This delayed EMD's competition and dealt them a fatal blow. By the end of the war, EMD's diesel production was in full swing, with new passenger EMD E-units and the new improved freight locomotive the EMD F3 following in late 1946. Baldwin Locomotive was crippled by its incorrect belief that people desired travel on trains pulled by steam locomotives. EMD opened another locomotive production facility at Cleveland, Ohio in 1948 to meet the demand for diesel locomotives.

Diesel locomotive of Danish State Railways built in Sweden in 1956 by NOHAB under license from and with components supplied by EMD, now preserved in the Danish Railway Museum

The story of diesel's conquest of steam is better placed elsewhere, but a combination of factors weakened steam's position and strengthened that of the diesel locomotive, and by the early 1950s the majority of American railroads had decided to dieselize. While other builders had entered the diesel locomotive field—whether old steam builders like Baldwin, Alco and Lima, or newer competitors like Fairbanks-Morse (also a producer of Navy diesels in the war), EMD's extra years of experience told. Most railroads ordered a few units from several builders in their first, trial purchase —- but the second, volume order usually went to EMD. Most of these were sales of its freight F-Unit platform. The economic arguments for diesel passenger power over steam were a bit shakier than those for freight service, but it hardly mattered—passenger service was more a matter of rolling advertisements and publicity machines than actual profit by this late date.

In 1949, EMD opened a new plant in London, Ontario, Canada, which was operated by subsidiary General Motors Diesel (GMD), producing existing EMD as well as unique GMD designs for the Canadian domestic and export markets. That same year, EMD introduced a new, revolutionary locomotive—the EMD GP7. Called a road switcher type, its design was that of an expanded diesel switcher, with the diesel engine, main generator and other equipment in a covered, but easily removed, hood (thus the other name for these locomotives, hood units). This hood being narrower than the locomotive, this enabled the crew to have visibility in both directions from a cab placed near one end. The structural strength in the road-switcher was in the frame, rather than in a carbody as in earlier locomotives. The maintenance ease of this new type of locomotive won over the railroads quickly. Nearly all locomotives produced in the United States for domestic use since the 1960s have been hood units.

Mosaic 3801, an EMD GP38-2 — at Agrock Yard near Brewster, Florida.

EMD's competition was unable to keep pace. Lima failed first, merging with Baldwin and engine builder Hamilton in Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton, but the Baldwin-led company didn't endure. Fairbanks-Morse, after producing a series of innovative locomotives that sold poorly, left the locomotive field (the company remains in business, in its original markets). Then, only Alco remained, aided by the industrial might of General Electric, which manufactured the electrical gear used in Alco diesel-electric locomotives. GE entered the locomotive market in the early 1950s with the introduction of gas turbine-electric locomotives. By the early 1960s GE was marketing its own line of diesel-electrics in its Universal series, such as the U-25C.

The 567 engine was continuously improved and upgraded. The original six-cylinder 567 produced 600 HP, the V-12 1000 HP, and the V-16 1,350 HP. EMD began turbocharging the 567 around 1958; the final version, the 567D3A (built from October, 1963, to about January, 1966) produced 2,500 HP in its V-16 form.

Introduction of the 645 engine

EMD builder's plate that was in use from the late 1960s to the mid 1980s.

In 1966 EMD introduced the enlarged 645 engine. Power ratings were 1,500 HP V-12 non-turbocharged, 1,500 HP V-8 turbocharged, 2,300 HP V-12 turbocharged, 2,000 HP V-16 non-turbocharged, and 3,000 HP V-16 turbocharged. EMD also built a turbocharged V-20 that produced 3,600 HP for the SD-45 that was their first twenty cylinder engine. The final variant of the sixteen cylinder 645 (the 16-645F) produced 3,500 HP.

In 1972, EMD introduced modular control systems with the Dash-2 line; the EMD SD40-2 became one of the most successful diesel locomotive designs in history. A total of 3,945 SD40-2 units were built; if the earlier SD40 class locomotives are included, the total increases to 5,752 units. The vast majority remain in service on North American railroads. In 1984 EMD's control systems on locomotives changed to microprocessors, with computer-controlled wheel slip prevention, among other systems.

Introduction of the 710 engine

An EMD SD40-2 owned by Montana Rail Link.

EMD introduced their new 710 engine in 1984 with the 60 Series locomotives, although they continued to offer the 645 in certain models (such as the 50 Series) until 1988. The 710 was produced as a twelve-, sixteen-, and twenty-cylinder engine and continues to be in production.

After the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement came into effect in 1989, EMD decided to consolidate all locomotive production at the GMD plant in London, Ontario, a development which ended locomotive production at the McCook, Illinois (commonly called the La Grange plant, after its postal address) in 1991, although the Illinois facility continues to produce engines and generators.

Introduction of the H-Engine

In 1998, EMD introduced the four-stroke 265H-Engine. Instead of completely replacing the 710 series engine, the H-Engine continues to be concurrently produced with the 710.

The early 1990s saw EMD introduce two new innovations: AC induction motor for increased reliability and tractive effort at low speeds, and the radial steering truck which reduced wheel and track wear. The decade also saw locomotives increase in power to 6,000 HP(4.5 MW) from a single prime mover (sixteen cylinder 265 H engine), in the EMD SD90MAC-H locomotive.

In 1999, Union Pacific placed the largest single order for diesel locomotives in North American railroad history when they ordered 1,000 units of the EMD SD70M from EMD.

Present day

The year 2004 saw CSX Transportation take order of the first SD70ACe locomotives, which were designed to be more reliable, fuel efficient, and maintainable than its predecessor AC locomotive, the SD70MAC. The model also met the stringent EPA Tier 2 emission requirements using the two-stroke 710 diesel engine.

In 2005, Norfolk Southern took the first delivery of the new SD70M-2, the successor of the older SD70M locomotive. Like its sister locomotive, the SD70ACe, the SD70M-2 meets the stringent EPA Tier 2 requirements and uses the same engine. EMD is certified to be in conformance with ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 14001:2004.^[8]

In June 2004, The Wall Street Journal published an article indicating that EMD was being put up for sale. On January 11, 2005, Reuters published a story indicating that a sale to "two private U.S. equity groups" was likely to be announced "this week". Confirmation came the following day with a press release issued by General Motors, stating that GM had agreed to sell EMD to a partnership led by Greenbriar Equity Group LLC and Berkshire Partners LLC. The newly spun off company was called Electro-Motive Diesel, Incorporated, retaining the EMD name. The sale closed on April 4, 2005.

On June 1, 2010, Caterpillar Inc., the world's largest construction equipment manufacturer, announced that it had agreed to buy Electro-Motive Diesel from Greenbriar and Berkshire for $820 million. EMD will be merged into Caterpillar's Progress Rail Services division.^[5] The deal was finalized on 2 August 2010, by which time the purchase price had risen to $928 million.^[9]

Soon after the acquisition of EMD, the company's president, John Hamilton, left the company on 27 August. It was not known whether he left as a result of the EMD's acquisition, or if he was fired or resigned.^[10]

Engines produced

EMD has produced the following series of engines:

• EMD 567 — no longer in production.
• EMD 645 — no longer in production.
• EMD 710 — currently in production.
• EMD 265 — "H-Engine"; currently in production.

Reporting marks

The following reporting marks are listed for rolling stock:

• EMDX - Electro-Motive Division Leasing
• EMLX - Electro-Motive Division Leasing
• GMCX - General Motors Corporation
• GMDX - General Motors Diesel Canada

Facilities

Over its history EMD facilities have continuously changed to accommodate shifts in the Company’s product offerings, market demand, and customer requirements. Two constants, however, have been the primary facilities in LaGrange, Illinois, USA and London, Ontario, Canada. Both are ISO 9001:2000 Certified for Quality and ISO 14001 Certified for Environmental Management.

EMD LaGrange

Since its ground breaking in 1935 the LaGrange facility has been the worldwide headquarters for EMD. In addition to the corporation’s administrative offices, LaGrange houses design engineering, emissions testing, rebuild operations, and manufacturing of major components, including: prime mover engines, traction alternators, electrical cabinets, and turbochargers. The facility includes three main buildings with over 1.2 million square feet of office and manufacturing space. Ancillary buildings are used to provide maintenance and testing capabilities.

EMD London

Opened in 1950 to produce EMD locomotives, the London facility was at times used to produce a variety of products in the General Motors family, including transit buses, earth movers, and military vehicles. Situated on a 100+ acre site this location includes two main buildings and multiple ancillary buildings with over 500,000 square feet of office and manufacturing space, as well as a locomotive test track. London is the primary site for the assembly, painting and testing of EMD locomotives. In addition this location manufactures components such as locomotive underframes, traction motors, truck assemblies, and locomotive equipment racks.

Additional EMD locations

EMD also provides maintenance services, technical support, parts inventory, and sales and marketing services from many other locations spread throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, China, India, Australia, Germany, Switzerland, Brazil, Egypt, and South Africa.

Overseas licensees

Victorian Railways S class (EMD A7) locomotive, built by Australian licencee Clyde Engineering

A number of foreign companies signed agreements with EMD to produce locomotive locally. Some companies took EMD designs and merely built them locally, while others used EMD engines and traction components in locomotive bodies of their own design, often to fit local railroad loading gauge or axle load requirements.

Companies included the Swedish manufacturing company NOHAB who sold units to many European operators from the 1950s to the 1970s.^[11]

In Australia, Clyde Engineering also used EMD components in locally designed locomotive from the 1950s.^[12] Now part of Downer EDI Rail, in recent years they have been successful in designing high-horsepower AC traction locomotives equivalent to the EMD SD70ACe while still meeting local weight and size restrictions.^[13]

See also

• List of GM-EMD locomotives

References

External links

• Electro-Motive Diesel, Inc. - official company website