| EMD E8 |
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| Specifications |
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| Power type |
Diesel-electric |
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| Builder |
General Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD) |
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| Model |
E8 |
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| Build date |
August 1949 – January 1954 |
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| Total produced |
450 A units, 46 B units |
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| AAR wheel arr. |
A1A-A1A |
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| Gauge |
4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) |
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| Trucks |
EMD Blomberg A-1-A passenger |
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| Wheel diameter |
36 in (910 mm) |
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| Minimum curve |
21° (273 ft (83.21 m) radius) |
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| Length |
70 ft 3 in (21.41 m) |
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| Width |
10 ft 7 1⁄2 in (3.239 m) |
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| Height |
14 ft 7 in (4.45 m) |
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| Locomotive weight |
A unit: 315,000 lb (143,000 kg), B unit: 290,000 lb (130,000 kg) |
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| Prime mover |
(2) EMD 567B |
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| Engine type |
Two-stroke diesel |
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| Aspiration |
Roots-type supercharger |
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| Displacement |
6,804 cu in (111.50 L) each |
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| Generator |
(2) EMD D-15-A |
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| Traction motors |
(4) GM D-27-B |
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| Cylinders |
(2) V12 |
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| Top speed |
85 mph (137 km/h) |
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| Power output |
2,250 hp (1,678 kW) total |
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| Tractive effort |
56,500 lb (25,600 kg) starting, 31,000 lb (14,000 kg) continuous |
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| Career |
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| Locale |
United States |
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| Disposition |
most scrapped, several preserved |
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The E8 was a 2,250-horsepower (1,678 kW), A1A-A1A passenger-train locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division (EMD) of La Grange, Illinois. 450 cab versions, or E8As, were built from August 1949 to January 1954, 447 for the U.S. and 3 for Canada. 46 E8Bs were built from December 1949 to January 1954, all for the U.S. The 2,250 hp came from two 12 cylinder model 567B engines, each driving a generator to power the two traction motors on one truck. The E8 was the ninth model in the line of passenger diesels of similar design known as EMD E-units.
In profile the front of the nose of E7, E8, and E9 units is less slanted than earlier EMD units, and E7/8/9s (and their four axle cousins, the F-unit series) have been nicknamed “bulldog nose” units. Earlier E-unit locomotives were nicknamed “slant nose” units. After passenger trains were canceled on the Erie Lackawanna in 1970, the E8s were re-geared for freight and were very reliable for the EL. These units were on freight trains until the early years of Consolidated Railroad Corporation ("Conrail").
Units noted with the designation E8m were rebuilt using components from earlier EMC/EMD locomotives. Externally the units look just like E8s. The difference in horsepower produced in these E8m units is because the older generators are reused.
Original owners
| Railroad | Quantity
A units | Quantity
B units | Road numbers
A units | Road numbers
B units | Notes |
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| Electro-Motive Division (demonstrator) | 1 | — | 5600A | — | to Southern Pacific 6018 |
| Electro-motive Division (demonstrator) | 1 | — | 952 | — | to Rock Island 643 1st E8A built |
| Electro-motive Division (demonstrator) | 2 | — | 810-811 | — | to Delaware Lackawanna & Western 810-811 |
| Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway | — | 2 | — | 83A–84A | Model E8m |
| 8 | 3 | 2, 4, 5, 82, 84–87 | 4A, 80A, 82A | Model E8m, rebuilt from E1A and E1B |
| Atlantic Coast Line Railroad | 6 | — | 532, 544–548 | — | 532 rebuilt from E7 |
| 1 | — | 500 | — | Model E8m, rebuilt from E3A |
| Boston and Maine Railroad | 1 | — | 3821 | — | to Missouri Pacific 42 in 1962 |
| Baltimore and Ohio Railroad | 16 | — | 26,A–32,A, 90,A–96,A | — | Even numbers only |
| 5 | 6 | 51, 53–56 | 51X–56X | Model E8m, rebuilt from EA and EB |
| Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad | 38 | — | 9937B, 9938A,B–9948A,B, 9949A, 9964–9977 | — | |
| Central of Georgia Railway | 2 | — | 811–812 | — | |
| Chicago and North Western Railway | 22 | — | 5019B, 5021A,B–5030A,B, 5031A | 5019B rebuilt from E7 | |
| Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad | 13 | — | 644–656 | — | 656 is Model E8m |
| Chesapeake and Ohio Railway | 31 | — | 4000–4030 | — | |
| Canadian Pacific Railway | 3 | — | 1800–1802 | — | Bought for joint Boston and Maine service in New England; only E-units purchased new by a Canadian railroad. 1800 and 1802 to VIA Rail. |
| Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad | 9 | — | 812–820 | — | EMD Demonstrators 810-811 became DL&W 810-811 |
| Erie Railroad | 14 | — | 820–833 | — | |
| Fort Worth and Denver Railway | 2 | — | 9981A,B | — | |
| Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad, | 1 | — | 100A | — | Model E8m, rebuilt from an ex-B&O EA |
| Illinois Central Railroad | 16 | 2 | 4018–4033 | 4104–4105 | |
| Kansas City Southern Railway | 4 | — | 26–29 | — | |
| 1 | — | 23 | — | Model E8m, rebuilt from E3A |
| Louisville and Nashville Railroad | 4 | — | 794–797 | — | |
| Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad | 9 | — | 106A,B, 107A,B, 131–135 | — | |
| Missouri Pacific Railroad | 4 | — | 7018–7021 | — | renumbered 38–41 |
| New York Central Railroad | 62 | — | 4036–4095, 4003, 4020 | — | |
| Pennsylvania Railroad | 74 | — | 5700A–5716A, 5760A–5769A, 5788A–5799A, 5801A–5810A, 5835A–5839A, 5884A–5899A, 5902A–5905A | — | 5762 to New York Central 4097 |
| Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad | 15 | 5 | 1001–1015 | 1051—1055 | |
| Seaboard Air Line Railroad | 11 | — | 3049–3059 | — | to Seaboard Coast Line 588-598 |
| St. Louis-San Francisco Railway | 17 | — | 2006–2022 | — | All named after a Kentucky Derby winner, hence the name of their paint scheme |
| Southern Railway | 7 | — | 2923–2929 | — | renumbered 6900-6905, 6916 |
| Southern Railway (New Orleans and North Eastern) | 10 | — | 6906–6915 | — | |
| Texas and Pacific Railway | 8 | — | 2010–2017 | — | renumbered 30–37 |
| Union Pacific Railroad | 18 | 24 | 925–942 | 926B–949B | |
| — | 4 | — | 922B–925B | rebuilt from E2B |
| Wabash Railroad | 14 | — | 1003–1015, 1000 | — | |
| Totals | 450 | 46 | | | |
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Surviving examples
Inside Cab view. The Engineer / Operator position of an E8A
It is estimated that 58 E8s have survived into preservation.[1] The former NYC 4085, preserved at the New York Central Railroad Museum, was the lead locomotive on the final eastbound 20th Century Limited.[2] Another surviving E8 is operated by the Midland Railway, in Baldwin City, Kansas. Privately owned, this unit is ex-Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad E8A #652 and is used for special events.
NYC 4096, recently restored, is also on display. New York Central 4097, privately owned, is on display at Merli Mfg Co, Duanesburg, New York. Southern Railway E8A unit #6900 is operational at the North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer, North Carolina. It pulled the Southern Crescent. Southern #6901 is on display in Duluth, GA, at the Southeastern Railway Museum. Another Southern Railway E8 #6913 is being restored at the Southern Appalachia Railway Museum in Oak Ridge, TN for their Southern excursion train. Yet another, Southern #6914, is under restoration at Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum. Of the units owned by Conrail, three were saved after their freight-service retirement and went on to be refurbished by the Juniata Locomotive Shops in Altoona, PA for use as Conrail's Office Car Special (OCS) until the merger of 1999. One unit went to CSX, and two were sold off to Bennett Levin, CEO of the Juniata Terminal Company, where they have been overhauled and painted as twin Pennsylvania Railroad E8's. Another, the former EL 833, was purchased by the New York and Greenwood Lake Railroad. The unit was repainted in its original livery as Erie 833, and was on display for a while on the turntable at Port Jervis, NY. In June 2008, two authentic New York Central E8's units (4080 & 4068) were brought to the Medina Railroad Museum in Western New York.[3] They are to be used on excursions, and the recreation of a "20th Century Limited Dinner Train" for the summer of 2013. A few mechanical problems are being resolved at this time. They currently are displayed across from the museum in a GVT siding/yard. The locomotives are almost ready to be blue-carded as of June 12th 2013.
See also
References
Notes
Bibliography
- Dorin, Patrick C. (1972). Chicago and North Western Power. Superior Publishing. p. 132. ISBN 0-87564-715-4.
- Lamb, J. Parker (2007). Evolution of the American Diesel Locomotive. Railroads Past and Present. Bloomington, IN, USA: Indiana University Press. ISBN 9780253348630.
- Marre, Louis A. (1982). Rock Island Diesel Locomotives - 1930-1980. Railfax, Inc. ISBN 0-942192-00-1.
- Marre, Louis A. (1995). Diesel Locomotives: The First 50 Years: A Guide to Diesels Built Before 1972. Railroad Reference Series (Book 10). Waukesha, WI, USA: Kalmbach Publishing. ISBN 0890242585.
- Pinkepank, Jerry A. (1973). The Second Diesel Spotter’s Guide. Milwaukee, WI: Kalmbach Publishing Company. pp. EMD–124. ISBN 0-89024-026-4.
- Reich, Sy (1973). Diesel Locomotive Rosters – The Railroad Magazine Series. Wayner Publications. No Library of Congress or ISBN.
- Schafer, Mike (1998). Vintage Diesel Locomotives. Enthusiast Color Series. Osceola, WI, USA: MBI Publishing. ISBN 0760305072.
- Solomon, Brian (2000). The American Diesel Locomotive. Osceola, WI, USA: MBI Publishing. ISBN 0760306664.
- Solomon, Brian (2006). EMD Locomotives. St. Paul, MN, USA: Voyageur Press. ISBN 9780760323960.
- Solomon, Brian (2010). Vintage Diesel Power. Minneapolis, MN, USA: MBI Publishing. ISBN 9780760337950.
- Solomon, Brian (2011). Electro-Motive E-Units and F-Units: The Illustrated History of North America's Favorite Locomotives. Minneapolis, MN, USA: Voyageur Press. ISBN 9780760340073.
- Solomon, Brian (2012). North American Locomotives: A Railroad-by-Railroad Photohistory. Minneapolis, MN, USA: Voyageur Press. ISBN 9780760343708.
- Wilson, Jeff (2002). E Units: Electro-Motive's Classic Streamliners. Classic Trains / Golden Years of Railroading series. Waukesha, WI, USA: Kalmbach Publishing. ISBN 0890246068.
External links
|
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| | Railcars/Trainsets | |
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| | Diesel locomotives |
- GE Genesis P40DC
- GE Genesis P42DC
- EMD F59PHI
- GE P32-8WH
- EMD GP38H-3
|
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| | Dual-Mode locomotives | |
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| | Electric locomotives | |
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| | Work locomotives | |
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| | Former locomotives |
Diesel | |
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| Dual-Mode | |
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| Electric | |
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| Gas Turbine | |
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| Work locomotives | |
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| | Railcars/Trainsets | |
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| | Diesel locomotives | |
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| | Former locomotives |
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Diesel cab and cowl locomotives built by GM-EMD |
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| Cab units
(F- & E-units) | |
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| | Cowl units | |
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