I guess my quandry on this goes all the way back to U-boat days, but is exasperated more now.
I’ve always found it pretty easy to spot EMD diesels. Look at the # of fans, brake blister shape/size, # of axles, hood louvers, etc. Even the newer units have some character. GE’s - for me - have always been a lot hard to spot and as of late, they all look like a plain brown wrapper to me. Maybe GE is more efficient in using the same carbody for multiple models, but it makes it pretty tough on us to differentiate between them.
The box in back of the cab is the Air Conditioner. If you’re on the other side of the locomotive you can look at the trucks but AC4400CW’s also ride on the same type of truck. If it’s a UP Dash 9 it won’t have a flag on it. For all other railroads you might have to learn the road numbers.
Dash 8’s are easy because they ride a different truck than the GEVO’s, AC4400CW’s or Dash 9’s.
I have to come out of the closet now: I’m a GE shareholder.
Friday evening, I e-mailed Investor Relations at GE headquarters and asked for pretty much any information they were willing to let me have about GEVO, including – is GEVO the same thing as Evolution?
I’ll share anything momentous. I doubt very much they’ll send me stuff like specs; more a matter of cost and availability than patent protection.
I cast my lot with the GE locomotives long before I bought common stock in GE. Honest! [:D] - a.s.
…an interior walkway bridging both ends of the locomotive. The units will be powered by GE’s 12-cylinder GEVO engine, manufactured in Grove City, Pennsylvania. Traction m… http://www.genewscenter.com/PressPack/1737-01-634.pdf
I always thought GE’s as being “Hammerhead Sharks” based on their radiator bulge at the front of the long hood. ALCO’s were usually more squared at the hoods ends while EMD’s were angled almost to a point with a mid body roofline flare for the dynamic brakes. The all smoked, except that ALCO’s turbocharger made for more and blacker smoke than the others. First, and even second generation, diesel watching certainly was more fun.
This is where it gets a little tricky. On the conductors side above the big box there are two grills. I think there are for the Dynamic Brakes but I’m not sure.
I look along the frame, just below the cab… the locomotive type is stenciled there on BNSF units.
(Example)
Note the “Dash-9 44CW” below the number, painted in yellow on the frame.
On UP units, it’s under the number, near the rear of the cab.
CN units have the CN designated type below the numbers on the cab. On NS units, I believe it is also on the frame below the cab, but, I have also seen it under the numbers on the cab. and CSX units also carry the locomotive type in that area as well.
Yeah, it’s “cheating” but, I never professed to be an expert at this…
That is how I tell GE units apart, it’s tough for me to tell what is what. I am better with EMD units, although the differences between the GP-15, 20, 30, 40, etc. are lost on me. About the only units I can positively identify is the SD40-2 and the SD70 series…
Is CSX still putting the little electric bolt up near the cab to indicates it’s AC not DC? (Both makes of lomotive do this, or did thisl, IIRC). - a. s.