Has anyone heard that GE could buy EMD I heard it on another forum that they currently have compadable parts but We all know GM wated to put EMD for sale for ever we have know scince the mid 90’s but no one want’s to take on the Auto Workers I also heard a while ago Warren Buffet who currently owns Dairy Queena dn the 2nd richest man in the world does any one know if this was true if anyone can answer any of these roomers this would help
DOGGY
HAPPY APRIL FOOLS DAY
There may be some anti-trust issues involved. Basically an outright monopoly. There are a number of locomotive manufacturers in the U.S and Canada but the reality is, THEY’RE SMALL POTATOES compared to GE and EMD.
Antonio Your right about Anti-trust
DOGGY
Guys,
I started the suggestion on the other thread! It wasn’t April 1 then and it isn’t here now either, owing to the international date line! It’s already April 2 here.
This bit isn’t a joke! GE can sell you almost any spare for an EMD locomotive and will guarantee that it will fit and work as well as the genuine part. They claim their 645F engine crankcase is better than the EMD design! I believe these crankcases are being used in the new MPI units for Metra and Caltrain.
One reason that GE want the business is that GE units, in particular the cast crankcase of the FDL engine has a limited life and can’t be repaired. The cost of replacing this is why many GE units are not rebuilt as many older EMD units are.
In Australia, we just got our first SD40! Not a dash2, a straight SD40, to work on the BHP Iron Ore line until new units can be built. It is an ex SP unit and it was in service in 1966, two years before the BHP line was built!
But to return to the subject, as long as monopoly laws aren’t breached, GE could take over EMD and barely change what they make and sell already. Just add the SD70ACe and the JT42CWR to the present range.
And as I said above, it’s April 2 already here. Look at the GE Transportation Web Site, there are more EMD parts listed than on the EMD site.
Peter
Lets hope EMD stays around. They have a long history and quite frankly you can`t have just one major locomotive manufacturer. Plus all GEs would get boring.
That’s interesting to hear. I’m kinda surprised tthat a US loco made it all the way over there… does that happen very often?
macguy,
Most locomotives for use in Australia are built here, mainly because (except for the Iron Ore roads), the track loadings and the clearances are less (the clearances are more like those in Europe, but not as bad as England).
Recently, Iron Ore units have been bought from GE, mainly Dash 9s but eight AC6000s were bought, although we don’t expect any more.
With new orders from China for ore, additional locomotives were obtained from GECX. And one of them was an SD40, with seven SD40-2s. I expect these will be returned or scrapped when the new units, probably ES 44ACs turn up. But in the mean time more lease units may arrive.
The iron ore companies sold off older units back (if that’s the right word) to the USA during a down turn a few years ago, and five Australian built SD50S are now on the Utah Railway, and some three Australian built C36-7s are around, one in Minnesota, I think but perhaps not with as good a future as the SD50S units.
Peter
Hey Pete (M636C) [:)] Re your comment:
“…the track loadings and the clearances are less (the clearances are more like those in Europe, but not as bad as England).”
Is that why the English steam locos seem a lot smaller than the US steam locos, because they really are, due to the difference in the clearances and loadings? (Even though it’s the same gauge…)
I didn’t realise the differences between UK and US were that much…
Cheers [;)]
Kozzie
Kozzie,
If you could see an English “Class 66” (JT42CWR) coupled to an SD50, for example, the roof of the English locomotive is just a little higher than the low nose of a standard , non wide nose US hood unit. There is a photo around of a Class 59 coupled to an SD50 at La Grange, and a 66 uses about the same body as the 59, but with different trucks.
The preserved ex SP GS-4 4-8-4 is about 16’ 6" high, about 5 metres.
A standard gauge Australian loco is about 14’ high, about 4.25 metres
A Brisbane SMU set is 3.87 metres high, a bit under 12’9" high (I’ve just written an article on them). A lot of older QR stock is smaller.
My recollection is that English passenger cars were about 12’6", 3.8 metres high.
I know this is off topic but I won’t do it again!
Peter
macguy,
We just hauled twelve NREX,(ex BN) C30-7 out to Texas Terminals, where they were loaded into a ship, bound for Turkey.
This happens about once a month, so far, they have shipped to Turkey and China, almost all ex BN GE’s.
Last month, ten C30-7s, but I dont remember the reporting marks,( I think MRR, but not sure) the locomotives were dark blue, with a yellow top, and a yellow arrowhead logo on the nose.
Yesterday, three C30-7s, also bound for Turkey, dont know their origin, they had been repainted a mustard yellow, reporting marks NREX.
Was inside these, and if the condition of the cabs are any indication of the rest of the locomotive, these things are on their last legs…
Got a few photos of the last three, if your interested, e-mail me.
And everybody needs to keep in mind that GE has always made replacement parts, not just for locomotives, but just about all types of equipment, like jet engines,( even for those engines that are not their own make) home appliances, and automobiles.
They manufacture wireing harnesses for a lot of automobile makers, both foreign and domestic, they make parts for just about every appliance known to man, from Kenmore home crap to industrial presses and assembly robots.
Your home central A/C and heating unit, if you have had it repaired, most likely has a GE part in it.
Replacement parts has been, and still is, a major piece of their business.
Ed
Ed,
Did I miss something? What’s your point?
Larry
Taylor,
Doggy was asking if GE made compatible parts for a EMD, yes, they do, along with compatible parts for darn near everything else.
And macguy was wondering if US locomotives go overseas often.
Yes, they do, I haul them out to the docks every month.
Ed
Peter,
only a note: The crankcases used in the Metra and Caltrains MPI locos are made in POLAND!!!
Ulrich,
Just because they were made in Poland doesn’t mean that they aren’t GE crankcases!
They might have been made for MPI themselves, who were looking at their own design of 645F crankcase which they called a 645X. My guess is that they were the GE design. The only thing for sure is that they weren’t EMD crankcases.
Is there anybody that has some documentation on this?
Peter
The blue and yellow C30-7’s were shipped to MRS Logistica in Brazil. This carrier has imported a sizable amount of rebuilt SD40’s from NRE and it would be unlikely that they would import junkers. MRS operates on 5’3" gauge and has a fair amount of North American size motive power on its roster.
EFVM has also imported a bunch of C30-7’s (mostly ex-CSX) and has retrucked them to B-B-B-B to fit the meter gauge. This is similar to the DDM45’s and the BB40-8’s.
MRS, thats the guys…Thanks.
Ed
I’ll 2nd that.
DOGGY
CSSHEGEWISCH
I think the ex CSX units with EFVM were B30-7s, or maybe B36-7s, rather than C30-7s. The length of the original unit is too short for a C30-7. It would be easier to modify the electrical switchgear of a four motor unit to take eight smaller motors, than to modify a six motor unit anyway. While “Trains” identified them as C30-7s, those photos appeared to be taken from a passing train, so the photographer wouldn’t have had much time to check them out. I think they were identified in “Latin Tracks” as B30-7s.
Peter