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GE Transportation to hold 26th annual rail conference in June
Re; GE transportation;; Clearly GE has won the war of locomotive building just as EMD did during
my youth. I remember a aerial view of the Erie plant showing the different buildings functions. I noticed there
no style section; and it shows with every GE rail creature.
A suggestion to GE; please hire someone who has a clue as to what makes a good looking locomotive.
The newest GE freight locomotives have benefited from the radiator section getting thicker mostly to house
split systems required to keep the EPA happy. The nose however, looks like what it is the work of a high school
welding class with straight panels welded together to make a box with a slanted section to keep the conductor
from being run over.
As far as The P series of Amtrak and commuter fame; my reaction is the same as when I first saw a P unit.
“YUK”. but a congrats to The people at Amtrak who with the North East Direct and the silver and blue current
sheme for most P units have indeed put the best lipstick on the GE oinker.
I do hope the designer of the P units and several electrics has had his pencil and computer taken away
before anymore damage can occur. Come to think of it; the body of the P unit is not that bad if a decent
windshield section and nose could be added and that freight car like space between the trucks where the fuel
tank should be were covered up to further protect the air tanks with the airdryer valve sitting an inch above the
raid head.
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" Oh god" I’m 70 years old and I am turning into Fred Frailey.’
James Else
I would call the current styling “functional minimalist”. Things are placed and covered and access provided for as needed to perform the job. While we all would like to see a more graceful creation, as long as accountants are making the purchasing decisions and there is no value attached to the public image of the railroads as represented by the locomotive, there will be no added cost to the unit to cause it to look “prettier”…unfortunately for us all.