Most Railfans I’ve met like EMD better than GE. Why is GE hated and EMD loved.
How many of those railfans actually try and run a railroad and have to worry about things such as profit margin, tonnage ratings, locomotive uptime, and good service support?
Railroads don’t care what railfans think, they use what works the best and makes the most money.
…and that’s why Metra got rid of those wonderful F40Cs and are kicking themselves in the head right now for replacing them with those crummy MP36s
…and thanks for proving my point.[:D]
Theere was the Same war in the OTR side Caterpiller and Cummins. Trouble was neither one was the best in terms of MPG Reliablity or time between Overhauls. For that you had to go to Rodger Penske and his little Gem called the Series 60 Detroit Diesel. There are some of them with DDEIC their control software approaching 2 million miles without being Overhauled. I have yet to here of a Cat or Cummins tp make it that far without being torn down to be rebuilt.
Why is EMD favored one reason GE killed ALCO and GE almost killed EMD in the 80’s yet they brought Computyers into RR Locomotives The first single Prime Mover with 4000 HP in Series Production.
EMD units look nicer? Plus, until recently they had an easier to follow naming convention.
ALCo killed itself with poor product, mostly the 244 prime mover. GE supplied the electrical gear for ALCo since the beginning.
GE got sick up and fed with the problems with their “partner”, and then decided to get into the locomotive business for itself. Early GEs didn’t need to be as good as EMDs, they just needed to be better than ALCo, which they seemed to be. GE also had more support to put behind the effort, being a much larger outfit.
Of course both the F40Cs and MP36s use the same EMD designed 645 diesel engine so I don’t quite get the relevance to a GE vs. EMD discussion.
Wabtec is teaming up with GE to build a new locomotive order for the MBTA…
I don’t think METRA is going to be able to go to EMD for any fixes on their copy cat “645” or on the engine control software.
I heard that GE is heavily invested in WABTEC and is the source of the "645"s. Progress Rail as well as NREC and Brookville are all competitors of MPI and now that Progress Rail owns EMD I wonder about all these deals for traction motors. MPI seems to be going towards GE as the source for engines and other equipment they can’t manufacture.
Think of an EMD as a sports car and a GE as a truck.
Most Engineers,and crews today prefer the Wide-Body cab now over older cab-types. The NS has alot, (1089) GE D9-40CW and most Engineers prefer this Engine over the EMD types,SD-70-2,SD-70M,mainly because of noise,rattling interior noise and a crossing bell that stays on several feet beyond the whistled crossing. And GE and EMD Desk-top controls (ex-Conrail)are also luke-warm to many engineers on the NS. Im a Conductor,so I cant comment too much on performance of the two,however the New NS EMD SD-70ace are Brand-new and are very comfortable,lots of room,some-what quiet,this new series are #1000-? These are my favorites.
More crew members I know on CN and CP prefer GE to EMD because the GE is more reliable and will generally be more comfortable for them.
Then why does CN have all those SD70M-2s and CP have those SD40-2s
Because the crews don’t make the purchases. They use the tools given them. Besides, CN just bought a pile of used C40-8’s and -8W’s (yes, I know some are rough mechanically) while they’re selling off and scrapping SD40’s of various flavors. They also have lots of Dash 9’s and GEVOs too.
edbenton brought up the analogy, so I think I’ll push it down the road a little more.
CNW6000: (said ) "…Because the crews don’t make the purchases…" Most generally the it is the bean counter who crunch the numbers to narrow the field and then the sales men come in, and smooze the upper management to seal the deal..
The the crews take out their new locomotives, and everybod gets a chance to beat the heck out of the new product to see who’ll break it, and how long it lasts ‘in service’ THe TRAINS mags latest issue has a peon to the “GEES 7’s and 9’s” which seem like TIMEX watches, " to take a lickin’ and keep on tickin’". This argument about locomotives seem to constantly gain more lives with each new locomotive builder__.__ Kids argued that their Lionel, was better than the neighbor’s American Flyer, and that little kids only played with their Marx sets. On and on, and on, ad nauseaim..
SO now we come to the argument about real locomotive builders… EMD ( which is now effectively ‘Cat’ AGAINST GE (which is now selling more locomotives than anyone else). And this is only the Freight sector.
Passenger locomotives is the other cat fight (GE, Brookville, MPI ( Which is now WABTEC ( which is, I THINK, a part of GE ?(?).
There was an old says that my Dad used to say, that seems to fit this scenario" That’s why there is chocolate and vanilla ice cream, in the drug store"; everyone seems to have their own tastes, same for sports rivalries.[:'(]
WABTEC, of which MPI is a subsidiary, is still an independent firm. The MBTA’s recent locomotive order to MPI will use GE prime movers instead of 645’s.
Personally I really could care less what engine is leading what train as long as the train shows up what engine is leading really doesn’t matter especially on the A-line. Although I will say I have seen some very unusual power leading before. I more of a GE person, but then again the 567, 645, 710, and the ill fated 265H are also beasts along with GE FDL-16 Series. As for the GEVOs they are impressive, though sort of rare on the A-line usually it’s only a few trains that have them while the rest can be anything.
I prefer GE over EMD.
And model as such on my HO layout, even a few Alco’s are in there.
The sound has much more character.
Than the sanitized EMD’s.
My 2¢ worth.
John - Running Trains 24/7
When I hired out with NS in 1999, I asked a couple of engineers why NS had so many dash 9’s and was told that GE was one of NS’s largest customers and pretty much forced NS to purchase GE products. Only repeating what I was told. And by the way, the engineers I worked with favored EMD locomotives.
I agree, ice cream flavor or favorite sports team,who cares, what ever leading-unit you get,[;)] thats what you get. You cant get on the radio and call the Dispatcher and say, I prefer to have #- ___ -- for my trip?[;)]