Does anyone out there know what the visual differences are between the ES44DC and the ES44AC ?
There is an article about these units in the November,2004 Model Railroader, and it states the major difference is in the radiators at the rear of the unit. It is going to be hard I think to see the difference from the ground, as these radiators are 25% larger than a 4400 and are split into 2 parts. Hope this helps.
The main differences I expect are that the heavy electrical cabinet would still be under the cab floor as in previous GE DC locomotives and the big converter cabinet on existing AC units (and the ES44AC) will be missing. Check photos showing the left side behind the cab clearly. That’s where the AC equipment is on all AC units to date.
Strangely, the EMD SD70ACe also appears to have the AC equipment in that (left side behind cab) location, but so does the SD70M-2, only the larger vents in the AC units indicating the difference.
Peter