Well I finally got a new SD70Ace on a empty coal train. The new Ace has a lot of new things that I like and one bad thing that I cannot stand. I love how the cab is set up. The vents are so you can adjust them so you don’t freeze out by the air conditioner. The unit is just a work horse and pulls very good. The thing that I cannot stand about the unit is the fact that either BNSF or EMD is so cheap that they did not make the units a whisper cab. I felt like I was in a old SD60M with as much noise as the engine made. Now that the Dynamic brake fan is at the back of the locomotive at least I didn’t have to listen to that. But when the unit was in anything but Idle or throttle 1 it was a little bit to noisy. Now with the new Aces and GEVOs I don’t know which one I would take first. But if a Mac is anywhere around I would be all over that. If the Aces where only whisper cabs that would be the best engine ever made in my opinion.
bnsfengineer,
In terms of low speed pulling power on the one hand, and the ability to sustain speed on the other hand, how would you rank the SD70ACe’s, ES44AC’s, AC4400’s and SD70MAC’s - is there any noticeable difference in performance, or does it really come down to each individual engineer’s personal perference?
I would say it probably comes down to the individual engineer preference. But from what I have dealt with the GE seem to slide more at low speeds. As far as pulling at slow speed and high speed the EMD does a very good job to me. I have had GE that even pulling at 50 mph and still pulling the wheels will still slip, plus the fact that the control stand shakes and rattles and they are pretty noisy except the new GEVOs. The GEVO is pretty quiet in the cab. The Macs are also very quiet but for what every reason EMD did not insulate the cabs very good in the new ACEs.
if the engine is too loud , turn up the stereo !![:D]
Or throw on a Cat-back Exhaust and learn to love it! [;)][(-D]
If I recall correctly, they started automatically using the isolated cab on the Mac and everything after. But I remember reading that they said they were designing a “special” isolated cab for the order of ACes that went to Australia. So apparently they are back to considering that feature special order now, or may not have even offered it at all to begin with. Which seems kind of odd, considering that I think OSHA upped the noise restrictions in 04.
Dave
http://www.dpdproductions.com
- Featuring the TrainTenna Railroad Scanner Antennas -
ACe’s are pretty awsome and CSX GEVO’s
are even better