SD70ACe

Trains Magazine Locomotives
1

I just happened to be in Temple, TX yesterday afternoon to see the Texas Eagle enroute to San Antonio. Whilst waiting for the Eagle, three of the most beautiful BNSF SD70ACes backed down from what appears to be an engine service facility and idled in front of the station until after the Eagle departed.

The engines appear to have just been out shopped. They looked brand new, although I suspect not. What does the e in the model designation stand for?

Also, does anyone know what kind of service is performed at the engine facility in Temple?

2

The small ‘e’ is for ‘eco’ or ‘environmental’, depending on the EMD material you read. The complete nomenclature is:

SD - Special Duty

70 - Model Series

AC - AC traction motors

e - eco or environmental

Jim

3

e = enhanced. The differences between this unit and the prior SD70M are more than just in the T2/T3 aspect.

4

The locomotives could be brand new as BNSF is receiving 80 new SD70ACes at this time. The numbers are 9050 - 9129.

5

Don’t the SD70ACe’s have radial trucks?

Also, what does the 70 series stand for?

-Justin

6

SD70ACe locomotives can have either

HTCR II trucks which are radial steer trucks

or

HTSC trucks which are non-radial steer trucks

BNSF ordered their first two orders of SD70ACe locomotives (70 locomotives 9300 -9369) with the HTSC trucks to save money on truck overhauls. BNSF went back to the HTCR II trucks for all subsequent orders.

7

Justin,

You are a die hard raifan so I bet you can answer your own question…with any EMD road unit what does the series number indicate? (Think about what the differences are between an SD40 and an SD45)…

It’s actually somewhat of a trick question as the 70 series is one of the only EMD locomotive series in which one of the major specifications that define the series has changed as it has been produced (the 6 axle version of the 50 series being the other notable example,another hint for you)

Bet you can figure it out…

8

The 70 series started out at 4,000 HP and is currently at 4,350 HP.

From 11/1982 to end of production, the SD/GP40-2 got a HP bump from 3,000 to 3,200. This aspect of the 70 series is not unprecedented.

9

Which I pointed out in my post (i.e the reference to the SD50 going from 3,500 to 3,600HP during it’s production run)…as far as the 40 series goes I have never read any reference that production GP40-2s or SD40-2s were delivered with 3,200 HP ratings although there were experimental,updgraded models of both (GP40X,SD40X) that were rated at 3,500 HP and served as 50 series prototypes during that time period.

There certainly were F40PHs delivered with the 3,200 HP rating.

Regarding the 40 series freight locomotives,do you have any sources to prove otherwise? It seems possible that individual railroads could have changed fuel rack settings to bump up the horsepower (as happened with some earlier production F40PHs around that time) but is there anything that shows EMD delivered locomotives at the higher rating?