Railroad Forums 

  • EMD SD70ACe series official thread (covers all variations)

  • Discussion of Electro-Motive locomotive products and technology, past and present. Official web site can be found here: http://www.emdiesels.com/.
Discussion of Electro-Motive locomotive products and technology, past and present. Official web site can be found here: http://www.emdiesels.com/.

Moderator: GOLDEN-ARM

 #5590  by GM10-1975
 
GM tests its latest model locomotive at Pueblo, Colorado site

It's going to be a while before the coal and freight trains passing through Pueblo will be pulled by General Motors' new state-of-the-art SD70ACe locomotive, but the big engine is piling up a lot of miles just outside town.

GM's Electro-Motive Division announced the launch of its new model last year and brought four of the new units to the Transportation Technology Center Inc. for a grueling battery of tests prior to the commercial release of the engines next January.

Driven in part by new Environmental Protection Agency regulations on diesel emissions that go into effect in 2005, GM took the opportunity to build an enhanced tool for the nation's railroads with what some industry observers say could be the "locomotive of the future."

It's also part of GM's strategy to recover dominance in the alternating-current market which it developed but lost to rival General Electric.

Locomotive builders started offering an alternating current locomotive in the 1980s, also with the help of the TTCI. The center is operated by the Association of American Railroads and provides technical assistance to the industry as a whole, individual railroads and equipment makers and government agencies, along with a world-class training program in handling hazardous material accidents.

Up until the 1980s, diesel locomotives generated direct current. The industry has been switching to alternating current for heavy-load trains because they work better at slow speeds. While they cost less to maintain over the long term, AC locomotives are more expensive to buy and Electro-Motive has indicated it can provide a DC version of the new SD70.

"If the railroads want a DC version, we will provide a DC version," said company spokesman Curt Swenson. But he said that might not be necessary because "We have been able to narrow the difference in price."

The original SD70 series was introduced in 1993, Swenson said, and will go out of production this year. "The SD70MAC has gained a great reputation for high reliability," he said and the AC versions are seen regularly passing through Pueblo, hauling coal from Wyoming's Powder River Basin.

The new models will be tested here through fall, and one of the original four is now being tried out by one of the country's major railroads as part of a regular train.

While that practical experience is valuable for GM as well as potential buyers, the kind of intense testing being done in Pueblo can't be matched on the open road.

TTCI allows the company to test "all of the systems on the locomotive," he said. "The engine, traction system are taken through their paces out at the test center, measuring horsepower, speed and fuel economy."

The new locomotive also has its own state-of-the-art internal monitoring systems and incorporates the latest in remote wireless tracking.

Because the engines are run constantly on the center's tracks, the company can duplicate years of use. Swenson wouldn't say how many miles are being put on the test units but did say the power used is in the millions of megawatts.

Workers at the center said that the tests are using 30,000 gallons of diesel fuel a week.

To duplicate real service, three older locomotives, basically riding their brakes, are hooked up to the SD70ACe to match the drag of freight cars. -The Pueblo Chieftain
 #5931  by Edmund
 
Hey GM10 - 1975

That was a great post. I never knew what they did on the test track.

Any idea which Class 1 has the SD70MAe?

 #6218  by railroadjeep
 
There was a fairly interesting article in Trains Mag. some time back in the early 90's about the testing facilty. I though it was quite interesting to read about what they do there.

Chris

 #6244  by Justin B
 
Could someone clear this up for me....

SD70ACe, SD70M-2 -- same unit, different names?

SD70M-2 simply a railfan creation?

 #6289  by junction tower
 
It is my understanding that SD70M-2 will be the model number for the dc traction version of the SD70ACe ac traction model.

 #7061  by Bryanjones
 
SD70ACe is the replacement model for the current SD70MAC. SD70M-2 is the model name for the SD70M replacement. Both are official EMD designations.
Currently there are no SD70M-2 test or demo units. However there are 4 EMD SD70ACe test/demo units that have been testing at the AAR test track in Colorado and 20 units are being built for large scale testing on CSX.

Bryan Jones

 #7123  by MEC407
 
Once again, EMD makes things unnecessarily confusing. :(

If the AC version is going to be called the SD70ACe, then the DC version should be called the SD70DCe. But I guess that would be too logical. ;)
 #7141  by mixer7
 
It is my understanding that the DC version of this locomotive will be called
SD70M-2. I agree that it also should be named "SD70DCe." :)

I read in this forum a few weeks ago that a SD70ACe was spotted in North Platte, NE. Maybe the Union Pacific has begun testing? The CSX has already placed their order for this locomotive and I hear that Norfolk Southern is interested also. :D

 #7376  by crazy_nip
 
basically the SD70ACe is the same thing as the SD9043MAC with an emissions legal 710 engine package and the "fire" locomotive control computer...

nothing revolutionary

3 or 4 of CSX's SD80MAC's are now, for all intents and purposes "SD70ACe" units due to engine swaps...

 #7533  by cb&q bob
 
Actually, The differences between the SD90/43 MAC and the SD70ACE are pretty large!
From the outside, the ACE looks like one of out Phase 2 SD90 MACs but some of the major differences I saw when I climbed around on one included an engeneer's station with two screens but with a controller that looks like it came out of an SD40-2 .
Also, Seimens inverters are gone and replaced with Mitsubishi inverters. I dont know this as fact but thats what the EMD guys told me. Also, all the electrical lockers and switchgear are rearranged and it looks like it will give us electricians alot better access. I hope so because thats one of my biggest gripes about working on the 90 MACs.

 #7994  by Edmund
 
cb&q bob wrote:Actually, The differences between the SD90/43 MAC and the SD70ACE are pretty large!
From the outside, the ACE looks like one of out Phase 2 SD90 MACs but some of the major differences I saw when I climbed around on one included an engeneer's station with two screens but with a controller that looks like it came out of an SD40-2 .
Also, Seimens inverters are gone and replaced with Mitsubishi inverters. I dont know this as fact but thats what the EMD guys told me. Also, all the electrical lockers and switchgear are rearranged and it looks like it will give us electricians alot better access. I hope so because thats one of my biggest gripes about working on the 90 MACs.


cb&q bob you have been on one great. Any impressions on the look of the inside and its quality and fit? Anything else that impressed or disappointed you?

Nothing beats hands on viewpoints.
 #8815  by GM10-1975
 
KCSR pilots brand new SD70ACE's

This week, Kansas City Southern Railway will receive two SD70ACE locomotives for a 60-day pilot. The SD70ACE is fresh from the General Motors Electro-Motive Division drawing board in Pueblo, Colorado and will accumulate megawatts as they are used for the first time ever in revenue service as helpers or distributed power on KCSR between Pittsburg, KS and DeQueen, AR or Shreveport, LA.

KCSR was chosen for the pilot because of the grade elevation and train weight challenges on the line segment. The 4300 horsepower SD70ACE will be released in 2005 and is Tier 2 emission compliant, as designated by the Environmental Protection Agency.
- KCS News
 #10008  by Edmund
 
Great news. They are going to be pulling trains. If you find out how they are doing I hope you post it.

Thanks
 #13834  by Edmund
 
Any more news?
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 13