Does GE still suport the HDL engine?

[D.Carleton]

You will not see GE develop a 6000 HP Evolution Series locomotive for North America unless a North American RR asks for one.

They asked for them before and they will ask again. CSX and UP both bought a sizeable fleet of 6000hp locomotives. UP hedged its bets with a number of potential upgrades. When a railroad-reliable 6000hp prime mover is ready for production the railroads will be there to buy. If the railroads were not interested in ever larger locomotives then all those coal and intermodal trains would be moving cross-country behind F7's and GP-9's… which would thrill many of those reading this for sure.

[Conrail4evr]

You will not see GE develop a 6000 HP Evolution Series locomotive for North America unless a North American RR asks for one.

They asked for them before and they will ask again. CSX and UP both bought a sizeable fleet of 6000hp locomotives. UP hedged its bets with a number of potential upgrades. When a railroad-reliable 6000hp prime mover is ready for production the railroads will be there to buy. If the railroads were not interested in ever larger locomotives then all those coal and intermodal trains would be moving cross-country behind F7's and GP-9's… which would thrill many of those reading this for sure.

I wouldn't be so sure...CSX isn't very happy with the fuel consumption of these 6000 HP units, and from what I've heard, something is going to be done about it...

[D.Carleton]

CSX isn't very happy with the fuel consumption of these 6000 HP units, and from what I've heard, something is going to be done about it...

Add to that UP's turnback of the bulk of their SD90MAC's at the end of their lease and one sees the less than sterling outcome of the first chapter of the 6000 HP saga. The next generation of 6KHP diesel locomotives is on the way even if it is to a foreign land. As speed is a function of horsepower and increased speeds is a goal of American Railroads then the second generation of 6KHP locomotives cannot be too far off.

[Allen Hazen]

D. Carleton wrote:
"As speed is a function of horsepower and increased speeds is a goal of American Railroads then the second generation of 6KHP locomotives cannot be too far off."

Didn't CSX lower the freight speed limit on the ex-NYC main (from 60mph? to 50mph?) a fe years back? I would think that they may see the error of their ways one of these days, and if/when they do they may find that a 6000hp unit is helpful on trains that now operate with a pair of ES44DC. (In an economy of "just in time" logistics planning, schedule RELIABILITY is more important than absolute speed, which may be why they thought lowering the speed limit was a good idea. But I can't help thinking that, IF you can reliably meet them, faster timetables will ALSO be commercially important.)

[MC6853]

D. Carleton wrote:
"As speed is a function of horsepower and increased speeds is a goal of American Railroads then the second generation of 6KHP locomotives cannot be too far off."

Didn't CSX lower the freight speed limit on the ex-NYC main (from 60mph? to 50mph?) a fe years back? I would think that they may see the error of their ways one of these days, and if/when they do they may find that a 6000hp unit is helpful on trains that now operate with a pair of ES44DC. (In an economy of "just in time" logistics planning, schedule RELIABILITY is more important than absolute speed, which may be why they thought lowering the speed limit was a good idea. But I can't help thinking that, IF you can reliably meet them, faster timetables will ALSO be commercially important.)

The limit wasn't "lowered" per se, but the ES44DCs are so incredibly pathetic they can't seem to ever get above 50 anyway... Funny, but true...

>>MC

[NS D9-40C]

Doesn't the Blue Tiger run off of the 4000-hp V-16 used on the C40-8?

It runs on a 3000HP version of the FDL