The locomotive news column in the May (2004) issue of "Trains" has a short article on the ES40DC, illustrated by a photo of GE 2011 in the blue and green Evolution colors.
The article says that the ES40DC test units on NS, like the ES44AC test units on UP and BNSF, is basically being tested in heavy but normal railroad service, and that the Evolution Series unitds GE hasn't sent out to those railroads are being subjected to "torture" at Erie-- rational enough if you want to find where the weaknesses in the design are, and don't want the inevitably resulting failures to happen at the head of a customer's train. One form of torture is specified as running the engine at 120% of rated power: 4400 x 1.2 = 5280 hp.
Obviously running the engine at this rating is not-- currently-- recommended practice, and would wreak havoc with m.t.b.f., but the basic engine design is capable of this without immediately self-destructing.
And, of course, over time the GEVO engine will be refined and, one assumes, uprated. How long before we see locomotives at ratings like this? Note that the first U25B test/demonstrator units were released in 1969/1960. A U25B at 120%... amounts to a U30B: introduced 1967. And a U30B at 120% is a (1971) U36B.
...(Looks in crystal ball, says magic words)...(Nah, that's just TOO speculative to post!)...
The article says that the ES40DC test units on NS, like the ES44AC test units on UP and BNSF, is basically being tested in heavy but normal railroad service, and that the Evolution Series unitds GE hasn't sent out to those railroads are being subjected to "torture" at Erie-- rational enough if you want to find where the weaknesses in the design are, and don't want the inevitably resulting failures to happen at the head of a customer's train. One form of torture is specified as running the engine at 120% of rated power: 4400 x 1.2 = 5280 hp.
Obviously running the engine at this rating is not-- currently-- recommended practice, and would wreak havoc with m.t.b.f., but the basic engine design is capable of this without immediately self-destructing.
And, of course, over time the GEVO engine will be refined and, one assumes, uprated. How long before we see locomotives at ratings like this? Note that the first U25B test/demonstrator units were released in 1969/1960. A U25B at 120%... amounts to a U30B: introduced 1967. And a U30B at 120% is a (1971) U36B.
...(Looks in crystal ball, says magic words)...(Nah, that's just TOO speculative to post!)...
