Why do people dislike GE locomotives?

2-8-8-0 Jun 30, 2010

  1. 2-8-8-0

    2-8-8-0 TrainBoard Member

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    Hey all.

    This has bugged me for a while, and I still havent found an answer; why do people dislike GE locomotives so much, in particular the 9-40CW? Is there a reason for this, or is it just a "Ford vs Chevrolet" sort of argument?

    I like modern diesels, and I really like the -9s Norfolk Southern has; maybe its because I can see them, hear them, get very close to them, every day if I so desire. I like the SD-70 a lot too (the older standard cab ones I like better) and I prefer the sound of EMDs engines, but I think the -9 is one of the prettiest locomotives ever, and NS' paint scheme just looks great on them. I think im gonna get another kato one, and this time, Im gonna move that headlight...!

    So...why all the hate? Just because they are very common? Or is there something "wrong" with them? Some of the "super power" steam engines were basically pointless, or would have been far better off used differently than their owners did (I am looking at you, Allegheny) but people still like them.

    Theyre pretty, sound ok, seem dependable enough...I dont get it?

    Amanda
     
  2. YoHo

    YoHo TrainBoard Supporter

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    People hated SD40-2s back in the day too, because they were new and they were everywhere. The supplanted more unique units.
    Same for the modern GEs.
    It used to be that there was more variety.
    I'd like em a lot more if BNSF owned something else.

    Also, I think their wide cab is ugly.
    I like the GP60M cab the best as far as safety cabs go.
     
  3. ns737

    ns737 TrainBoard Supporter

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    eg units

    I like them and all my engines are NS:thumbs_up:
     
  4. SteamDonkey74

    SteamDonkey74 TrainBoard Supporter

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    I wasn't aware of them being hated. If you want to see something really hated, consider Alco. I am an Alco-phile (Alco-holic?) and I must be content with the few survivors still out there.

    Run what you like. Those who don't care for your modeling efforts can do their own thing.
     
  5. YoHo

    YoHo TrainBoard Supporter

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    Well, that's not hate, that's because the company went belly up...though I suppose it went belly up, because people didn't like the product.

    Dash 9s are called Techno-toasters. Its a very mild hate. Like I said, it stems from the fact that they're ubiquitous.
     
  6. oldrk

    oldrk TrainBoard Supporter

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    Im pretty fond of these...

    [​IMG]

    And these....





    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  7. Bob Morris

    Bob Morris TrainBoard Supporter

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    Most modern locos seem to follow a "form follows function" design. The result is that they're just plain ugly. I don't think GE has a corner on ugly though. My $.02
     
  8. SteamDonkey74

    SteamDonkey74 TrainBoard Supporter

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    I meant "hated" by those making locomotive buying decisions. It's over the top, but so is the original poster's use of the term "hate" to characterize a perceived attitude about these GE locomotives. It wasn't meant in the extreme sense.

    I have to say that I get a little lost amongst all the SD70GE44ACMAC-9W whatever locomotives. They all look the same to me. I prefer the days of Baldwin VO-1000s with their interesting headlight castings, and Alco RS-series locomotives with their radiator fans and curved tops, and NW2s, and PAs and FAs, and Fairbanks Morse locomotives with their opposed piston designs. The modern locos don't appeal to me that much. Maybe I will start getting into them in thirty years or so when there are almost none of them left.:tb-wink:
     
  9. YoHo

    YoHo TrainBoard Supporter

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    I hear that.

    I'm OK with modern to a point. GEs all look the same. At least EMD added a little variety in the ACe/M-2, but then the 50/60/70...that's an awful lot of hood there with no distinguishing characteristic. At least give my a Dynamic brake blister.
     
  10. SteamDonkey74

    SteamDonkey74 TrainBoard Supporter

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    I lose track of EMD's offerings after about the GP-38s and GP-39s. I like GE's U-boats and then I get lost a little bit after that.

    Give me a string of SD-9s with brake blisters and prime movers rumbling on in a slightly dissonant chorus and I am happy, but I certainly don't hate the new locos. If it weren't for UPs practice of putting loco model numbers on the side of theirs I would be almost totally lost on anything this side of about, what, 1990?
     
  11. 2-8-8-0

    2-8-8-0 TrainBoard Member

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    Well, I for one like Alcos. Note I said the -9 is "one of the prettiest" ever; I think for looks, nothing can touch the FA/PA. I have a soft spot for the RS-3 also!

    Supposedly most modelers are drawn to the railroads and trains they are familiar with, and I suppose thats why I like these. I like steam and 1st gen diesels (especially WMs!) but I havent ever seen them, other than in pictures or museums. I was in my early 20s when I started really paying attention to trains, and when I did, the -9 and SD-70 were the hottest things on the rails, and everyone was waiting to see who would reach the 6000 HP goal first, GE or EMD. That worked....

    I think the wide cab is what makes the 9-40CW so appealing for me; the cab sort of reminds me of the FA/PA, but from there back, its all business. EMD always made pretty locos, but for me, the wide cab -8s and 9s are the ones GE got right (I still like the older -8s and -7s tho!)

    Plus how can you not like a locomotive that people refer to as a "catfish"?

    Meh. I think I just like them all!
     
  12. YoHo

    YoHo TrainBoard Supporter

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    I live for huge lashup of SP 645 based SDs. Or GP60M/FP45s (no dash9s please) Santa Fe Superfleet or Mixed Warbonnet/Cubscout SDs and GPs on Santa Fe.

    There's something about those lashups from the 70s-90s that appeals even though I wasn't even out west to see em.


    Of course, Part of it is that I hate the BNSF paint scheme in particular on wide nose units and I'm not a big fan of UP's either.
     
  13. SteamDonkey74

    SteamDonkey74 TrainBoard Supporter

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    2-8-8-0,

    Those are all as good a reasons as anyone needs.

    Companies are putting out dash-9 models, I think, aren't they. Certainly there are plenty of other modelers out there that share your appreciation.

    I am in my mid-thirties but already, I think, in advanced stages of crusty-old-geezer-hood. This may be why I like these old locos so much.
     
  14. YoHo

    YoHo TrainBoard Supporter

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    Now see, I know I'll get punished for this, but I cannot stand the look of the PA/FA. I think they're ugly. I like the DL series though and the RS and Centurys.

    I've always liked the fans on EMD units. I don't know why, but I do.



    Also, while I think the GE wide cab is ugly, I think their last version of the spartan cab looked sharp.
     
  15. GaryHinshaw

    GaryHinshaw TrainBoard Member

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    I think there are both aesthetic and functional reasons.

    Regarding the former: one's taste tends to be set early in adulthood; e.g. one's taste in music. For those of us over 40, the modern wide cabs arrived in our middle ages and they'll never appeal as much as the clean lines of an SD40-2 or the gorgeous curves of an F unit. (But I like them nonetheless.)

    Regarding the latter, they're called toasters for a reason::

    http://railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=326818&nseq=0

    :eek:
     
  16. SteamDonkey74

    SteamDonkey74 TrainBoard Supporter

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    Don't worry, folks. I am already on my way over to John's house to begin his "re-education."

    Nothing to see here.
     
  17. 2-8-8-0

    2-8-8-0 TrainBoard Member

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    Not to derail the thread (well, its my thread, I can do so if I want!) but you folks in Oregon do have what may be the most beautiful stretch of railroad I have ever seen, in the Columbia River gorge. The stretch near Multnomah Falls is breathtaking; too bad it belongs to the Borg.

    Ive been wrestling with picking ONE era and focusing on it for like a year; dunno why I have such issues with this. At least module construction (one of those double track ones like outlined in another thread) will begin friday, and a stretch of double tracked straight line could appear on any road, anywhere. So dont need to decide just yet!

    On another forum, I read an excellent post from a well known modeler (I dont wanna name him but you probably all know him) that "you dont pick a prototype, it picks you".

    I dont think C&O picked me...meh. I babble a lot.
     
  18. SteamDonkey74

    SteamDonkey74 TrainBoard Supporter

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    The Columbia Gorge is a great stretch of railfanning - on both sides of the river, I must add.

    I fan the Borg just like anything else. If I could go back in a time machine and railfan the Milwaukee Road, the SP&S, the SP, etc., etc., I would also do that.

    I started out in this current model railroading push thinking I really wanted to do Willamette & Pacific. I still have some of that and I am still building a collection there for our more "modern" sessions at the club, but I got interested in mid-20th century railroading, particularly the SP, SP&S, and Milwaukee Road. I have long been an SP fan, and it's hard to live around here and not have at least a passing interest in the SP&S. I don't know where I got the Milwaukee Road bug, but I did. I understand that "prototype chooses you" bit.
     
  19. YoHo

    YoHo TrainBoard Supporter

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    I was wandering around "the Pearl" on Sunday almost all of which is former SP&S yard.
     
  20. Westfalen

    Westfalen TrainBoard Member

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    Don't forget the real railroads have never bought locomotives based on what they look like, they base their decisions on how economically they move trains over the road and how little time they spend in the shops. The latter was where Alco, Baldwin and FM lost out to EMD, and the former where EMD in turn started losing to GE.
     

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