Hi! Last night, I was speaking with some friends and we wonder about our ignorance about the means of letter in model number.. We know that SP means "special duty" and GP, "general prupose"... But what means the B in B23? and the U? Anyone get a list?? Yvan-Martin
GE's model designations are usually pretty straightforward. They tend to tell you what the axle arrangement, horsepower, and model series are. U33C, for example, stood for: U = Universal (name for the model series) 33 = Horsepower...in this case, 3300hp C = Six-axle. B would stand for four axles. Their later Dash-7, 8, and 9 lines are also pretty simple when you think about it. B23-7 would mean, for example: B = four-axle 23 = 2300 horsepower -7 = Model series name (Dash 7) an example of the later Dash-9 series, the C44-9W: C = six-axles 44 = 4400 horsepower -9 = Model series name (Dash 9) W = Safety cab equipped Sometimes GE's can get a little confusing, since sometimes they would make modifications to the basic design to produce a special variant. Family Line's BQ23-7 are an example of this. They were B23-7's equipped with a special "Quarters" cab designed to house the entire train crew, so GE inserted the "Q" in the model name to denote this. Also, an "A" suffix added to a designation would signify a unit equipped with a 12-cylinder prime mover instead of their standard 16-cylinder prime mover. So a C30-7 equipped as such would be designated C30-7A (Conrail had these). Hope this helps!
Thanks guys!! Jim, you're so right!! Is it the reason why the SD45 of CP are listed under SD40-2 "rebuilt"? And why the M in M420? For MLW?? Yvan-Martin
The "Dash" number in the current GE numbering designations stands for the decade in which they were designed. That is to say, the Dash-7 engines were initially designed in the late 70's, the Dash-8s in the mid 80's, and the Dash-9s were designed in the early 90's. Nobody has a clue as to how GE will handle the "Dash-Noughts", or some other equally meaningless class designation ....
<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Yvan-Martin Levesque: Is it the reason why the SD45 of CP are listed under SD40-2 "rebuilt"? And why the M in M420? For MLW?? Yvan-Martin<hr></blockquote> The CP SD45's are SD40-2's on the inside...they've had the original 20-cylinder 645E3 prime mover replaced with a 16-cylinder one, as well as having the electrical system upgraded to Dash-2 specs, among other things. Even though they may look like SD45's on the outside, mechanically they're SD40-2's, and since that's what counts to the guys that have to repair and work on them, that's how the railroad classifies them. That concept has been around for awhile; the rebuilt SD40, SD45, and SD45M units that SP got from M-K a few years back were all rebuilt to a common standard(they're SD40-2's internally), and are all designated SD40M-2 to help keep that commonality (the "M" stands for Modified). And you're correct about the "M" in M420 standing for MLW, a.k.a. Montreal Locomotive Works.
The "Dash 2" series of locomotives the EMD produced meant the inclusion of modular electronics. the -2 is by far the most common suffix, and is only found up to and including the SD45-2T. All locomotives after that are assumed to have this, so they dropped the -2. I believe the only commercially available -2 locomotives were between the GP/SD38 and SD45-2T. Some other classes of locomotives have been rebuilt to -2 specs (SD20-2, for example). Some RRs even classify certain rebuilt SD40 series locos as SD40-3s. This includes modular electronics and something else, which I cannot remeber at this point. Mankind mentioned that GEs can get confusing, but I disagree. GE's names tell you exactly what the locomotive has, trucks, HP, series, and any extras. EMD, on the other hand, tells you trucks, series, and then extras, not telling the HP in the designation. So you can say that this loco is an SD60, but do you know it has 3800 HP from that? Only if you've memorized it.
Dash-3 is a suffix usually used to denote a unit that's been retrofitted with a microprocessor; regardless, the owner may call it something else entirely . When I said that GE's can be confusing, it's in regards to not knowing what some of the special codes stand for; like some don't know that the "A" in B30-7A stands for a unit with a 12-cylinder FDL prime mover, or that the "G" in U30CG stands for "steam Generator", or the "Q" in BQ23-7 means "Quarters cab". Yeah, EMD's can be a nightmare when it comes to designations, but not all are like that; most switchers use a horsepower-based designation system (MP15AC, SW1500), as did a few early GP/SD units (GP/SD18, GP20). Once you know what the numbers mean on the other EMD models, it isn't so bad figuring out what they are on the inside.
Thank you guys to answer so precisely to my question... I'm 28 and I thanks God that I'm a diesel fan... Model's name are so easy compare to all those Pacific, Atlantic and so on !! (If SD40 do not tell me the H.P., imagine what "Mikado" give me for infos!! On the other hand, "Mikado" sounds more "romantic" than GP38! ) Yvan-Martin [ 21 September 2001: Message edited by: Yvan-Martin Levesque ]</p>
Another one for you guys... Can you complete the following? F (as in F7) mean... E (as in E8/E9) mean... PA (as in PA1) mean... This will help me!! Yvan-Martin
Originally when released, these meant the following. EMD: F - Fourteen Hundred Horsepower - first unit, the FT, was 1450 HP. E - Eighteen Hundred Horsepower - first unit was E1 at 1850 I'm pretty sure. Later models of these units were of higher horsepower, but the names stuck. F was later designated as Freight, and some F units were rebuilt to FP units (hase passenger capability). MBTA did this to some F7s and an F3, to create FP10s. ALCO: PA - Passenger A unit PB - Passenger B unit (no cab) FA - Freight A unit FB - Freight B unit (no cab) These were sometimes listed as PA-1, PA-2 for series designations. Also note that the railroads didn't always use them as intended. RS - roadswitcher, usually denoted RS-1, RS-2, etc. RSC/D - six axle version of the roadswitcher. C - Century, like C420, C424, C636, etc. First number was number of axles, last two were horsepower.
Hi Guys! I decided to put all this infos in a page on my site (on the yard section), the Champlain & St. Lawrence. (http://www.trainweb.com/montreal/g-scale) I needed to know more model number. What does mean: NW (switcher built by EMD) HR (built by MLW) Also: EMD uses T for "tunnel motor". Is that correct? EMD uses M what for? (As in SD-40M) Yvan-Martin.
Your early switchers used letters to denote how the frame is built. I don't have my notes handy. On the "T" they are Tunnel Motors, SD40T-2 or SD45T-2 evcept for the GP15T. Even though it is a culvert motor, short tunnels, with the cooling air intakes at the deck like the T-2's. The "T" means turbo. There were GP15AC's GP15-1's and GP15T's. Now the next question is what does the -1 stand for. I forgot . <blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Yvan-Martin Levesque: Hi Guys! I needed to know more model number. What does mean: NW (switcher built by EMD) HR (built by MLW) Also: EMD uses T for "tunnel motor". Is that correct? Yvan-Martin. <hr></blockquote>
<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Yvan-Martin Levesque: I needed to know more model number. What does mean: Also: EMD uses T for "tunnel motor". Is that correct? EMD uses M what for? (As in SD-40M) Yvan-Martin. <hr></blockquote> The "T" in tunnel motors means a different radiator arrangement from other units.... there is an SD40-2 as well as an SD40T-2..... both have the same horsepower (3000) EMD is not an originator of the "M" term. Many railroads used them to distinguish "modified" unit (either rebuilt or modified). Harold
Yes, M for Modified. Usually seen on the SP, now UP, they were SD45s rebuilt to SD40-2s internally, but retained the carbody. So they called them SD40-2Ms. But careful, cause a C40-8M denotes a full carbodied GE unit, while an SD50F denotes a full carbodied EMD unit. These are mostly Canadian National designations. Not sure about HR though.
So, What does mean HR (as in HR412) and NW (as in NW2) are good question... Any GM or MLW engineer around here Yvan-Martin PS: I can ask you an easy one: What is the meanning of GG (as in GG1)?
Well, you finally got me to do some work . TR Transfer engine SC/NC, SW/NW First a bit of background. 'S' originally stood for Six Hundred as in horsepower (as applied to the SW1), and 'N' stood for Nine Hundred, however, this was ignored for later models, and SW\NW simply became designations. The 'C' and 'W' stood for 'Cast' and 'Welded' frame respectively. Why is it called the GG1? The Pennsylvania Railroad had a standard system for identifying locomotives by wheel arrangement. For example a 4-6-2 was a K, a 2-10-0 was an I, a 2-8-2 was a L. subsequent models would get a number such as K2, K3, K4. Of importance here, is a 4-6-0 was a G. When articulated locomotives were introduced, either electric or steam, it was classified as two locmotives back to back. The GG1 is a 2-B+B-2 in Diesel terms, but a 4-6-0+0-6-4 in steams terms, so it was two G lomotovies back to back, hence GG. First revision makes it the GG1 (there was no GG2, but all electrics got a trailing number, although all steamers did not.)
