General Electric unveils lower-emissions locomotive with new engine<br> <br><br>General Electric on December 23 took the wraps off a new, cleaner-burning diesel engine that will meet federal emissions standards two years ahead of the 2005 deadline and will likely be the prime mover in the company’s locomotives for the next two decades.<br><br> <br><br>The GE Evolution Series 12-cylinder engine develops the same 4400 horsepower as the 16-cylinder FDL found in its best-selling AC4400’s and Dash-9 models. But it reduces emissions by 40%, cuts fuel use by 3%, and can be upgraded to meet further changes in Environmental Protection Agency emissions standards. The new engine was unveiled during a ceremony at the General Electric Transportation Systems assembly plant in Erie, Pa. <br><br> <br><br>GE invested more than $200 million and six years of research and development into its new locomotive development program, said John Krenicki Jr., president and CEO of GE Transportation Systems. GE will have the new Evolution Series locomotive ready for customers beginning in 2003, two full years before the railroads must comply with the newest regulations. Locomotives with the new engine will cost about 10% to 15% more than comparable current models, GE said.<br><br> <br><br>Company officials told the Wall Street Journal that the three completed Evolution locomotives will be extensively tested on freight railroads, and that as many as 40 preproduction units would be completed by the end of 2003.<br><br> <br><br>The GE low-emissions program has already yielded 25 U.S. patents, 13 patents pending. and 18 invention disclosures. GE’s rival, General Motors’ Electro-Motive Division, is modifying its existing prime movers to meet the EPA standards, rather than developing a new engine like GE has done.<br><br><br><br>More information:<br>http://www.ge.com/stories/en/10899.html<br>

 

Very cool! GE Locos have always been VERY smoky around my part of the world....<br><br>

 

(eyes up the rig to see if he can stuff one of those under the hood, talk about stacks)

 

scratches head bangs chest breaks out the welder and cuttin torch. repeats I'm a man I can do anything I will make it fit.<br>Wife walks in party over. : <br>DM01

 

My girlfriend came out the other day while I was under the hood and asked me If I would put a CTD in her Jeep. I climbed out from under the hood, got down on one knee and asked her to marry me on the spot. ;D (dunno if she appreciated the turbo clamp I was holding as a ring tho )