The GE C39-8 is a 6-axle diesel-electric locomotive model built by GE Transportation Systems between 1984 and 1987. It is part of the GE Dash 8 Series of freight locomotives.
A total of 161 examples of this locomotive were built for two North American railroads: Conrail and Norfolk Southern Railway.
The C39-8 was a fairly unpopular locomotive with crews, cited factors such as a rough ride, tendency to overheat, frequent turbocharger issues, issues with the fuel injection system, and various other reliability issues.
Technical The C39-8 is powered by a V16 7FDL-16 diesel engine driving a GE GMC187A2 main alternator. The power generated by the main alternator drove 6 GE 752AG traction motors, each with a gear ratio of 83:20 and connected to wheels which allowed the C39-8 a maximum speed of .
Depending on customer options, the C39-8 carried between of diesel fuel, of lubricating oil, and of coolant. Like most North American diesel locomotives, the C39-8 uses normal water for cooling.
The C39-8 has a maximum tractive effort of at .
Original owners GE C39-8 owners Railroad Quantity Road numbers NotesNorfolk Southern1148550-86638550,8551 former GE demonstrators set up for short hood forward operation. 8552-8663 set up for long hood forward operation. All units have been retired.Norfolk Southern 258664-8688C39-8E (Enhanced) built in carbody similar to the GE C40-8. All have been retired. 8687 damaged in collision with semi truck in 1992. The entire incident was caught on camera. Unit 8688 currently used as a test bed in Altoona Conrail 226000-6021 After Conrail split in 1999, 13 units went to Norfolk Southern to become NS 8200-8212 and are no longer in service with NS, 9 units went to CSX to become CSXT 7480-7488 and have since been retired. Unit 8212 still in service on the Pennsylvania Northeastern Railroad.
Current use Apart from Norfolk Southern's test bed, Pennsylvania Northeastern Railroad's former Norfolk Southern 8212 (née Conrail 6021) is the last C39-8 in active use in North America.
15 Norfolk Southern units were sold to Peru's Ferrocarril Central Andino (FCCA) after RDC acquired a significant part of the company in 1999. Many of them have been rebuilt by shortening the radiators.
See also List of GE locomotives
References